If you are an athlete or are used to exercising regularly, you probably already know how important it is to exercise your core. Core stability, or abdominal and trunk stability, is a foundational practice for good posture, health and fitness.
It’s important for everyone to have strong and stable core muscles, even if you’re not an athlete. When many of us hear we need to work on our core, we tend to think that only applies to our abdominal muscles and immediately get into doing sit ups, push ups or planks, but there are many other ways to strengthen your core and your back muscles are part of that body system. Core stability can be defined as the ability of the muscles in your trunk or torso to help the body keep good posture, balance and support the body during movement. In other words, core stability is measured by how efficiently and with how much strength you can hold your body in planes of space or movement.
What’s the First Step?
A strong core means many things all at once. It means that your upper, lower and lateral abdominal muscles, hip and pelvic muscles, and low back muscles all support each other and your body at any given time. There are several ways you can strengthen all of these muscles, some more simple than others. However when speaking about core, there is one important thing you must correctly know how to do; bracing.
Bracing is basically like tightening all of the muscles in your trunk at the same time. It’s like the alphabet of core strength, if you can’t correctly brace, you can’t really make anything else happen. You’ve probably braced without even noticing it. For example, if you’ve ever anticipated getting punched in the gut, you most likely braced your core to protect yourself from the impact. When you brace, you essentially push your stomach out against itself making it feel tense, once you’ve mastered this motion, you are well on your way to a nice and strong core.
Core Strengthening Exercises
As mentioned above, you have some options when trying to stabilize and strengthen your core. Some examples include; planks, floor bridges, isometric holds with a dumbbell and half kneeling or full prone reaching exercises.
Just in case you aren’t sure what these are, here’s a brief description of each. Planks can be performed either on the forearms or hands and involve you holding yourself in a push up like position for as long as you can, engaging your core and keeping your shoulders, hips and thighs along the same straight line. Floor bridges are performed on your back with your legs bent and knees toward the ceiling. As you lift your hips up off the ground and push through your feet, you activate your trunk muscles. Isometric holds are simply holding a single dumbbell on either side in front of your body at chest or shoulder height for a given time or until fatigue. This automatically causes a contraction all around the torso while holding the weight up. The last listed exercise actually starts on all fours, the way we would imitate a dog. You would just reach out one arm and the opposite leg while keeping the center of your body still and in line with your arm and leg. You can repeat this one one side of your body for a number of repetitions, or alternate between the two sides.
Why is this so Important?
A stable core is important because the more strength behind the muscles in your trunk, the better protected your spine is. Our spines hold up our entire body. When the muscles in our backs are not strong or equally balanced, this contributes to increased spinal pressure and low back pain. Many of you may have experienced low back pain if you sit often throughout the day or have to lift and move things constantly. Low back pain in itself may not seem like much of an issue but if not addressed, it can easily lead to minimized ability to twist and turn, lower body pain in the hamstrings, ankles or knees and of course lead to injury because of muscle weakness.
Strength is the Fix
Imagine that natural curve in the spine that we all have. If the muscles in your low back are weak, and you fall back or lose your balance, it is very unlikely you’ll be able to hold yourself up or recover and you can end up seriously injuring your back. Here’s something else to think about, have you seen or are you one of those people who cannot lift or exercise without a low back belt for support? If so, you may need to strengthen those trunk muscles. Don’t blow out your back lifting poorly or too much. Make sure you can comfortably support any weight you use by strengthening your core.
When you are using the support of something like a low back belt and lifting, it’s likely you are exaggerating that curvature in your spine over time. Support like that provides temporary relief but will not solve the problem of low back pain, muscle imbalance and instability.
What this all means ?
All in all, it will always be up to you what you do and how you feel. Having a strong core is proven to decrease pain, and knowing how to properly brace your trunk will help you gain muscular support of your spine and promote good posture. In addition to adding muscle tone and definition, core strength affects every part of the body for movements as simple as walking to plyometric jump squats. Keeping your chest up and abs tight isn’t as easy as it may sound, but is very doable with practice. Don’t underestimate the power of a reliable trunk. Exercises are a great way to stabilize and strengthen, but be mindful to practice things like bracing at all points of the day. Whether you’re sitting at work, taking a walk with your dog, or lying down watching tv; brace and do daily exercises to give you the best results as you work out. General body maintenance and good habits include regular stretching and rest, getting those knots out with a massage and remembering to breathe while you exercise to keep your abdominal muscles working. Core stability is key, let your results speak for themselves.
Disclaimer: All information published on this site is for educational purposes only.
Do not attempt without your physician’s clearance. If you are in pain or injured, see your physician.
Sources
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/core-exercises/art-20044751
- https://www.google.com/search?q=core+stability+definition&oq=core+stability+definition&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l3.11399j1j7&client=ms-android-mpcs-us-revc&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
- https://www.muscleandmotion.com/abdominal-bracing/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3489319/
