Should We Be Unstable?

Often when I enter a gym and watch some sessions there is always one trainer that has decided to brand themself as “functional”. As we all know, the squat is not functional unless you’re balancing on something…. wink wink. Training a client is not supposed to look like a circus show – yes we want them to have a good time, but we also want it to be effective. Fundamental movement patterns under stable load are tried and tested effective, functional, and highly transferable exercises.

There is a growing body of literature providing evidence that unstable training surfaces offer little in the way of “core stability”, “enhanced stabilizer activation” or “improved muscle recruitment”. Below I have summarized the findings of numerous studies investigating stable vs unstable training surfaces. Make informed training decisions:

• BENCH PRESS UPPER-BODY MUSCLE ACTIVATION BETWEEN STABLE AND UNSTABLE LOADS. (Dunnick et al., 2015). Concluded that all muscles examined showed greater activation with greater load. The stability of the surface did not have any significant effect on muscle recruitment.

• ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC ACTIVITY AND 6RM STRENGTH IN BENCH PRESS ON STABLE AND UNSTABLE SURFACES (Saeterbakken and Fimlan., 2013). Concluded that there was a negative effect in muscle activation of the prime movers during unstable surface training of the bench press compared to a stable surface.

• MUSCLE ACTIVATION WHEN PERFORMING THE CHEST PRESS AND SHOULDER PRESS ON A STABLE BENCH VS. A SWISS BALL. (Uribe et al., 2010): Established that there was no significant difference in muscle activation between individuals training on stable or unstable surfaces.

• NO DIFFERENCE IN 1RM STRENGTH AND MUSCLE ACTIVATION DURING THE BARBELL CHEST PRESS ON A STABLE AND UNSTABLE SURFACE. (Goodman et al., 2008). Concluded that there was no significantly different activation in unstable loads when compared to stable.

• MUSCLE ACTIVATION PATTERNS WHILE LIFTING STABLE AND UNSTABLE LOADS ON STABLE AND UNSTABLE SURFACES. (Kohler et al., 2010). Concluded that as the instability of the condition increased there was a marked decrease in external load. Greater activation was achieved on stable surfaces.

In summary, unstable training definitely has its merits in a rehabilitative setting, in the world of enhancing physical properties it has little use.