A Six Pack Won’t Make You a Better Runner,But These Deep Core Exercises Might

By Claire Maldarelli

Most new runners assume that the best way to improve is simply to run greater and greater distances. While it’s true that going farther and faster will improve your running skills, most coaches and trainers will advise some level of strength training as well. Focusing on your core is a common suggestion. A recent study seems to back this up1back up证实，支持。. In the Journal of Biomechanics,researchers investigated a symptom that has long mystified runners from novice to elite: A good chunk of runners, 14 percent to be exact, experience chronic lower back pain. The results of the new study seem to suggest that weak deep core muscles might be to blame. When these muscles aren’t strong enough, the study found, muscles on other areas of the torso kick in2kick in被激活，开始发挥作用。to keep the runner upright, eventually leading to back pain.

大部分跑步初习者都会认为，最好的提高方式就是不断增加跑步的里程。诚然，跑得更快、更远确实可以提高跑步技能，但大部分教练和培训师也会建议做一定的力量训练。通常的建议是专注核心力量训练。最近的一项研究似乎为这一观点提供了支持，《生物力学期刊》刊载了该研究报告。报告称，研究人员探究了长期以来一直困惑从新手到高手在内所有跑步者的一个症状：很多跑步者——确切来说，14%的跑步者——都会经历慢性下背痛。这项新研究的结果似乎表明，深层核心肌肉力量弱可能是导致这一症状的元凶。研究发现，当深层核心肌肉力量不够时，为了保证跑步者身体挺直，人体躯干其他部位的肌肉就会被激活，而这最终会导致背痛。

[2] To understand the role that these muscles play, the researchers had eight volunteers with minimal running experience run along an indoor track. Highspeed cameras and 3D motion detectors analyzed which muscles moved, and how much. Once they created a working computer model for each runner, the scientists simulated what would happen if certain deep muscles were weaker, or shut off completely. As it turns out, when a person can’t use their deep core muscles very well, their bodies still want (and need) to maintain a good running form,and uses superficial muscles to do so.

[3] What’s wrong with that? A muscle is a muscle, right? Not exactly. While the superficial muscles are often targeted in workouts—they give you a six-pack,after all—they are pretty useless when it comes to supporting your spine3spine脊柱，脊椎。. The deeper core muscles, which essentially lie beneath and can’t be seen from the outside, do all the heavy spinal lifting.

[2]为了解这些肌肉的作用，研究人员安排8位几乎没有跑步经验的志愿者沿一条室内跑道跑步，并使用高速摄像头和三维运动检测器来分析哪些肌肉产生了运动，以及它们的运动幅度。据此为每一位志愿者建成有效的计算机模型后，科学家就对设想情况进行模拟：如果某些深层肌肉力量较弱，甚或完全失去力量，会发生什么。结果表明：当运动者不能充分利用深层核心肌肉时，其身体仍会想要（也需要）维持良好的跑步姿态，这时身体就会使用表层肌肉满足这一需求。

[3]这有什么问题呢？无论深层还是表层，肌肉就是肌肉，不是吗？确切来说，还真不是这样。虽然表层肌肉常被作为训练目标——毕竟，这能让你练出6块腹肌——但在为脊柱提供支持这一点上，表层肌肉几乎毫无用处。是那些深藏下方、肉眼看不到的深层核心肌肉，承担着支撑脊柱的全部重任。

[4] When you are pounding4pound脚步沉重地跑。the pavement for miles at a time, you put a lot of pressure on your spine. If you’ve got strong deep core muscles, that’s no problem. If not, your running could eventually lead to chronic back pain. In fact,the researchers found that when they dialed down deep core muscle strength as low as it could go in their simulation, the load on each vertebrae5vertebrae椎骨。increased—often by as much as 19 percent. It’s easy to see how that kind of pressure could add up to big problems over time.

[5] The authors note that while many of the most popular ab6=abdominal腹部的。workouts, like sit-ups7sit-up仰卧起坐。or other exercises that involve a large range of motion, are pretty useless for your deep core, fixed exercises like planks8plank平板支撑。or side bridges9side bridge侧桥，侧向平板支撑。go a long way10go a long way大有帮助，大有效果。.

[6] It’s important to note that even when you’ve made these muscles super strong, you won’t likely notice visible results. They’ll never give you washboard11washboard搓衣板，常用以喻指腹肌明显的腹部。abs. But they will probably help you run better, and definitely help prevent potentially debilitating12debilitate削弱，使衰弱。chronic back pain. So take a few crunches out of your rotation and throw a nice long plank in—or just do both.

[4]当你沿着人行道奋力奔跑数英里不停歇的时候，你给脊柱施加了很大压力。如果你的深层核心肌肉有力量，这些压力就不会造成损伤；如果没有，那么跑步最终会使你患上慢性背痛。事实上，研究人员发现，在模拟实验中把核心肌肉力量尽可能调到最低时，每块椎骨的负重都增加了——增加幅度常常高达19%。不难看出，随着时间的推移，这样的压力会导致严重问题。

[5]研究者特别指出，虽然很多最受欢迎的腹部训练——如仰卧起坐或其他含有大幅度动作的训练——对锻炼深层核心肌肉毫无用处，但平板支撑、侧桥等固定训练方式却大有效果。

[6]需要注意的是，即使把深层核心肌肉训练得非常强壮，也不太可能看到明显的塑形效果。这些肌肉不会让你拥有搓衣板一样的优美腹部线条，但它们可能帮助你跑得更好，也一定有助于预防对身体造成潜在损害的慢性背痛。所以，下次锻炼时，可以从训练动作组中去掉几个仰卧起坐，增加一个有效、持久的平板支撑——或者两者都做。