The Body's Core

One of the latest terms thrown around at any gym is “the core.” Although most people think it’s just the abs, there is a lot more to it than that.

The core actually refers to muscles from the shoulders down to the hips, the entire midsection of the body. It’s the basis for all movement. Think of it as the foundation of a house.  If the foundation is flawed or weak, the entire house is a risk.  It is the same way with your body.

This knowledge is changing how athletes train for events like swimming, running and golfing. Trainers and coaches are realizing when athletes learn to use the core as a basis for movement, huge return on training time investment can be made. 

A technique called Chi-Running focuses on making your core do the all the work instead of relying on your legs to help you run. This technique is the best way to run for marathon racers, triathletes or other endurance activities. The core is stronger than the legs and can stay strong through out the race. If you relied solely on the legs to push through, they would give out on you a lot quicker. 

“Isn’t it amazing that people take better, more proactive care of their cars than their bodies?” writes Mark Verstegen, author of Core Performance.  He points out that we change the oil in our car every 3,000 miles, take it to the shop when it doesn’t seem to run quite right.  All for an investment that will have little to no value in 8 to 10 years.  But we don’t go to the doctor until something is very wrong.

“When it comes to your health, you’re either going to pay now or pay much later, and it’s a heck of a lot easier and better to make the proper investment now.” Vergstegen writes.

Back pain is rampant in our society. Luckily, a lot of it can be alleviated or minimized by strengthening the core muscles.

The best way to work the core is by utilizing a stability ball.  They are those big balls that people sit on and perform exercises which look really easy. When you try it, you’ll discover it’s a lot more difficult than it looks.  Just sitting on the ball works the core. Sit up straight with your shoulders back and belly button pulled in towards your spine.  There are lots of exercises you can do to strengthen these muscles.  The great thing is that you can always improve your core.  It responds quickly once you start training.

For information about training the core visit the Links button on the left.  It will direct you toward resources discussed in this article.