Thanks Adrian for a comprehensive look at “core strength” training and its consequences. From my perspective, as a gym-goer for 30+ years, there are two main reasons for the success of so-called “core strengthening.” The first is that it is a simple idea, and we humans with our tiny ape-brains adore simplicity. No matter how spurious or silly an idea may be, provided it’s simple enough millions of people will believe it. The second reason is that personal trainers are always desperate to find something new for their easily-bored clients. 20+ years ago it was jumping up onto tall boxes, but after so many people suffered so many knee and hip injuries, that slowly faded and was replaced by kettle bells. Over time, enormous incidence of shoulder and lower back injuries meant that kettle bells too began to lose their appeal. Along came “core strengthening” at just the right moment. Today, flicking ropes is gradually replacing core strengthening, so we can expect to see fewer people attempting to hold a very silly position for long periods of time and more people suffering from shoulder injuries once again.