What is your core?
Your core is made of four muscular areas. In the front you have the well known abdominals composed of four layers: rectus abdominals (six pack muscles), internal obliques, external obliques, and transverse abdominals. In the back you have your multifidus which are your deep spine stabilizers.
The top of your core is comprised of your diaphragm, our primary breathing muscle. Last but certainly not least is the bottom of our core made up of our pelvic floor muscles which hold up everything in our abdominal region. Oftentimes the muscles of our core are thought of as a canister since they surround and contain many of our vital organs and structures.
What does it do?
As mentioned above the core is responsible for holding vital organs such as our stomach and bladder, but it also plays an important role in stabilizing the rest of our body. We may think of our movements coming from our limbs but it all stems from having a stable core. Our core is extremely important in absorbing and dispersing forces. For example, if someone were to throw a basketball at you you might react first with your hands and arms, but you’d also likely find your trunk rotating backwards to absorb the impact to your arms. Similarly, if you were to throw the basketball back, you would initiate from your arms but would soon find your trunk joining as well. Our core plays a vital role in our body’s stability and power output and it’s important we involve all components of our core, not just the well known abdominals.
How do I engage it?
The most important part of our core are the deep stabilizers, comprised of our transverse abdominals, multifidi, pelvic floor, and diaphragm. These muscles can be challenging to contract but when engaged provide immense support to our body. Follow along on our Flex PT Instagram page through the month of October for demonstrations and tips on how to engage your core properly.
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