11/13/2009 3:21:00 PM The Treatment Room What is core stability and how do I improve it?
By Craig Brown
The buzz word in sports, training and injury prevention making the rounds over the years is core stability. You often hear elite athletes and trainers refer to their core strength as one of the secrets to their success. While most of us are not as active as elite athletes, the same training principles apply for the weekend warrior and sedentary corporate office worker. A distinct lack of core strength can lead to multiple problems, but mostly it is associated with injury such as lower back pain.
The actual core is a layer of
muscles that protect the spine from excessive forces located in the front and back. Joseph Pilates referred to the core as "The Powerhouse". The core has three layers - deep, middle and outer layer.
The deep area comprises of the spine, ligaments and small muscles. The middle layer comprises of the tranverse abdominus, psoas, quadratus lumborum and multifidus. These muscles are important to create the stability. The outer layer comprises of the spine movers; The Six Pack muscle mentioned previously, the external and internal obliques and the erector spinae.
Two areas often neglected that play a big part in core stability are the gluteals (maximum and medius), and the pelvic floor muscles.
A great simple exercise to start using the core correctly is the quadruped tummy draw in. Starting on all 4's, place your hands under your shoulders and knees under the hips, place a towel between your knees and allow your abdominals to totally relax or "bulge". Now, whilst breathing normally, and remaining perfectly still (no spine movement) draw the belly button in towards the spine slowly and squeeze the towel between the knees. Feel the gradual tightening of the muscles- this is the middle layer activating. You should feel your waistband of your trousers fall away and become very loose. Hold this for five seconds and repeat three sets of eight repetitions daily. Over the weeks build up the time to 30 seconds per hold without shaking. You will start to increase the muscle tone and wake up the core. This is vital before loading the core with body weight exercises. Like building a house you need to create the foundation for the core first.
Over the next few weeks The EWAP team will progress the core stability exercise programme and show you a series of core exercises to improve your core strength using different methods available on the island. n
Craig D. Brown is a board-certified orthopaedic clinical specialist and TPI certified golf fitness instructor. If you wish to have information on The Elite Wellness and Athlete Program you can contact him at Apex Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic 295-APEX (2739) or craig@apexphysio.com
