The Importance of Core Muscle Training
Huang Jinkun (Shenzhen, China)
August, 2009
It was the high summer in July 2009 when the Move to Learn Summer Camp was held in a holiday resort in Shenzhen, China. Mr. Conrad Ho and Ms. Amy Choi were the head coaches while I was one of the coaches. The 39 participants were children in their 7-11 years of age, coming from all over China to stay in this camp for 7 days and 6 nights.
Under the facilitation of the head coaches, the children played in many activities and games designed to (1) solidify their foundations in learning skills; and (2) help them accumulate success experiences to positively reinforce their learning efficiency and interests. For example, during the session of core muscle training, kids warmed up their core muscles by playing the games of “twisting waist” and “torso push”. Then, they went to the outdoor training facilities for rope bridge, rope hills, rope tunnel, rope cliff, tower climbing and basketball shooting. The orienteering session was meant to improve kids’ sense of direction; the forest exploration, for sensory acuity; the talent show, for open expression of their internal worlds; the voting exercise for “Improvement Award of the Day”, for self appreciation; sharing nite, for social skill cultivation and for redirection of attention back to the kids’ own experiences; last but not least, various games for physical and mental development facilitation.
During the sessions on exercising core muscles, as the kids were submerged in their own laughters, we could also hear their words of encouragement toward one another every now and then. After they were back in the classroom soaked in sweat, the head coaches would direct them to play “twisting waist” and “torso push” again. Well! Unexpected changes happened. Before, the kids as a group were more unorganized, both in their own attention and social behaviours. Afterwards, the whole team was different. They quickily assembled in their own respective positions in silence after the class bell was rung, ready to hear instructions from the head coaches.
I had specifically asked Conrad on this. He explained that core muscles were the foundation of all kinds of activities, including learning activities. After appropriate training on the core muscles, people would feel control over their own bodies and selves, thereby boosting self-confidence and sense of security, resulting in turn in higher learning efficiency and easier execution of instructions given. For those kids with poor control over their physical bodies, they would be more prone to get lost in their ways, repeated bumping into things, less strength with less stamina, and inadequate fine motor eye-hand coordination. If such a person lived in the era of the primitive humans, when ferocious predators roamed the land, what could you say about his chance of survival? Higher or lower? And what about his psychological state? More at peace or fearful? Modern humans would have the same reactions, because we were the descendants of the more successful primitive humans.
Oh! That’s why! I had heard of the parenting principle of “there is no naughty kid!” Kids who did not respond well to instructions might be due to their inability to hear and understand or lack of courage to execute them, NOT unwillingness to do so. I was so impressed by the sessions on exercising core muscles, so that I told my wife to bring our 6-year-old boy to the venue on the last day of the summer camp. I planned to practice what I had just learned and exercise his core muscles, too.
On the following day, it rained but I decided to bring him out to the outdoor training ground in between rains. My son liked the core muscle warm-up games very much, though he of course had no idea about the point behind all these. They were just some other games that he played with dad. After warm-up, the first training was rope bridge. My wife told me that he had to hold her hands and crossed it together the last time he came to play. I planned to let him cross it on his own, which he refused despite my repeated encouragement, because the bridge was slippery after the rain. So, I held his hands to take the first step and let go of them to let him take another. We went painfully slow on the rope bridge in cycles of holding hands and letting go of them. Due to the rain, he lost his interest in such outdoor activities very soon. I had to respect his will and we went back to the hotel room, thinking in my mind that there should only be minute changes, if any. Still, I let him play the warm-up games again as a check to gauge for any changes, which he gladly complied. I discovered that he was more high-spirited, yelling loud as he wriggled his body. He could exert more strength this time.
On the fourth night from that day, before my son went to sleep, I massaged his body as usual. He lied in bed, while I did “Pelvic 8” (a movement that exercises deep muscles in the hip area) on him with legs straight. We did this movement every now and then, and he liked it. That night, soon after I started, he suddenly said excitedly, “You use my legs as a pen to draw the figure 8?” I was taken aback briefly. When I was able to give a response, I really praised him from my heart. His noticing skills had improved. After Pelvic 8s, he signaled me to go on doing “Core Muscle Activation” (a set of exercises to tone up core muscles in the belly). Seemed that he liked it very much. I of course flowed along with him and discovered that his core muscles would more readily switch to its working mode. From this request, I formed an association that his awareness of my moving his legs in the figure 8 track was due to his core muscles being activated, resulting in an enhancement in his noticing skills and eventually his learning abilities.
It was a surprise for me. Toning up core muscles could solidify the kid’s learning foundation and improve his self-noticing skills. In fact, my own noticing skills had also got better. Once again, I felt the amazing powers of kinesiology.
Supplementary Information: On 22 August, which was 2 weeks from my son’s first training session in core muscles activation, my son gave me another nice surprise. Three months ago, he came here to play basketball. He was small, so that the farthest point he could throw his basketball was short for more than one metre from the basket. But on August 22, he got a score 5 times out of 7. Obviously, his core muscles had been “awakened”. From this, he knew how to use his total strength from the whole body, as opposed to the strength of just the arms. The strength he could actually exert had increased as a result.
I believe, from this change, there will be even more surprises down the road. I am eagerly waiting.
