If you suffer from any type of back pain or are struggling to get over a back injury then spend 2 minutes reading the following article to fully understand your condition and what to do about it ... Struggling with back pain, jump on the ‘core strengthening’ train: Numerous muscles in your torso make up the ‘core muscle group’, such as Transverse Abdominus, Internal and External Obliques and Rectus Abdominus (6 pack). They work together along with other muscles and tendons running down your spine to the side of your vertebral column - Multifidus and Erector Spinae. Also the pelvic floor muscles provide a sling running from back to front, from the bottom tip of the spine (the tail bone) to the front of the pelvis. It contracts simultaneously with the transverse abdominus to form the bottom of the cylinder of muscles making up ‘the core’. When all these muscles contract together they keep the spine in its most stable position and aid in preventing injury by ensuring that your torso remains steady and stable while you run, cycle, swim, row, throw, kick, swing, jump, squat, bench press or are simply lifting objects at home or work. They are in fact known to contract prior to any arm or leg movement and so they function in keeping the torso supported and stable during all movement. When our core muscle group is weak or not functioning as it should two things occur: Firstly when we move, the torso acts as an anchor that is able to generate and disperse force throughout our limbs. If our ‘anchor’ is weak it can move around and become unstable when we perform different movements. It is precisely at this point we are most vulnerable to injury. Recent evidence has found that in people with lower back pain, these core muscles fail to contract before limb movement and so the spine is vulnerable to injury. Secondly our core strength has a direct correlation with our overall strength and power. If our core muscles are weak, the strength and power our limbs are capable of producing is not generated efficiently due to energy and forces being wasted in the movements through the torso in our attempts to correct our posture and balance ourselves. Therefore we are not performing to our full potential and again it is these forces being dispersed through the torso and spine rather than the limbs that put us at risk of injury if the core muscles are not strong enough to stabalise the torso effectively and protect the spine. Put simply, Increases in core strength = increases in overall strength and power + decreases in potential injuries. Thus retraining these muscles to contract at the right time is the fundamental theory of ‘core stability’ and the base starting point for not only most back injury rehabilitation cases, but most strength and conditioning exercise programs in general, no matter what level of exercise you are at. If you are struggling with back pain or an injury, then I invite you to come and talk to one of the trainers at Stepz Fitness Stones Corner to find out more about strengthening your ‘core’ or call Aaron Curtis on 0450 804 037 today about designing a comprehensive ‘core’ strengthening program to get you back on your feet and shrugging off that niggling, annoying, debilitating back pain for good. - Aaron Curtis (Stepz Fitness Personal Trainer) 0450 804 037
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 09:45:01 +0000
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