The Benefits of Core Strength

July 20th, 2009 posted by admin
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Over the past 5-10 years, there has been plenty of talk about your “core strength”. Balls, BOSU’s and other stability equipment has become an intrinsic part to many training regime’s. So I thought I’d shed some light on exactly what your “core” is and why it’s important to work on your core strength.

Contrary to popular belief, your core isn’t your six-pack muscle, or even just your abdominals. It’s actually not one single muscle, but more a combination of muscles that support your spine and add stability to your torso. Some very important core muscles include your transverse abdominus, multifidus, erector spinae and your gluteals.

When you are performing core work, the focus of this style of exercise is not going to change your physique by enlarging your muscles by any noticeable degree. Standard resistance training will accomplish this. Specific core work will strengthen the muscles surrounding your spine. Note that these are “supportive” muscles and not muscles that really affect your physique.

The benefits of having a stronger core are very important, no matter what your goal. Having a stronger core significantly reduces the risk of injury, particularly spinal, because your spine will be more effectively supported. You will also be stronger as a result of less energy wastage from a weak core.

This decreased risk of injury doesn’t only hold true when performing weight training or sport. In fact, a stronger core minimises this injury risk in everyday life. Whether your are bending over and picking something up, or lifting something heavy above your head, a strong core helps in supporting your back, which is one of the most common sites of injury.

There are many core exercises – some relatively easy and some extremely difficult. Due to the difficulty of some advanced core exercises, they can be quite dangerous if you haven’t established a good foundation of core strength. I’ll save the “types” of core strength exercises for another blog post.

Also interestingly, core strength exercises don’t necessarily have to include a ball, BOSU or another piece of stability apparatus. Something as common as lunges can have a very positive impact upon core strength and stability!