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These are very different goals that require very different approaches, but by grouping them all under the umbrella of core training, it’s easy to get the wrong impression about what core training actually entails.

This also means that well-meaning trainers (or not so well-meaning marketing departments) can have you chasing your own tail by performing their version of core training – which is not necessarily the type of training that suits your goals best.

Unfortunately, this misunderstanding of core training types can lead to your results being lost in translation. Crunches probably won’t fix a bad back, learning to brace properly on heavy squats isn’t going to give you a six-pack, and juggling knives on a swiss ball won’t improve your tennis serve.

In order to avoid disappointment and get better results, it’s important to know exactly what you’re trying to achieve and how to go about it.

Core Training Types

Core Training

As I mentioned above, “core” is a phrase that has very broad usage, with a wide variation of interpretations for what core training actually entails.

The term “core” refers to a huge number of muscles that can affect the relationship between the hips and the lower back. This area – called the lumbo-pelvic hip complex, has a large impact on all the joints above and below it, and the muscles that fit under this broad category can interact with each other in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, it is the huge scope of this term that leads so many people to blame every fitness problem on “core strength”.

A huge number of muscles can affect movement at the lumbo-pelvic hip complex, from the hamstrings to the upper back, from the abdominal muscles to the quads. Unfortunately, this means that terms like “core training” can be incredibly unspecific. You could argue that a squat is core training, but then so is a plank.

Can you adequately train your core from heavy lifts as some people claim? Find out here.

When I first set out to become a personal trainer, core training was about helping someone understand the relationships between different muscles and positions. Core training of this description involved a lot of static holding positions like planks, or low-resistance movements like glute bridges.

This approach can help build up confidence, endurance, and familiarity, making it ideal for people who are new to training or managing an injury*. The principles learned with this type of training usually progress into bigger compound movements and more isolated abdominal exercises.

*This is not to say that core training is a cure for pain, as many people have previously claimed. Pain is way more complex than that.

Trunk Training

This is the term that strength and conditioning coaches came up with when the term “core” became too nebulous and over-marketed. It is slightly more anatomically specific – it refers to the area around the stomach and back – but still encompasses a huge range of different movements.

Trunk training is usually focussed on training and loading specific movements to improve skill and strength. The main emphasis is on producing and resisting forces that act on the spine. However, it has also been co-opted by some people who want to say “core training” but want to sound more scientific.

Trunk training is also where people will talk about anti-movements, where instead of training to produce a movement, you are training to resist that movement. So if you hear someone talking about anti-rotation, they simply mean “trying to stay in a neutral back position while gravity is trying to make you rotate”.

For a short time, these anti-trunk movements were all the rage as people sought to lock the trunk into one position only, due to the belief that if the spine moved then all your discs would explode. Thankfully, we are beginning to understand how resilient the back can be when trained fully. That being said, anti-trunk movements still have their place.

Trunk Training Terms

Movement	Definition	Muscles*	Example
Trunk flexion	Rounding the spine forwards, like when trying to touch your toes.	Rectus abdominus	Situps, Crunches, Jefferson Curls
Anti-flexion	Resisting rounding of the back	Erector spinae	Deadlifts
Trunk extension	Arching your spine, as when trying to reach up to the ceiling	Erector spinae	Reverse hyper-extensions
Anti-extension	Resisting arching, such as in a plank	Rectus abdominus	Planks, Deadbugs
Trunk rotation	Twisting from side to side	Internal and external obliques	Woodchops, Russian Twists
Anti-rotation	Resisting twisting the torso	Internal and external obliques	Pallof Holds
Lateral flexion	Leaning sideways	Obliques, erector spinae, quadratus lumborum	Side Bends
Anti-lateral flexion	Resisting leaning sideways	Obliques, erector spinae, quadratus lumborum	1-sided Farmer’s Carries

*I have deliberately been quite lazy in discussing trunk anatomy. This isn’t a bodybuilding page where I’m going to dive into the great details on every muscle, and if you’re focussing on improving movement and strength then you probably shouldn’t worry about it much either.

Ab Training

When people talk about “core” or “trunk” training, it is often implied that people want to train their abdominal muscles, or abs. As you can hopefully see now, this doesn’t always come across clearly and can lead to people pursuing their core training in a very roundabout way that doesn’t have a huge impact on the abs.

While it sometimes feels like the desire for a year-round six-pack is decreasing, direct ab training is still a huge part of the mainstream fitness ethos. This can come in the form of wanting a ripped stomach or simply as a form of hardcore toughness training – for example, by seeing how long people can hold a plank for in a fitness class. Traditionally, ab training focusses on isolating muscles at the front of the stomach such as the rectus abdominus and oblique muscles, with an emphasis on the “burn” in the muscles in the front of the stomach.

If you want to see visible change to the muscles at the front of the stomach, they need to be directly trained in a similar manner to other muscles. You wouldn’t expect to get well-developed biceps after statically holding a bicep curl for 30 seconds, so why would you expect to get a six-pack from 3 sets of 30-second planks?

So Which Method Is Best?