The Importance of Core Strength | Exercises that Will Help Strengthen the Core

Why do I have to do planks all the time? Why is everyone always talking about the core? Aren’t my abs my core? This article will first provide a summary on the role of our core and second, provide you with your exercises that will increase core strength.

What is your core?

When many think of core muscles, they are usually thinking of only the abdominal (abs) muscles. However, these muscles are only a part of your core. In fact, your core consists of your abdominal muscles, back muscles, hip and glute muscles [1-4]. See the yellow highlighted muscles in the image below.

Obtained from: “Core Advantage: Core Strength for Cycling’s Winning Edge,” by Tom Danielson and Allison Westfahl; image from istock.com [7]

All these muscles work together as one system to help us move [1-4]. Being able to maintain a strong core allows your body to adapt sufficiently to the different situations it is being put in and therefore, enhance your sports performance [1].

Benefits of Strengthening the Core

1. Enhances sports performance

Being able to maintain a strong core allows your body to adapt sufficiently to the different loads that is being put on it. An increased core strength will allow all the muscles to absorb the load equally among them therefore, reducing the amount of stress the body has to undergo [1]. Furthermore, the speed and the amount of muscles activated while performing an activity will be enhanced. This occurs because training your core improves the ‘connections’ from your muscles to the brain therefore, allowing for an increased amount of muscle recruitment and a faster reaction time [2].

2. Reduces injuries

A weak core will not be able to produce the maximum amount of force required for a certain activity and therefore, will require muscles from the upper and lower body to compensate. This compensation method often leads to injuries to the core’s muscles and joints such as, knee, ankle and the hip to name a few; and also pain in the lower back [1, 2, 4].

3. Reduces lower back pain

Lower back pain commonly results from the decreased strength of the muscles supporting the spine and delayed activation of the abdominal muscles [2, 4]. The only way to improve this would be to train the abdominal muscles so that our spine would have a strong support system thereby, allowing greater force production to the rest of our body [2].

4. Improves balance

There a 2 factors that influence our balance: 1) muscle strength and; 2) how well our body senses change in our body’s position (i.e. proprioception). Improving core strength not only strengthens the core but it also improves how well our muscles send signals to our brain regarding the position of our body in relation to the environment. The brain and our muscles are involved in a loop – constantly feeding each other with information. The more information fed to our brain our body’s position, the better the brain can react to it and send signals back to the muscles to help them adjust appropriately to the situation.

Muscles <---> brain

For example, when our right foot trips on piece of rock. The muscles from the right foot will send help signals to the brain. The brain will then react to it and send signals to the left foot so that it will be able to step forward and counter the movement of falling [3].

Core strengthening programme

A strong core means that both the smaller and the larger muscles are activated equally when performing a task. To be able to strengthen your core safely and effectively, it has to be done in stages. This ensures that you learn to activate and train your smaller core muscles before activating the large ones. This prevents the problem of over-compensation as mentioned before [1, 4, 5].

Make sure that you are very comfortable with doing the exercises in one stage before progressing to the next. The stages are:

Stage 1 – Activating the deeper abdominal muscles

Exercise 1: abdominal bracing

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent. Make sure that your feet are flat on the ground.

2. Place your hands your hips.

3. Tighten your abs.

4. Squeeze your glutes (butt muscles) and tilt your hip forward. This ensures that your lower back is flat on the ground.

5. Inhale and exhale for about 5 minutes while maintaining the tightness in your core.

Exercise 2: leg lifts

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent (same as exercise 1).

2. Place your hands your hips.

3. Tighten your abs.

4. Squeeze your glutes (butt muscles) and tilt your hip forward. This ensures that your lower back is flat on the ground.

5. While your lower back is flat on the ground, lift one leg slowly followed by the other leg. Both knees should remain bent at all times.

6. Perform a total of 30 reps.

Exercise 3: glute bridge exercise

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent (same as exercise 1).

2. Place your hands your hips.

3. Tighten your abs.

4. Squeeze your glutes (butt muscles) and tilt your hip forward. This ensures that your lower back is flat on the ground.

5. Lift your hips off the ground while maintaining a straight spine.

6. Perform a total of 15 reps.

Exercise 4: glute bridge exercise with single-leg lift

1. Repeat the first 4 steps from exercise 3.

2. Straighten one leg and lift it 45 degrees.

3. Lift your hips off the ground with one leg straight while maintaining a straight spine.

4. Perform a total of 10 reps each side.

Stage 2 – Arm and leg movements: McGill Big 3 Exercises [6]

Exercise 1: curl-up

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent.

2. Squeeze your glutes (butt muscles) and tilt your hip forward. This ensures that your lower back is flat on the ground.

3. Place your arms on your lower back to ensure a flat back.

4. Tighten your core and lift your shoulders off the ground without your lower back leaving the ground. Hold this position for 10s.

5. After the 10s, lower your head back down.

6. Repeat this 3-5 times.

Exercise 2: side plank

1. Lie on any side with your knees bent and with your elbows flexed.

2. The free arm can either be placed either on the opposite shoulder or on the hip.

3. Lift your hips off the ground so that your weight is only supported by your elbow and your knees.

4. Hold this position for 30s and then come back down.

5. Repeat this 3-5 times.

If the above side plank is too easy for you, you can make it more advance with these 2 exercises:

Perform the side plank with your legs straight (hold for 30s, 3-5 times).

Roll from a side-bride to a plank, and out of the plank to a side bridge again (10 reps, 3-5 times).

Exercise 3: Bird-dog

1. Start with ‘all-fours’ on the ground – both knees and hands are placed on the ground.

2. Squeeze your abs muscles.

3. While maintaining your squeezed abs, simultaneously raise one arm and the opposite leg. Make sure that your hips do not rotate when extending your arm and legs.

4. Hold this position for 30s.

5. Bring both arm and leg down to all-four and switch sides.

6. Repeat this 3-5 times.

If raising both arm and leg is too difficult, start of by raising either one leg or one arm at a time. In contrast, the bird-dog can be made more difficult by drawing circles with the arm and foot at the same time for 30s.

Final Thoughts

Since I have emphasised the importance of building a strong core, I recommend that you incorporate these exercises into your training routine, either before or after training. Although these exercises may seem simple and boring, they are very beneficial. Be patient. You will start to see the benefits when your core starts getting stronger.

If you are looking for even more advanced core exercises, stay tuned to my next article.

#core #corestrengthening #coreexercises #homeworkout #fitness #strength #lowerbackpain

References

1. Oliver G, Adams-Blair H. Improving Core Strength to Prevent Injury. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. 2010;81(7):15-19.

2. Hibbs A, Thompson K, French D, Wrigley A, Spears I. Optimizing Performance by Improving Core Stability and Core Strength. Sports Medicine. 2008;38(12):995-1008.

3. Cabanas-Valdés R, Bagur-Calafat C, Girabent-Farrés M, Caballero-Gómez F, Hernández-Valiño M, Urrútia Cuchí G. The effect of additional core stability exercises on improving dynamic sitting balance and trunk control for subacute stroke patients: a randomized controlled trial. Clinical Rehabilitation. 2016;30(10):1024-1033.

4. Core Strengthening Programme Designed by Experts | Physio Room [Internet]. Physioroom.com. 2020 [cited 8 May 2020]. Available from: https://www.physioroom.com/prevention/core_strength/index.php

5. McGill S, Karpowicz A. Exercises for Spine Stabilization: Motion/Motor Patterns, Stability Progressions, and Clinical Technique. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2009;90(1):118-126.

6. Stover M. What Is My Core, and Why Is Core Strength Important? - Core Connection Studios [Internet]. Core Connection Studios. 2020 [cited 8 May 2020]. Available from: https://www.pilateshelena.com/2017/04/18/core-core-strength-important-2/