"You need to strengthen your core", is one of the most over-used sayings in the medical world as much as the health and fitness industry over the past 10-15 years. From the rapid spreading of Pilates classes promoting "core workouts", to Sporting clubs adopting core training for the players in the belief stronger abdominal muscles will prevent injury. Even physical therapists and Doctors prescribe planks and abdominal exercises to their patients to treat back pain and various other injuries. The message is loud and clear that training your core is great for your body. But is that really true? Like so many things to do with nutrition, this is where some small bit of information has been twisted around to become a completely different message, and end up being nothing what it was intended. What I am going to show in this article is that not only is many of the core workouts people use to prevent injury a waste of time, but in many cases it is very likely to cause injury, not prevent it!

Most of us have experienced the complete agony of a muscle cramp before and understand how it can bring you to a complete halt until you address the problem. Though cramps are usually harmless and disappear on their own after a few days, they can greatly impact daily activities and movements. Ongoing cramps are a warning of a more serious problem that needs to be addressed and knowing what to look for is very important. There is a lot of confusing information about why cramps happen and I see so many people waste their efforts, money and time on searching for relief from this condition but not addressing the underlying cause of the problem. This article I hope to give you some clues and ideas as to what these causes are and several ways to treat and manage them to get rid of your cramp for good.

Pulling movements are some of the greatest exercises you can use in the gym to develop a strong and healthy body, great posture and incredible grip strength. From chin-ups to bent over rows these exercises are known for targeting massive muscle groups like the Lats, Trapezius, and Rhomboids, not to mention they all hit the ever-popular muscles like the biceps too. It is also one of the key functional movement patterns we need for daily activities in life. When completed poorly they can also lead to a host of problems around the shoulder and neck. This article shows you 7 of our preferred exercises for developing the pulling movement pattern.