Lateral flexion is often an overlooked movement pattern, but it’s essential for lower back resilience, core strength, and optimal performance.
Last week, I introduced a simple 4-step process for gradually incorporating lateral flexion into your training. This week, we’re taking it a step further by adding another crucial, yet frequently neglected, movement pattern: rotation.
Rotation is foundational to human movement—it’s central to walking, running, and throwing, and it plays a pivotal role in nearly all athletic movements. The Coiling Core, a term coined by biomechanist David Weck, combines lateral flexion with rotation to create a dynamic movement pattern that builds incredible strength and power.
This pattern is crucial for grapplers, as it naturally appears during wrestling takedowns, guard defenses, passing, and even in guards like Spider, DLR, and more.
Mastering the Coiling Core will significantly improve your mat performance, but more importantly, for grapplers over 35, it transforms the lower back from a vulnerable point into a source of strength and resilience.
Here’s how to safely learn and master the Coiling Core.
1. Coiling Core Wall Stretch
The Coiling Core Wall Stretch is a great warm-up drill that activates the core isometrically and helps you feel the movement.
It’s similar to the Lunging Side Bend with Reach from last week, but with a twist.
- How to perform:
- Assume a lunge position next to a wall, with the leg closest to the wall as the back leg in the lunge.
- Stay on the ball of your front lunging leg, and hike the hip upward, closing the space between the hip and rib cage.
- Tuck your elbow into your front hip as if doing a hip escape, ensuring no space between your elbow and hip.
- Stretch the opposite arm straight up the wall, reaching as high as possible. Keep your head aligned over your foot.
- You should feel a strong contraction in your core on the side away from the wall, and a deep stretch on the side closest to the wall.
In Coiling Core terminology, the side away from the wall is the “short side” (contracted), and the side closest to the wall is the “long side” (stretched).
Reps: 2 sets of 30-second holds per side, contracting harder with each rep.
2. Coiling Core Wall Press
You can also perform this exercise facing the wall for a more horizontal pushing pattern, which enhances the Coiling Core’s application to both vertical and horizontal push/pull movements.
- How to perform:
- Assume the same lunging position but face the wall.
- Keep your shin at a steep forward angle and coil your core while pushing the long side palm hard into the wall in front of you.
- Stay on the ball of your front foot with the hip hiked. Focus on contracting the short side and pushing hard through the long side.
3. Dynamic Coiling Core
Now that you understand the Coiling Core and how it feels, we can make the movement dynamic.
This step is crucial before adding heavier loads and performing faster movements. Transitioning in and out of the Coiling Core with just your bodyweight prepares your spine and hips for dynamic loading.
- How to perform:
- Start in the Wall Stretch position but away from the wall.
- Begin transitioning from the short side to the long side. This is known as “expressing the coil,” and it should feel good.
- Contract the long side to become the short side, feeling the lateral flexion and rotation of your spine.
- You can add vertical or horizontal presses with your arms to explore all ranges of rotation.
If you’ve ever practiced Muay Thai, this is similar to the movement of a leg check combined with a cross or block.
Start without weight to allow your spine and hips to gradually adjust to these dynamic ranges.
Final Thoughts
The Coiling Core has been a game-changer in how I approach both movement and building resilience in my core and lower back. Your body was designed to rotate, and when you train it that way, you’ll notice improvements in both functionality and performance.
While lateral flexion is crucial, adding rotation to your training builds even more spinal resilience. This will not only expose your spine to new ranges of motion, making it more resilient, but also enhance your mat performance significantly.
Once you’ve mastered the Coiling Core, you’ll notice it in nearly every position on the mat. What’s amazing is that Coiling Core training can be added to almost any exercise—whether deadlifts, rows, presses, or even the shin box.
And once you’re ready, you can progressively overload the Coiling Core with heavier weights by incorporating the Landmine into your routine.
For now, start slow and light, and gradually take your resilience and performance to the next level with the Coiling Core.
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