The core has become a popular topic in the past year. Many women have so many questions about the core whether it’s just to strengthen it more effectively or rehabilitate it after childbirth. In order to understand how to strengthen the core, we must first understand what the core is, and why that’s important.
The What:
Think of the core like a coke can in shape.
The core is composed of 4 muscle groups (if I oversimplify it).
The first is what you would expect: the Abdominal Muscles
The abdominal muscles are made up of your transverse abdominis, internal & external obliques, and rectus abdominis.
The second would be the opposite of the front: Your Back muscles, specifically the multifidus.
I would count your spinal stabilizers (multifidus), & the spinal extensors.
The top part of the core is: Diaphragm
The diaphragm is the one most people do not know about or understand. The diaphragm is a muscle that is responsible for breathing mechanics.
The bottom part of the core is: The Pelvic Floor
The pelvic floor makes up the bottom aspect of the core and these muscles are very small to make up the bottom portion that holds up your organs against gravity.
It is important to know that all of these components make up the core. If you experience weakness, injury, or trauma in one of these areas, then you are likely going to begin compensating in one of the other areas. For example: you strengthen your abs and pelvic floor, but then go to do heavy lifts or more CrossFit style workouts – then you might experience a stiff upper back, shallow breathing, and low back pain.
Another example: if you work on strengthening your back, and abdominals, and keep your diaphragm moving appropriately, that leaves your pelvis floor weak. In the instance of mismanaged intra-abdominal pressure, the symptom you will begin to experience is incontinence.
Those are a very general overview of some examples of common problems that can pop up. However, there are SO many possible problems that can arise from any of the 4 components.
So now that we understand what the core is, now we can dive into the how.
The How:
When you see on social media the titles about strong abs or flat tummy in order to achieve a strong core, you are missing a HUGE part of the puzzle.
Performing exercises that strengthen ALL of the components is always going to be your best bet. The abdominals of course need to be strengthened, but you can’t leave the other parts out. Over the next month I am going to be covering all things core strengthening, so be sure to check out the Belle Therapy + Wellness Youtube Channel & our Instagram!
You will notice a common disclaimer that I have: compound movements, or big lifts are always better and more effective than smaller movements. However in the cases of rehabilitating one specific part – we may have more specific exercises for rehabilitating that muscle. It always depends 🙂
As always if you have any questions or points to add, please drop a comment below!
