Core Performance Essentials

As I was looking through the latest exercise and fitness books at my local bookstore, one book stood out. The tag line said “Reshape your body in only 30 minutes a day”. The habit that I’m developing this month is exercise and I’ve set aside 30 minutes per day to get it accomplished. While I’ve just started out walking for the 30 minutes I have wanted to find a comprehensive program that would include strength training as well as aerobics.

I picked up the book and perused the contents and one key thing stood out. It was the author’s definition of success. The definition was two paragraphs long but the second section hit home with me…

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My definition of success also would be to fully use what God and my parents gave me, to the best of my abilities, and to carry on those family values. Perhaps the biggest value I learned growing up was the notion of service, to make sure that I lead by example in all areas of my life and to help others in a way in which they can do the same. Through hard work, passion, honesty, and the courage to lead the life I’ve dreamed of, I can become successful. I will not accept anything less from myself.

This was a rather profound definition of success and it really resonated with me. It is one of the best success definitions that I have come across. I like the notion of “leading by example” and I admire people who reflect this in their lives. As I continued to look through the book, I found a comprehensive exercise program based on “movement” and the core function of all muscle groups. The program is broken up into four categories

   1. Movement Prep
   2. Prehabilitation
   3. Strength & Performance Circuits
   4. Cardio

This was really interesting to me and not the usual basic exercises found in most programs. In fact the science behind these categories is amazing. The idea of movement training is to overcome “biomechanical dysfunction” and allow your body to perform at it’s maximum efficency.

The book is called Core Performance Essentials, by Olympic trainer Mark Verstegen. In this book he presents a comprehensive exercise plan which can be performed in just 30 minutes a day in the comfort of your own home with just dumbbells, an exercise ball and some training bands. This program, which focuses on Core movements to improve strength, flexibility, and overall health, has proven effective for some of the world’s most elite athletes. The book also includes a diet plan which includes meal timing and low glycemic food choices to create a customized “perfect day” routine.

Mark has put together a vast website with comprehensive training help for all sorts of sports and exercise endeavors. The book offers a code for a free three week trial of the website and then you can choose to join the plan for $79 per year. The site is very detailed and offers specific tips from a trainer’s point of view. It is like having a personal training coach on hand to answer your questions and give guidance.

The book has been a great learning tool but the comprehensive nature of the exercises makes it very hard to follow. Instead of a book, his exercise program should be in DVD format. To follow his program with the book successfully would take two people and a lot of extra time since on any given training day you’ll be doing many different exercises one after the other with no break in-between. At least for me this is very hard to do from pictures in a book and try to remember one after the other. The plan ramps you up to more reps of the exercises as you progress which adds even more complexity.

The core-performance website offers video clips of the exercises and a supplemental DVD series for an additional $50. The computer clips were shot from one angle and offer limited help. I think the DVD would be the way to go but a $50 price tag is a little high for something you can’t preview. The diet plan offered in the book is a low glycemic plan that is similar to what is found in Body for Life and Five Factor Fitness. It has a one page summary that is helpful but has limited recipies and real world choices. Mark does offer help in eating at restaurants with a chapter on fast food.

This book offers insights of a real world Olympic training center and with some determination you may have luck at home with his program. Mark needs to take a few cues from Billy Blanks (Taebo) and bundle a DVD with the book. Get out there and show us how to do these exercises. I recommend the book as an insightful read but you may have better luck with a simpler exercise program.