core exercises
A Diagram of selected Core Exercises. Sometimes Core Exercises is the hardest activity to
get done when by yourself. In a group its much easier to complete.
Exercises Core Activation
Core Activation, the dream of six pack abs and tight core muscles is a common fitness dream
for both men and women. While it’s impossible to achieve if one side of your muscles are
working harder than the other. Or worse, you’re experiencing muscle pain.
While the core, comprised of the trunk and spine, Also provides support and stabilisation for
all movements. Hence any time we twist, turn, bend over at the waist, or hold our body in
one position for a long period of time, our core is at work.
And the way you sit and your posture (tendency to slouch) are just a couple of the reasons
that can cause core problems. Yet it is a highly sensitive area, meaning that an issue affecting
the neck may reverberate down the spine or vice versa.
While if your core isn’t working properly, other areas that are not meant to handle such stress
end up compensating and suffering in the process. Hence this commonly manifests itself in
back aches, especially lower back pain.
- Trunk Rotation
3. Back Twist
Article by Kate Allgood MAT, SH for active.com
Read the Full Article with specific instructions
Core Stability
The aim of core stability training is to effectively recruit the trunk musculature. And then
learn to control the position of the lumbar spine during dynamic movements.
The Muscles
The deep trunk muscles,
- Transversus Abdominis (TA)
- multifidus (MF)
- Internal Oblique (IO)
- Paraspinal, pelvic floor
are key to the active support of the lumbar spine.
The co-contraction of these muscles produce forces via the “thoracolumbar fascia” (TLF).
And the “intra-abdominal pressure” (IAP) mechanism which stabilises the lumbar spine.
And the paraspinal and MF muscles act directly to resist the forces acting on the lumbar spine.
It is not just the recruitment of these deep-trunk muscles. But how they are recruited that is
important. Research (Hodges and Richardson, 1997)[2] showed that the co-contraction of the
TA and MF muscles occurred prior to any movement of the limbs.
This suggests that these muscles anticipate dynamic forces that may act on the lumbar spine.
And stabilize the area prior to any movement. Hodges and Richardson (1997)[2] showed that
the timing of coordination of these muscles was very significant.
Training
Having identified the key muscles and how they act, the next step is to establish how best to
train these muscles. As with any type of strength and conditioning training. While the
training protocol for improving the function of the deep-trunk muscles must be specific to the
task required. Hence this specificity of training must take into account the type of
contraction, the muscle fiber type. And the anatomical position required.
So by definition, the deep-trunk muscles act as “stabilizers”. And are not involved in
producing movements. But instead involve static, or isometric contractions. Furthermore,
they must act as stabilizers continuously throughout everyday activities as well as fitness and
sport activities. And so require very good endurance of low-level forces. While these muscles
do not need to be very strong. So they must be correctly coordinated and capable of working
continuously. Also, we want these stabilizer muscles to act by holding the lumbar spine in the
neutral position. Therefore which is the correct alignment of the pelvis that allows for the
natural ‘S’ curve of the spine. Hence these characteristics underpin the following deep-trunk
muscle training program.
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Core Stability Workouts
The following are examples of core stability workouts:
- Core Stability Exercises
- The “Alfa Romeo” workout
- The “Aston Martin” workout
- The “Audi” workout
- The “Bentley” workout
- The “BMW” workout
- The “Buick” workout
- The “Lotus” workout
- The “Mercedes Benz” workout
- The “McLaren” workout
- The “Morgan” workout
