What is Core Stability?

Core stability refers to the stability of the spine, which enables it to stay “intact” during physical activity and everyday movement. The core muscles help to stabilize the spine and protect it, providing a solid base from which all movement can safely and effectively take place. Essentially, having good core stability allows you to correctly use the muscles of your core to resist unwanted movement of the spine (think about the time you bent over to tie your shoe and threw out your back!). Some great examples of core stability exercises are planks, side planks, bird dogs, and bridges. There are also many options to add an “unstable base” to your core stability exercises, such as an exercise ball or a foam roller, to help challenge your stability further.

What is Core Strength?

As the name suggests, core strength is the actual strength of the muscles of your core. For many people, the first thing that comes to mind is the abs (and doing endless stomach crunches to get that six-pack), but having core strength is so much more than that. Core strength is the ability of the muscles around the spine to contract together and thus stabilize and protect the spine. Having strong core muscles not only helps protect your spine from damage and pain, but also enables you to use your arms and legs more powerfully and effectively. Examples of core strengthening exercises include: crunches and rotational crunches, “supermans,” side bends, and spinal rotational exercises. Just like with stability workouts, there are also ways to further challenge core strength through the addition of light weights and medicine balls to add resistance to these types of exercises.

So What Now?

Your body needs a stable base (core stability) to be able to produce force with movement (core strength), so arguably, core stability exercises should be prioritized initially in your back health routine, adding strength elements where able. It’s for this reason that core strengthening exercises don’t have a place in many rehabilitative settings. Building this proper base will not only help you manage and avoid injury, but will also help you perform better too.

The reality is, most people don’t get hurt from a lack of core strength, but rather from a lack of core stability. Think of it this way: most low back injuries happen when we’re doing something rather innocuous (like getting out of bed, pulling up our pants, reaching to grab something off the floor that we dropped). It’s not that our muscles aren’t strong enough to pull up our pants (at least I hope not), it’s that the muscles didn’t properly activate when we needed them to, thus causing the spine to “change” in a way that it shouldn’t have.

You’ve got this, and I’ve got your back (no pun intended)!

Xo,
Christa D.

The post Core Stability and Core Strength: What’s the Difference (Why Do You Need Both?) appeared first on Healthy Back Life.

However, the truth is, the core is far more encompassing and has a much bigger role in your body than you may realize.

Definition of the Core

The core is a pretty complex system of muscles that wraps your body like a corset, from ribs to hips and belly to back. Simply put, if you remove your arms and legs, what remains is your core. There are actually 29 muscles of the core, all which all work together to help stabilize the body and transfer force between the upper and lower extremities.

Benefits of Core Training

The biggest benefit of core training is to develop functional fitness—the type of fitness that is essential to daily living and regular activities. This translates to the ability to get on and off the floor to play with your dog, stand up from a chair, sit comfortably at work, or vacuum and do yardwork without pain. A strong core also promotes more efficient movement, therefore preventing injury and improving performance.

Support Posture with Balanced Core

From a more granular back perspective, having strong and stable core muscles helps properly support your vertebrae and discs, helping to prevent postural issues, discomfort, injury, and pain.  When all the parts of the core work together correctly, you can better hold the position of the ribs and pelvis, maintain optimal diaphragm function, and allow the abdominal muscles to “show up” and do their job.

The stronger our core is, the easier activities like walking, workout out, and doing everyday household tasks becomes easier, more enjoyable, and less risky for the body.

Muscles in the Core

But before you take steps to strengthen your core, you first need to understand where it actually is so you can develop a back health regimen that best suits your current needs. Warning: Experts vary in which muscles they consider to be the core muscles, but the following list includes the most commonly identified core muscles as well as the lesser-known groups:

• Rectus abdominis: the front abdominal muscles that are responsible for the ‘six-pack ab’ look in very fit people.
• Erector spinae & multifidus: muscles in the back that are located between your spine bones and run along your spine.
• The internal and external obliques: the muscles along the side of your torso that are responsible for lateral flexion and rotation.
• Transverse abdominis:the deepest of the abdominal muscles, this muscle wraps around the torso, creating an effect similar to a back support belt.

Your core also includes the diaphragm (the breathing muscle) and the muscles of the pelvic floor (these are basically the muscles in the pelvis that “close”). I also consider the gluteal muscles as core muscles.

So when it comes to your back health, don’t just settle for a six-pack when you can strengthen your entire core! Abdominals often get all the credit for protecting the back, but they are only a small part of the back health equation. Rather than isolating the abs, core strengthening exercises are most effective when the torso works as a solid unit with both front and back muscles contracting at the same time.

You’ve got this, and I’ve got your back (no pun intended)!
Xo,
Christa D.

The post What Is the Core Exactly? appeared first on Healthy Back Life.

So once the initial inflammation phase of your injury is over, and you’re cleared to start moving again, before you hit the Yoga mat, I urge you to consider Pilates. But before you do, here are some things you should know:

What is Pilates?

Pilates is named for its creator, Joseph Pilates, who developed the exercises in the 1920s. Pilates not only fixes muscle imbalances, builds core strength, and improves flexibility, but its strategic focus is based on moving your spine in all six directions – all of which are critical for a healthy back.

Pilates is low-impact (so leave those sneakers at the door!) and combines flexibility, muscular strength, and endurance movements into one efficient workout. While many commercial fitness facilities have Pilates classes, anyone with an injury should consider pursuing a practice in a Pilates-specific studio with a trainer who specializes in sports/physical rehabilitations.

How Can Pilates Help Your Back?

Pilates focuses on the core postural muscles that help keep the body balanced and are essential to providing support for the spine. In particular, Pilates exercises teach awareness of neutral alignment of the spine (ie the most functionally ideal or “perfect” posture) and strengthening the deep postural muscles that support this alignment.

This concept is critically important for anyone with a back issue to understand and execute not just during their Pilates sessions, but in their daily lives. By implementing these techniques into your everyday life, which Pilates teaches you to do (and helps you obtain the muscle memory to keep doing it) you begin to fix the cause of your back problem, rather than only treat the symptoms.

How to Get Started With Pilates

I assume if you’re reading this, you have a back issue that you’re working through–therefore, I believe you would benefit from several one-on-one Pilates sessions with a certified, vetted Pilates instructor who specializes in rehabilitative Pilates. Note: many Stott-certified Pilates instructors hold this designation…you just need to do your research!

While a private session is more expensive than a group class class, the time, money, and effort devoted to learning the exercises correctly is well worth the investment (and just like anything else, after a while you will get good at it and may develop the ability to do a lot of the exercises at home). Remember: exercises performed incorrectly can make a back problem worse.

When I was first cleared for activity, I did twice-a-week, private sessions on a reformer (a fancy piece of equipment that most Pilates-specific studios have) with a Stott-certified trainer who specializes in back injury rehabilitation. After about four months, I scaled down to one private session a week, but added a reformer-based group class to the mix (these classes are small, 4-6 people). Now, that I’m stronger than I’ve ever been (thank you Pilates!), I do weekly group reformer sessions with the same crew every week, and then do my own exercises at home another 2-3 days a week.

Onward and Upward

Pilates was a key component to my back healing recovery, and now, it’s a part of my regular routine and daily life. While the investment up front was considerable, it proved to be worth it for me, and every penny was well spent. There was nothing about my healing journey that was conventional, so this should come as no surprise that I opted for Pilates over Physical Therapy (no, I’m not rich by any means and No, Pilates was not covered by my insurance, but PT would have been – so what does that tell you? Lol).

However, I urge you to follow your instincts and choose the path that is right for you. I don’t believe it needs to be a “one or the other” thing, you can always do a combination of both and see how you feel and how you progress. And of course, as always, make sure to consult with your doctor or specialist before beginning any new exercise program.

You’ve got this, and I’ve got your back (no pun intended)!
Xo,
Christa D.

The post Pilates and Back Health: What You Should Know appeared first on Healthy Back Life.