World record holder Jim Walmsley says doing "core" is useless

Well... great abs are made by genetics and in the gym... but you need to do the work in the kitchen if you want to ever actually see them.

Walmsley is right.

Most of the time when someone claims you can get better at a sport, by practicing something other than that sport, it's bull$sh!t. That's not always true, but almost always is.

"You'll be a better wide receiver, if you do yoga!"

"You'll be so much at better at running, if you cycle!"

"You'll be so much better at swimming if you balance cans of tuna fish on your head!"

Uh...no. Total bullcrap.

You get better at a thing, by doing more of that thing.

GettingFasterDude wrote:

Walmsley is right.

Most of the time when someone claims you can get better at a sport, by practicing something other than that sport, it's bull$sh!t. That's not always true, but almost always is.

"You'll be a better wide receiver, if you do yoga!"

"You'll be so much at better at running, if you cycle!"

"You'll be so much better at swimming if you balance cans of tuna fish on your head!"

Uh...no. Total bullcrap.

You get better at a thing, by doing more of that thing.

Yup yup yup. Especially because most people are limited by their free time. To improve, I'd just slowly and cautiously add mileage, rather than adding 30 minutes of weird hip band exercises per day at the expense of mileage.

I respect his opinion. He said he used to do core and didn't see any results and now he doesn't do core and runs well. That seems plausible to me.

I'm 47 and do core and other strength training because I used to have back issues. The slightest awkward movement would set if off. Now I don't have any issues. But I agree with him that it doesn't have any noticeable effect on whether I can run fast or not. I could argue that it has helped keep me healthy and given me the ability to train consistently which has helped my running in the long run, but I think it's a reach to say it makes you faster.

Bahahaha. Maybe in distance running core strength is worthless. In an athletic sport tho it’s very important.

Webbster wrote:

I respect his opinion. He said he used to do core and didn't see any results and now he doesn't do core and runs well. That seems plausible to me.

I'm 47 and do core and other strength training because I used to have back issues. The slightest awkward movement would set if off. Now I don't have any issues. But I agree with him that it doesn't have any noticeable effect on whether I can run fast or not. I could argue that it has helped keep me healthy and given me the ability to train consistently which has helped my running in the long run, but I think it's a reach to say it makes you faster.

I'm 64 and agree. However, I do have periodic back issues - if I skip too many back/core training days.

I've been away from the sport for quite a while and lost track of the personalities--what world record(s) has he set?

wait until he is 45 or 50 and the injuries start happening because he doesn't do core - and his posture deteriorates and his hip flexors start to be a mess...

core may not help on run faster - but it is important in EVERY movement you make and even ones you don't make like sitting.

look at old men (and women) hunched over looking like trolls... avoid it, keep a strong core throughout your life... it is your stability and balance center

I don't disagree that core specific training is unlikely to help one's runner unless perhaps they are a high hurdler but core strength helps in many other ways as part of one's functional strength. As one ages it helps with balance, it is absolutely essential as a rock climber and it has certainly helped me keep up with my toddler and avoid back pain when I used to have rock him to sleep or he wanted to be held for hours.

I think weight training is different however. Lifting weights might have a marginal impact on one's marathon time but for the 5K and shorter distances I have found it has had a significant positive impact on my speed especially for the 400 meters. I think sometimes people associate weight lifting only with bulk when in fact weight lifting can make one stronger without a huge increase in body mass. If you just want to get ripped at the gym and have bulging muscles that isn't likely to make you any faster but if you want to target specific muscle groups you can absolutely increase your speed and power.

I can bench 240 lbs but my upper body while decently defined is not ripped and even wearing a t-shirt you wouldn't guess I could bench 150% of my body weight. That's because I focus on shorter lower rep workouts at higher weight 3 days a week vs. do long high rep sessions to build muscle mass. Now my bench doesn't help my running but my squats and deadlifts certainly have. My thighs are more like runners thighs than weight lifters or football players but the power and explosive speed is greater since I started lifting. Maybe this is just a post 40 thing and had I lifted when I was younger it wouldn't have made much of an impact.

That said I am not an elite athlete or even a super talented runner but I do wish I had lifted when I ran the 400 and mile in high school as I think it could have improved my time by a few seconds and that would have made the difference between being a runner who racked up a lot of second and 3rd place finishes at dual meets to one who actually won a fair share of his races.

Obviously core workouts have an effect on performance to some extent. You use your core when running. A stronger core should help with fatigue and power transfer. Does it have much performance benefit on someone that already runs 120 miles a week? Maybe not. That person has already proved resilient to the stresses of running. I would wager most people that run 0-50 miles a week or your average hobby jogger would definitely benefit from core work and gym work in general.

It would be interesting to know what he counts as core work. Trail running, scrambling and climbing, which I’m sure he does are great core workouts. kJ does a huge amount of climbing as part of his training, plus skiing, polymeric/strength based exercises. It’s obviously worked well for him. So it’s a strange comment coming from a trail/ultra runner where strength rather than speed comes into play.

yep and didn't Jimbo DNF at the last two UTMB ultra races (where he gets dusted by guys like Kilian and Francois)? Maybe he should work on his core

Alavisca wrote:

It would be interesting to know what he counts as core work. Trail running, scrambling and climbing, which I’m sure he does are great core workouts. kJ does a huge amount of climbing as part of his training, plus skiing, polymeric/strength based exercises. It’s obviously worked well for him. So it’s a strange comment coming from a trail/ultra runner where strength rather than speed comes into play.

Alavisca wrote:

It would be interesting to know what he counts as core work. Trail running, scrambling and climbing, which I’m sure he does are great core workouts. kJ does a huge amount of climbing as part of his training, plus skiing, polymeric/strength based exercises. It’s obviously worked well for him. So it’s a strange comment coming from a trail/ultra runner where strength rather than speed comes into play.

That is a very good point. I think he probably meant sit-ups and burpees vs. the things that you highlight especially climbing which is one of the most core intensive sports there is. I used to do a lot of skating boarding and that's probably when I had the most core strength.

This might be the smartest thing I’ve seen person write on these forums

Webbster wrote:

I'm 47 and do core and other strength training because I used to have back issues. The slightest awkward movement would set if off. Now I don't have any issues. But I agree with him that it doesn't have any noticeable effect on whether I can run fast or not. I could argue that it has helped keep me healthy and given me the ability to train consistently which has helped my running in the long run, but I think it's a reach to say it makes you faster.

I agree with you. If the core work enables you to run more mileage with more consistency, then it's totally worth it!

Lots of guys on here pound their middle section all the time. I think core is the modern term for it.

I never did any core work, not even a situp, and look at me today.

Hip flexibility is the key, as we all sit too much and our hip is too stiff for running in a good form.

You just need a strong trunk because it's your center of athletic gravity and because 100% of your force flows through it and if it's weak you'll hurt your back. How you accomplish getting it strong literally doesn't matter at all.

Best,

Cazzy