“The return of the core”
‘Part Two’
Now then what where we taking about……..oh yes core stability. Lets cast our minds back to last’s month edition when we discussed (if discussion can be one sided!) core stability. Can you remember what I asked you to do? Allow me to recap.
Abdominal hollowing – Start by lying on your back with knees bent. Your lumbar spine should be neither arched up nor flattened against the floor. But aligned normally with a small gap between the floor and your back. This is the ‘neutral’ lumbar position you should learn to achieve.
Breathe in deeply and relax all your stomach muscles. Breathe out and, as you do so, draw your lower abdomen inwards as if your belly button is going back towards the floor. Personal Trainers describe this as ‘zipping up’ – as if you are fastening a tight pair of jeans.
Please try not to -
Let the whole stomach tense up or your upper abdominals bulge outwards, as this means you have cheated by using the large rectus abdominus muscle (the so called six pack, there’s actually eight muscles, but don’t tell anybody!) instead of transverse abdominis TA.
Brace your TA muscle too hard; just gentle contraction is enough. Remember its endurance not max strength you are trying to improve.
Tilt your pelvis or flatten your back, as this means you have lost the neutral position you are trying to learn to stabilise.
Hold your breath, as this means you are not relaxed. You must learn to breathe normally and maintain the co-contraction of TA and MF (the deep lumbar muscle – multifidus)
Please try to –
Use your fingers for ‘biofeedback’ on either side of your lower abdomen to feel the tension in the TA muscle.
Once you have mastered the abdominal hollowing lying on your back, practise it lying on your front, four-point kneeling, sitting and standing. In each position get your lumbar spine in neutral before you perform the hollowing movement.
The next step…
Having learned to recruit the TA and MF muscles correctly in various positions, which can take anything from one session to one month or more, it is time to move onto simple core stability exercises. These may also involve the oblique muscles, other lumbar muscles and gluteals to assist the TA and MF in maintaining the lumbar spine in a stable neutral position. Below I have chosen two very useful examples, but there are many others included in Personal Training sessions that can be incorporated at this stage of core stability learning.
Lying leg-lift stabilisation
Lie on your back with your knees bent, ensuring your back is in neutral and placing your hands on your hips for biofeedback.
Breathe in and relax. Breathe out and, as you do so, perform the abdominal hollowing or zipping-up action;
Once you have established some TA tension, slowly slide your left leg out along the floor until is straight, then slide it back. Your back should not have moved, and your pelvis should not have tilted as you performed this action. If your back or pelvis moved, you did not achieve the correct stability. Remember the coaching points we have discussed and ensure you follow them, otherwise you will jeopardise the training;
Don’t forget you’ve two legs so repeat for the other side, 10 times each leg.
After the feedback we have had, Nicola and I have decided to do a further month of this subject. Next month we will discuss the final chapter of this subject and give you some more exercises to do.
Now would like to get your hands a core stability ball (steady matron!) just answer the following question-
Q – The inflatable ball used for core stability is commonly know as, (surprise, surprise) ‘a core stability ball’, but what other name are they known by ?
Answer to – davey@peak-pt.co.uk by the end of September please. We will let you know who has won in October’s edition of ‘Wynyard Life’
Take care, and till next time.
Yours in fitness
Davey