title: Isolated core training improves sprint performance in national-level junior swimmers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To quantify the effects of a 12-wk isolated core-training program on 50-m front-crawl swim time and measures of core musculature functionally relevant to swimming.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty national-level junior swimmers (10 male and 10 female, 16±1 y, 171±5 cm, 63±4 kg) participated in the study. Group allocation (intervention [n=10], control [n=10]) was based on 2 preexisting swim-training groups who were part of the same swimming club but trained in different groups. The intervention group completed the core training, incorporating exercises targeting the lumbopelvic complex and upper region extending to the scapula, 3 times/wk for 12 wk. While the training was performed in addition to the normal pool-based swimming program, the control group maintained their usual pool-based swimming program. The authors made probabilistic magnitude-based inferences about the effect of the core training on 50-m swim time and functionally relevant measures of core function.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the control group, the core-training intervention group had a possibly large beneficial effect on 50-m swim time (-2.0%; 90% confidence interval -3.8 to -0.2%). Moreover, it showed small to moderate improvements on a timed prone-bridge test (9.0%; 2.1-16.4%) and asymmetric straight-arm pull-down test (23.1%; 13.7-33.4%), and there were moderate to large increases in peak EMG activity of core musculature during isolated tests of maximal voluntary contraction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to demonstrate a clear beneficial effect of isolated core training on 50-m front-crawl swim performance.
authors.affiliation: Sport and Exercise Subject Group, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weston
authors.forename: Angela E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Hibbs
authors.forename: Kevin G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Iain R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Spears
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D003163:Competitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology; D010388:Pelvis / Q000502:physiology; D010806:Physical Education and Training / Q000379:methods*; D012782:Shoulder / Q000502:physiology; D013550:Swimming / Q000502:physiology*; D060726:Torso / Q000502:physiology