Combat Core
BY Jim Smith (e-book)
Combat Core is a complete core training manual brought to us by Jim Smith from the Diesel Training Crew. It takes on the very specific and important function of letting you know how important the core muscles are in whatever you do before teaching you how to turn them into a powerful asset.
The first thing that is mentioned in the manual is exactly why you need good core strength. He mentions that core strength is not just about having killer looking abs but instead controls the whole athleticism of the body. Below is an excerpt from pg. 18
In general the “core” musculature is not only responsible for all movement, it is also responsible for protecting the neck, shoulders, spine, hips and pelvis from injury. Specifically for athletes, the role of the core musculature becomes much more complex. An athlete’s “core” strength requires them to:
- create and absorb impact forces
- efficiently transfer, accelerate, decelerate and stabilize powerful ground forces
- maintain positioning and spatial awareness
- regulate breathing under heavy duress and fatigue
- build high levels of muscular endurance and power potential
- promoting co-contraction
- protect the lumbo-pelvic-hip-complex or LPHC
- improving reaction and reactive abilities
- improving balance, agility and coordination
The thing the manual rightly hammers home early is that core strength is not just about strength itself but also about stability and control in all movements. Something that any good coach really beats into their athletes is the importance of stability through the trunk of the body when performing a particular skill. Combat core addresses that comprehensively and explains exactly how to achieve it in a range of chaotic situations.
Without giving too much away the manual addresses the major differences (and need) in training GPP (General Physical Preparation) and SPP (Special Physical Preparation), between isolation training and integration training and then the most important (yet simple) ways of training them.
The manual itself is as much about the science of true core strength as it is in how to achieve it. Jim wants you to understand exactly why you need to develop this base before anything else which in hand makes you realise how it should never be neglected. Of course after explaining the whys comes the fun part, the exercises! There are over 130 pages of exercises in this manual all explained fully by both word and photography making it obvious exactly how to do them. Broken down into a series of categories, namely the Decline Series, Heavy Bag Series, Braces Series, Farmers Walk Series, Extra Exercises and concluded with a Posterior Chain Series this is a comprehensive list of exercises that will give you plenty to think about when working out your next thrashing session. For the experienced trainee you have probably seen a lot of the exercises from various other sources, but having said that this just validates the integrity of the Combat Core Manual. There will of course be a lot of what you have seen before but the way it suggests you implement it, plus the reasons behind doing the exercises are the main reason to go out and get the Combat Core Training Manual. Those couple of extra variations of exercises you’ve never tried plus knowing when to use them for specific purposes are what getting this manual is all about.
As you can tell from the conversation between H and Jim, which is posted on our forum, Jim has produced this from a position of integrity and we are glad he came to us with such an awesome product. You can check out Combat Core by following the link below, highly recommended!
