Your Core is your CORE! Get the most out of your work outs!

Your Core is your CORE!

The term "core" in core exercise is relatively new, but athletes and other persons participating in physical fitness activities have been doing core routines since at least the time of the ancient Greeks, more than 2500 years ago. For example, wrestling, the ancient Greeks' most popular organized sport, is grounded in core stability and strength. More recently, in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, high school "phys ed" classes emphasized squat thrusts, jumping jacks, pushups, pullups, and abdominal strengthening. Thus, before the advent of today's fitness centers and the large number of personal trainers teaching members how to do an abdominal curl-up on a physioball, core exercises were part of the regular curriculum of all public school students in ninth grade and beyond. Core exercise is not new, but the need for core training became lost in the 1980s fitness boom that focused on "aerobics" and "cardio", and secondarily on strength training. Our team at AHP stresses the importance of core strength to rehabilitate and prevent injury! A strong core is your solid body foundation!

The importance of core training and the need to learn core exercises has undergone a resurgence recently, as the quantity and frequency of exercise-related injuries has skyrocketed. People eager to make healthier lifestyle choices, including those anxious to lose weight, have thronged their local fitness centers. But although it seems simple and straightforward to pedal an exercise bike, lope up and down on an elliptical stair-stepper, lift a dumbbell, or press down or pull up on a machine-assisted exercise bar, if the exerciser's core muscles are deconditioned, injury is the likely result, sooner or later.1,2 Our team at AHP works one-on-one with patients to teach proper core-strengthening techniques for optimum results.

One of the most important core muscle is the "transversus abdominis", a sheet of horizontally oriented muscle fibers that lies beneath the more familiar abdominal muscles, that is, the rectus abdominis, internal obliques, and external obliques.3Core muscles include the mutifidi and rotatores, small, deep spinal muscles that connect and help move pairs and groups of spinal vertebras, and other back muscles such as the erector spinae and longissimus thoracis. Everyone needs to train the core as a primary component of an ongoing program of regular, vigorous exercise. There are innumerable highly effective core exercises and most do not require any equipment. A physioball provides the opportunity for variety and increasing levels of difficulty. Such accessories are low cost and available at AHP right now!.

As with all forms of exercise, start slow and build strength and endurance gradually. It doesn't take long to notice the benefits of a regular core routine, including enhanced spinal flexibility, improved balance, and a flatter abdominal region.

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Our goal at AHP is to bring you the information you find interesting, relevant and thought-provoking. Our motto is the way we live...it’s “Feel Well. Live Well. Age Well.” And that’s what we want for you! This article focused on nutrition and our office in Norwalk offers nutritional counseling in addition to Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, Acupuncture, Managed Weight-Loss and Massage. If you have a question about this article or want to learn more about us please visit www.AHP-Health.com and reach out to us! And look for more from AHP in the near future as we post more on The Patch. If you liked this article, please give us a ”like” and share it with your friends!

About AHP
Since 1990, Advanced Health Professionals [AHP] has helped thousands of patients recover from pain and injury. AHP is Norwalk and Fairfield County’s leading provider of Physical Therapy, Chiropractic, Acupuncture and Massage services. We specialize in sports injuries, auto accident injuries, worker’s compensation, work injury, sport injury, auto accident injury, massage therapy, post-surgical, pre-surgical, back pain, hip pain, knee pain, joint pain, shoulder pain, elbow pain, wrist pain, rehab, neck pain, whiplash injury, rehabilitation - please call us for an immediate appointment. Our office is based in Norwalk and serves the surrounding areas of Fairfield County, Westchester County and other suburbs of New York City.

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1Chang WD, et al: Core strength training for patients with chronic low back pain. J Phys Ther Sci 27(3):619-22, 2015
2Southwell DJ1, et al: The acute effects of targeted abdominal muscle activation training on spine stability and neuromuscular control. J Neuroeng Rehabil 13(1):19, 2016
3Leonard JH, et al: Changes in Transversus Abdominis Muscle Thickness after Lumbo-Pelvic Core Stabilization Training among Chronic Low Back Pain Individuals. Clin Ther 2015;166(5):e312-6. doi: 10.7417/T.2015.1884