INMY Divas are known for his or her naughtiness, body hits and drama. What drives the performances of those wrestlers? First, in fact, is the attitude. But the idea of all these takedowns and lockouts is the core of WWE Divas.
“Your core strength counts every second of a match,” says the previous WWE Diva Erica Hammondnow a celeb trainer and founding father of Equinox’s Knockout training. “Not a single millisecond!”
We remind you that the core is greater than abdominal muscles. Your core is definitely all the trunk. So yes, abdominal muscles, but in addition back muscles and the tiny stabilizing muscles surrounding the spine. Your glutes and pelvic floor muscles also come into play as they’re those that keep your core stable and aligned.
“Your core muscles play an important role in stabilizing, moving, and protecting you in on a regular basis life,” says Hammond. “So a powerful core is important for overall health and fitness.”
It can also be crucial in wrestling and other combat sports because it lets you strike and take successful.
“In wrestling, you’ve to have a powerful core to face the resistance,” says Hammond. “Being capable of effectively brace the core in numerous positions and at different speeds during a match is important to stop injury.”
Photo: Equinox
Hammond recalls how much core strength was involved when she needed to “take the hit,” which is when wrestlers land on their backs on the mat. Contrary to popular belief, these mats will not be actually soft; they’re mostly metal and wood with only an inch of froth padding.
“It definitely hurts,” says Hammond. “Then take successful [and] a correct landing definitely must have the core engaged to stiffen the landing safely.”
Today, Hammond teaches shadowfighting in a latest Equinox series called Knockout. The principles of core strength and stability she learned as a WWE Diva carry over into her own shadow boxing and her teaching of constructing strength and endurance.
“In combat sports, plenty of strength and endurance comes from the upper and lower body, however the core is what connects all these movements,” says Hammond. “Shadowboxing is absolutely a full body workout. Almost every muscle group in your body is “connected” to each move you make, so that you’re continually engaging your core during a knockout.”
So how did Hammond construct the core of the WWE diva that’s obligatory to “take successful” as a wrestler and land a punch or kick as a shadow boxing instructor? One way is to do strength exercises that mimic the movements he does on the mat or within the ring. For example, doing chest rowing with weights or cables works your back muscles very similar to a punch, so it strengthens your core naturally to the movement.
Hammond’s favorite core strengthening exercise is the squat stretch. “It’s a full-core move that engages your upper and lower abs in an initial stretch, followed by a squat, then engages your obliques as you twist,” says Hammond. “This enhances the rotational movement of the core and improves the flexibility to generate power from the core – much of which mimics boxing movements.”
Here’s how one can train your core like a WWE Diva within the squat stretch technique
- Start in your back together with your legs and arms fully prolonged.
- At the identical time, bring your knees in to your chest as you lift your upper back off the ground into the boat hold position.
- Rotate your torso left and right, then slowly lower yourself back to the ground, keeping your abs tight and your arms off the ground.
