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Posted on Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 9 a.m.

Anatomy Made Easy: What is the core? It's about interconnectedness

By Heather Glidden

glidden-apple-core.png

Taken from public-domain-photos.com

Last week I asked what you think ‘the core’ is and why it is important. Most of you didn’t respond, but perhaps you have been quietly contemplating for the last week. I have had many clients come to me for Pilates and Gyrotonic training over the years saying that they want a stronger core, but, when questioned, they often can’t really tell me what this is or why they want it.

“I just want stronger abs,” is a common answer. So what is the core?

Well, it might be a movie about drilling to the center of the earth. Or it might consist of the muscles around your trunk and pelvis, specifically the muscles of your stomach, back and hips. It might consist of muscles that run the length of the trunk and torso, stabilizing the spine, pelvis and shoulder girdle.

Different experts have different opinions about what specific muscles comprise the core. For example, I have been told by people that I know and trust that the pelvic floor, deepest abdominal muscles, diaphragm and deep spinal rotators make up the core or, in contrast, that the core is comprised of the all of the abdominal muscles plus the hip rotators and the muscles of the thighs. Top that off with a widespread belief that the core is all about abdominal muscles and nothing else. The result is that the term ‘the core’ has become a real pet peeve for me, because I never know quite what a person is thinking about when they use it.

Since it looks as though we may be defeated, for the time being, in defining precisely what the core is, let us take a look for a moment at what the core does. Returning to the above articles, several purposes listed for a strong core include:


  • balance and stability;

  • ease of physical activity;

  • protection of the back;

  • providing a stable center of gravity;

  • improving athletic performance; and

  • keeping correct alignment/decreasing injury.

I would argue that all of these purposes clearly point to the core as the part of the body where forces enter from the limbs or where they are translated out to the limbs, a bit like an electrical switching station. The benefit of having a strong core, then, is so that these forces can be efficiently transferred without getting lost (efficiency here will help athletic performance) or ‘stuck’ (as often happens when compressive or shearing forces cause injury to the spine). With this definition, it might be possible to think of any muscles in the trunk, the hip, the thighs, and even the shoulders as core muscles.

So what do I want you to take away from this week’s post? Mostly I want you to take away the understanding that there isn’t just one definition for the core, and that abdominal muscles definitely aren’t the whole story of the core.

If you take away one other morsel though, take away the idea of interconnectedness in your body. The core of the apple is connected to the rest of the apple — this is apparent. But we often treat our arms and our legs as though they are stuck to our torsos yet separate from them. As you go about your day today, notice how you can create a sense of moving from the center of your body out through your limbs, rather than starting the movement at the end of the limb.

Let me know how it goes!

Heather Glidden owns Willow Wellness Studio in downtown Ann Arbor where she teaches Gyrotonic and Pilates and practices massage. She is passionate about helping people to learn more about their bodies. Got a body question? E-mail her at info@WillowWellnessStudio.com and she will do her best to answer it or find someone who can! Look for her posts on Friday mornings.

Comments

Heather Glidden

Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 5:41 p.m.

One reader emailed to remind me about this important story that ran in the New York Times last year: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/core-myths/?emc=eta1 Yet another reminder about the importance of balanced strength.