Studies show that exercises to strengthen your core are one of the most effective treatments for back pain, and the reverse is also true: A strong core is your best defense against developing back pain.
Strong core muscles are indispensable for every movement you make, from bending over to pet your dog to enjoying a walk in the park. It goes without saying that they’re crucial for athletes who want to maintain optimal performance.
But let’s first understand the core.
When most people think about the core of the body they think of the abdominal or six-pack area just below the ribs. While the abdominal muscles are an important part of the core, we consider other areas important, too.
Your core includes:
- Front abdominal muscles — the rectus abdominis.
- Muscles along the side of your body — the internal and external obliques.
- A deep muscle that wraps around the front — the transverse abdominal.
- Muscles in your back that are located between your spine bones and run along your spine — the erector spinae and multifidi.
Your core also includes your diaphragm, muscles of the pelvic floor, hip flexors, and gluteal muscles.
Core muscles support your back
Your core muscles are vital for a healthy back because they’re solely responsible for spinal stability. These muscles must carry the weight of your body and step up to the challenge when the load increases.
Whether the additional load is healthy and normal — sports, exercise, and everyday activities like bending and lifting — or the result of gaining weight, you depend on your core muscles for every movement you make.
Transverse abdominis muscle
The transverse abdominis muscle is located under your obliques (the muscles that create a six-pack). It forms the front and sides of your abdomen, wrapping around to connect with tissues that run alongside the spine.
In its role as a core muscle, the transverse abdominis stabilizes the pelvis and lower back before you begin to move. It also pulls your abdomen in toward your spine and maintains good posture.
Multifidus and erector spinae muscles
The multifidus muscle runs along your spine, providing stabilization and promoting proper function of the vertebral joints. The erector spinae are large muscles on both sides of the spine. They straighten your back and support side-to-side movement.
Strong core muscles prevent back pain
Strong core muscles maintain your balance, help you avoid awkward movement, and prevent unwanted strains or sprains. They also allow your body to transfer force and stress through your muscles rather than your spine, which significantly reduces your risk for back pain.
The muscles in your back keep vertebrae properly aligned and stabilize spinal joints. Abdominal muscles maintain proper spine curvature and a neutral pelvic tilt, which is important for preventing back pain.
When you contract your abdominal muscles, pressure inside your abdominal cavity increases. This activity lifts weight and pressure off your spine.
The other muscles in your core also have important roles when it comes to preventing back pain. For example, weak hip muscles affect your balance, while the gluteus muscles stabilize your hip joints. Both groups of muscles support your lower back when you’re walking.
As a collective group, the core muscles work synergistically to prevent back injuries and disc problems that can cause substantial pain and immobility.
It’s also worth noting that Core Stability and Core Strength are
different
Core stability and core strength are terms that are often used interchangeably when speaking about training the trunk musculature, whether in the rehab or performance settings. The fact is that they are quite different.
Training for core stability requires resisting motion at the lumbar spine through activation of the abdominal musculature as a whole.
Training for core strength allows for motions to occur through the lumbar spine in an attempt to work the abdominal musculature, often in an isolated fashion.
The most important aspect of abdominal muscle performance is obtaining the control that is necessary to:
- Appropriately stabilize the spine.
- Maintain optimal alignment and movement relationships between the pelvis and spine.
- Prevent excessive stress and compensatory motions of the pelvis during movements of the extremities.
All three have to do with stability versus strengthening and force production.
Examples of core strengthening exercises include:
- Crunches and rotational crunches
- Sit-ups
- Superman/back hyperextensions
- Leg raises
- Side bends
- Many rotational exercises with medicine balls or resisted swings
Not all of the above are inherently poor choices. They are just performed incorrectly most of the time with no thought to pre-stabilize and limit motion.
Core stability exercises must resist motion through the lumbar spine and attempt to engage the abdominal muscle group as a whole in a ‘reactive sense’. Ultimately, the goal is to create an environment through exercise that can enable one to engage reflexively just as would in real life and in sports.
Before getting into specific exercises it should be discussed how best to engage the abdominals. Most of that debate revolves around ‘hollowing’ vs ‘bracing’. According to McGill, hollowing will engage the TA but has the effect of shutting down the other abdominal muscles so overall stability is lost. He is a proponent of bracing which attempts to engage the entire abdominal wall and also has the effect of recruiting the trunk extensors to form a girdle around the trunk.
A brace is simply tightening as if someone was going to punch you in the stomach. This is often done at the expense of posture, i.e. bearing down and flexing the t-spine, protracting the c-spine,
What you should know about exercising to strengthen your core
There are many core exercises, but they’re not all appropriate for everyone. The type of exercises included in your strengthening program depend on your overall health and whether you have any injuries or weaknesses.
Your program should also achieve and maintain muscle balance by incorporating exercises that work all of your core muscles.
If you have back pain or you’ve suffered a back injury, it’s essential to get a a doctor approval before engaging in any form of exercises.
Can you injure your back by trying to strengthen your core?
YES. Any exercise performed incorrectly, whether it is core-strengthening or otherwise, has the potential to cause discomfort.
Twisting exercises or even incorrectly completing the exercises cited above can cause pain in the low back. But it’s highly unlikely that one repetition of an exercise will seriously harm your body, unless it’s an exercise using a very heavy weight.
The best way to keep your body safe is to listen to body cues such as pain during and immediately after an exercise, and the next day after exercising.