Stabilizing the Mid-line

J-rock holding a sick Flag off the life guard tower at Port Stanley

A strong core means having the ability to stabilize the mid-line (see pic above). You need to be able to recruit muscles in the front (eg. abs, + many others), back (eg. erectors + many others) and even side (eg. obliques + many others) of your body to keep you rigid and solid under load (or tension). Having a strong core is less about how many crunches you can do and more about how much weight you can lift. If you work on all the core muscle groups, and not just the abs, you will see that you can front squat, OHS, deadlift, and press more and you will be able to do more pushups and pullups. This is all because power is generate from the core to the extremities and the stronger the core the more efficient the power transfer. Additionally, the stronger your core is the farther the (center of mass of the) load can be from your mid-line which means you have a greater margin of error to work with when lifting. So the next time you have some free time, bust out an elbow lever or a flag; they are fun to try and a great core exercise.