As an osteopath I’m often having to develop my clients core strength, but what exactly is your ‘core’? This has caused some confusion over the years so have decided to record a video that explains exactly what core strength is as well as how to know whether you have a weak one. You can find the written article below the video.

 

What is your core?

Most people will have a rough idea of what I mean when I talk about core strength, or core stability, but not much more than that. The core muscles are essentially the muscles of your trunk/torso, and there’s a lot of them! People tend focus on the bigger ones like transverse abdominis which make up part of your abs, as well as the erector spinae muscle group which makes up a big chunk of your lower back. Now there are a lot more than that and these then often get overlooked, but with names like intertransversarii lumborum medialis (which is one muscle by the way!) I’m not going to list them all!

Why is core strength important?

The importance of having a strong core is that we use it in pretty much all day to day activities – there are so many muscles involved it’s hard to not be using your core to some degree. Having a weak core can really have a negative impact on your body’s ability to function, and can lead to injury.

How can you tell if you have a weak core?

This is actually a tricky question and there’s not really an official test to determine it. We’re all built differently and genetics play a massive part in that; some of us have a naturally strong core that help keep us supported and others don’t. For example, you can get 10 people to all stand on one leg and you’ll find some will be able to balance no problems at all while others wobble all over – a big part of this will be due to core stability.

However, there are a few tell-tale signs…

1) Back Pain
Unfortunately back pain goes hand in hand with a weak core. Studies have shown time and time again in subjects with back pain versus those without; found that basically everyone with back had a weaker core than those who were pain free. Or perhaps you could interpret that data by saying everyone another way of saying that is that if you have a bad back, it’s almost guaranteed you have a weak core, and if you have a weak core, you’re almost guaranteed to start suffering with back pain. It doesn’t have to be constant, even if it comes and goes chances are you’ve got a weak core. After all, if everything was working perfectly, the pain wouldn’t keep coming back.

2) Poor posture
This is another indication of a weak core. If you find that you naturally slouch forward when walking or sitting, as opposed to holding yourself upright without thinking about it. This is a good indication your core isn’t doing its job effectively.

3) Lower back arching when you walk
You might have a deep curve in your lower back. This often results from weakening of the muscles at the front, and tightening of the muscles at the back, and causes your pelvis to tilt forwards.

4) Using objects and people around you as a “crutch”
Now this might sound extreme, but if you think of any elderly relatives, you might suddenly realise that they do this all the time. So it’s one thing to be 80 and your core might be a bit wobbly, but if you’re in your 30’s, 40;s and you doing  yourself doing this, then this obviously isn’t a good thing.

5) Unilateral hip bridge endurance
This is the only other proven clinical way in which we would monitor core strength. To perform this movement you lie on your back with your arms across your chest and knees bent with feet flat on the floor. You then perform a double-leg hip bridge by lifting your bum off the floor, and once your spine is neutral you then straighten one knee so your leg is straight and thighs are parallel to one another. You then hold this position as long as possible. How long you can hold it for is essentially your own ‘base line’. Unfortunately there is no set time to determine whether you have a’strong core’ or a ‘weak core’ e.g. holding it over 30 seconds means you have a strong core….it doesn’t work like that.

The Unilateral hip bridge endurance test has been shown to directly reflect you core strength, so if you’ve been doing a lot of work at strengthening your core, you can perform this test and if it has indeed become stronger then you should be able to hold this position for longer. Other movements don’t seem to reflect your overall core strength like this movement does. For instance, you could work for weeks on doing sit up and plank movements and maybe double the length of time you can do a plank, but that might just be an indication that your muscles at the front have got stronger, but doesn’t indicate that any of the other muscles in your core have been improved.

Conclusion

Hopefully you now know a little more about what core strength actually means, and a few tips about how to identify if it’s weak, and also a way to monitor your core. As for specific exercises, I will cover those in another video, however what I would say that is if you re at the point where you’re actually suffering with back pain, then this means there’s likely some damage that’s taken place, so I wouldn’t advise starting exercises targeting your core muscles, when there’s an injury present, and instead you should seek out professional help.

If you are struggling with a back pain or have any questions, please feel free to contact me here.

For more videos you can visit my Youtube Account.