The Original Muscle Weight Gain & Muscle Building Blog!!

I like to point out many areas that are neglected when it comes to studies that a lot of time are used to prove a certain belief in regards to building muscle mass, strength, burning fat, and gaining muscular weight. This article is going to revolve around a recent study that involves the activation of the core muscles.

“Core training” and the like has quickly become a very “hip” and “fad-dy” term these days. Everyone’s after the six pack attached to a muscular body. And not only for physique-enhancing purposes, but also for rehabilitation purposes. It’s no secret that a huge percentage of work related injuries and / or disabilities have to do with low back injuries. So, anything that would help us build and strengthen those muscles would be a plus. In a recent Men’s Health column they site an Australian study that claims “performing a chest press on with a weight bench or a Swiss ball trains your core the same. (However) the researchers measured activity for only one set of abdominal muscles (external obliques).”.

I don’t understand why a study would make a specific claim, like that “performing a chest press on with a weight bench or a Swiss ball trains your core the same” when they hadn’t even tested or measured muscular activity in all of the other areas that make up the core. You’ve got all of the muscles of the glutes, the lower back, the hips, upper thighs, the muscles that wrap around the midsection, etc. Sure, that particular exercise may not have increased above regular exercise the external obliques, but those muscles are only one piece of the core puzzle.

A claim left alone like this, without considering all other factors, are what can be misinterpreted by someone reading it. They may then think that one particular exercise has more advantages over another, when that may not necessarily be the case. Like I’ve always said, take a lot of these studies with a grain of salt. Or keep in mind that these studies don’t give you the complete picture. Always ask yourself questions that may not have been answered within a study’s claim so that you don’t jump to conclusions. That way you aren’t leaving out a factor that could negatively affect your efforts at building muscle and gaining weight from a workout program.