“Mostly belly and ass.”

Recalling a recent academic analysis of the golf swing, a peer review of available literature on the topic (See also: Strength & Conditioning, Vol. 35, No. 6, Oct. 2013), there was certainly a lot to chew on regarding everyone’s favorite subject, Core Muscle Activation.

Once “all belly and ass,” but not later.

For example:

“The golf players’ core muscle group must be physically powerful enough to produce adequate upper trunk flexion force to resist the extension.”

Eh?

There was this, however, at least a glimmer of consensus:

According to some reviewers, only 2 muscle groups are of absolute necessity during the golf swing, and without sufficient strengthening of these specific muscles, the golf player will not be able to effectively execute a comfortable, “high-quality” golf swing. These two muscle groups are as follows: the gluteus muscle group and the abdominal muscle group.

Well, yes, certainly. The above reemerged with 75-watt brilliancy stumbling upon an interesting observation of the young Lou Gehrig.

Gehrig was not yet at Columbia,where his clouts are still referenced walking across the Morningside Heights campus, but he was already a regular in the turnverein gyms of his day.

Here’s the comment that struck me. It came from Mike Sesist, described in Ray Robinson’s excellent Gehrig biography, Iron Horse:

Lou was about 158 pounds then, mostly belly and ass.”

Mostly belly and ass. Interesting, don’t you think? Glutes. Abs. Core.

The turn verein at 85th and Lexington where Lou began the transformation into the Iron Horse.