Functionality Part 2

In the gym we see people banging away on some machine or grunting under the weight of a barbell, each person envisioning the body part or muscle growing or shrinking. We often treat our bodies like a bunch of individual parts, molding and shaping, making them stronger and longer. Imagine a car with a 1000 horsepower motor and skinny little tires, you hit the gas and burn all the rubber off without making it to the finish line!
Look at a complete athlete like George St.Pierre; he is not obsessed with having huge biceps or massive pecs, rather, he trains his body as a cohesive unit.
If you haven't heard of "core" training you probably live in a cave, in which case you most likely are not reading this blog post. Core training is much more important than building big muscles when it comes to fighting or any sport for that matter. Throwing a powerful punch, turning out of a rear-naked choke, upa bridging or kneeing to the face all require a powerful core.
Try thinking of your body as a torso first with no arms or legs,then break your body down to 3 major areas. A) the shoulder girdle, consisting of the humerus, scapula and the clavicle. B) the core which consists of your abdominal, torso and back muscles. C) the pelvic and hip stabilizers. Without strength in these areas you would have no need for legs or arms!
Here are some good exercises for strengthening the shoulder, hip and core stabilizers.
1) Forward and back lunges: hold dumbell in each hand at your side, step forward and dip knee an inch or so from the floor then step the same leg back and perform the opposite movement.
2) Side to side "sit outs": From the push up position kick one leg out to the side and drop your hip to the floor, then repeat the movement on the other side. Switch back and forth fast to add some cardio to the exercise.
3) Perform a set of leg raises then flip over and do 10 sprawls. Repeat this for 5 or more sets then do 2 minutes or more of planks, front and side.
4) Try some Yoga "cobra" or sometimes called the "Hindu" push ups. these are done by going from downward dog, skimming the ground in a scooping motion to upward dog and scooping back to down dog. Try doing 10 of these if you think you have strong shoulders!
5) Lie on your stomach and, keeping you abs tight, lift one leg and the opposite side arm. Alternate and do 10 reps per side then lift both arms and legs at the same time for 10 to 20 reps.
These are a good start but I recommend that you incorporate a more comprehensive regimen in your daily routine.
I recommend the book you can find in my blog Amazon store; Core Performance Essentials by Mark Verstegen as a very good guide and there is a full workout plan that will give you a great base to improve your
performance.
Now think of your car with 1000 horsepower and traction bars and 30 inch meats in the rear! Now yer gonna get somewhere!!

P.S. here are some vids that might help: