Pilates Powerhouse

Concept of Core Muscles

CORE (n.)
The central or innermost part of anything, the central or most important part.

STABILITY (n.) [ Latin stabilis, to stand ]
The state or quality of being stable, or fixed; steadiness, the capacity of an object to return to equilibrium or its original position after being displaced.

Understanding Your Core

When you walk or run, you are probably thinking more about putting one foot down in front of the other than you are about your core muscles.
But did you know that your core is where all movement in your body originates ?
Not only that, but when you run - or walk, ride a bike or skip across a room - your core muscles are hard at work, keeping you upright, stabilizing your body as your weight shifts and absorbing impact from ground forces.

Your body's "core" - the area around your trunk and pelvis - is where your center of gravity is located.
When you have good core stability, the muscles in your pelvis, lower back, hips and abdomen work in harmony.
They provide support to your spine for just about any activity.

Over time, a weak core can make you susceptible to poor posture and injury.
For instance, the weaker your core muscles, the more likely you are to experience lower back pain.
Strong core muscles keep you protected from such injuries.

Learning how to identify and properly activate your core muscles can be learned through some Pilates basic exercises.
Even if you have muscular arms and legs, if your core muscles are weak, you won't be able to move as efficiently - your muscles won't respond as readily to the task at hand.

A strong core creates the stabilization necessary to carry your groceries or pick up your toddler - not to mention going the distance while playing golf or tennis or jogging.
Core strengthening is about working your muscles from the inside out.
The muscles targeted in core strengthening exercises are those in your trunk - they are layered, overlapping and connected to each other.

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Core Muscles

Twenty-nine muscles make up your body's core.
Some of the major muscles include those in your back (multifidus, erector spinae) and your abdomen (external oblique, transversus abdominis, rectus abdominis).

Your core muscles work in harmony to provide stability to your body and protect you from injury.
The intrinsic muscles ("core stabilizing muscles") are responsible for joint stability, mobility, and posture.

Strong abdominal muscles are vital to support us in our daily living.
It is critical to the health of our backs to strengthen all of our core muscles and not just our Rectus Abdominis.
We need to be training these muscles specifically to their function in life.

When we look at the anatomy of the abdominal muscle, we need to be aware of many muscles.
Each muscle has a different profile and function.

It is important to understand the location and function of each abdominal muscle to get a good understanding of how the muscle actually works.
The core muscle groups are the Transverse Abdominis, the internal and external Obliques, the Rectus Abdominis, the Erector Spinae, and the pelvic floor muscles.

The Transverse Abdominis are the deepest fibers of the abdominal wall.
The function of the transverse muscle is to compress the abdominal contents acting as an abdominal girdle.
The transverse muscle wraps all around our body and inserts into our spinal column.
It is located at or below the belly button.

The Internal and External Obliques are located on the sides of the core area.
When the Obliques are activated on only one side of the body, they operate to rotate the trunk and laterally flex the body (bend to the side).
When they contract on both sides concurrently, they aid in flexing the vertebral column and compressing the abdominal wall.

The Rectus Abdominis, which is the most superficial, muscle group of the core area and functions to flex the spine.
The Rectus Abdominis works with all of the other core muscles to stabilize the pelvis when walking.

The Erector Spinae muscles are the prime movers in back extension.
They are not abdominal muscles but are vital lower back muscles, which add greatly to trunk strength and stability.

The Pelvic floor muscles do not have any connection or relation to the abdominal muscles but are crucial to having a strong back.
When you contract the pelvic floor muscles (by doing a Kegel exercise) at the same time as you contract your transverse muscles it produces a contraction in the Multifidus muscles, which are deep muscles that are on either side of all you Vertebrae.
These muscles are directly responsible for stabilizing your spine.

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