October 21, 2024 • 29 mins
Unlock the secrets of true core strength! Join me as we challenge the widespread myth that a strong core is all about abs. In this episode, we redefine what it truly means to have a robust core by exploring the intricate dance between the deep inner unit core musculature (including the deep abdominal wall), and other systems in the body. Discover how this structure forms a dynamic cylinder that not only stabilizes your spine and pelvis but also plays a crucial role in posture and movement efficiency.
The core is a pressure zone! We'll play with the metaphor of a water balloon to illuminate the fascinating pressure dynamics within the core.
Finding the power of the core is a personal movement journey,; unique for everyone. It's all about starting from where you are and building gradually. Tune in, embrace your current abilities, and remember: seeking guidance when needed is a strength, not a weakness!
Heart of Motion Podcast host Susannah Steers is a Pilates & Integrated Movement Specialist and owner of Moving Spirit Pilates in North Vancouver, BC. She is passionate about movement, about connections and about life.
Through movement teaching, speaking, and facilitating workshops, she supports people in creating movement practices that promote fitness from the inside out. She loves building community, and participating in multi-disciplinary collaborations.
Along with her friend and colleague Gillian McCormick, Susannah also co-hosts The Small Conversations for a Better World podcast – an interview based podcast dedicated to promoting the kind of conversations about health that can spark positive change in individuals, families, communities and across the globe.
Social Media Links:
Moving Spirit Pilates Instagram
Moving Spirit Pilates Facebook
Susannah Steers Instagram
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Susannah Steers (00:00):
Welcome to the Heart of Motion podcast.
I'm Susannah Steers and I'll beyour host as we explore the
heart, soul and science ofmovement as a pathway to more
active, vibrant and connectedliving.
Nothing happens until somethingmoves, so let's get started.
Welcome and thanks for joiningme this week.
(00:21):
We're going to start things offwith a quick word association.
Since this is Heart of Motion,we're going to stick to the
realm of movement and the body.
You ready?
Here we go!What's the very first thing that
pops into your mind when I sayyour "core?
If you said your abdominalmuscles, you're not alone.
You're not wrong, but you'reonly really partly right.
(00:45):
Do you know what your corereally is?
Do you know what it does?
If you don't, you're still notalone.
In all the years I've beenteaching movement and Pilates,
I've met a lot of people whoasked me to help them build a
strong core, and I would betmost of them thought that what
they were going to get was abunch of gut-busting abdominal
(01:06):
exercises.
Here's the thing thosegut-busting abdominal exercises
can be part of training awell-functioning core, but they
are by no means the whole story,and if you focus on the
gut-busting part before youfigure out how to connect to the
rest.
You may very well get prettyabdominal muscles, but you may
(01:27):
not get the benefits that you'veheard a strong core can bring.
Today, folks, I want to getdown to the nitty-gritty the
foundation, the center.
I want to talk about the body'score, what it is, what it isn't
, how it works and how we canimprove the ability of our core
to support stable, strong andfluid movement.
(01:50):
We're also going to talk aboutsome mind-body connections,
because those elements are notinsignificant when it comes to
working with the core.
All right, so what is it?
In general terms, the area knownas the core occupies that space
between the bottom of your ribsto the hips and the pelvis.
(02:10):
It's sometimes referred to as acanister or a cylinder or a
corset.
In the Pilates world, it'soften referred to as the
powerhouse.
In clinical circles, the coreis often described as having two
layers the deep system or innerunit, which, as the name
suggests, involves structuresthat lie deep inside our bodies,
(02:33):
close to the spine, and theouter unit, which involves the
bits that are more superficialand have different but
complementary function.
So why don't we start with areally super quick anatomy
lesson?
The inner unit, core, is madeup of, yes, abdominal muscles,
specifically the deepest layerof the abdominal muscles, known
(02:54):
as the transverse abdominis.
This muscle kind of wrapsaround your center, a little
like one of those big old WorldWrestling Federation title belts
a little like one of those bigold World Wrestling Federation
title belts.
The deep system also involvesyour deep back muscles, those
little short stabilizing onescalled the multifidus, and these
muscles are a little like achevron sign running up the back
(03:17):
of your body, connecting onevertebra to the next one, and
that makes up the front and theback of the cylinder.
On the top you have therespiratory diaphragm and on the
bottom the pelvic floor.
All these muscles haveattachments on the spine, around
the ribcage and on the pelvis.
If you can imagine themtogether as a cylinder, remember
(03:43):
that they form a dynamic,mobile cylinder.
When it's functioning well,it's this inner unit or deep
system that provides the lion'sshare of stabilizing support
that we need for the spine andthe pelvis as we move around in
the world.
A little further out from thecenter we have the outer unit,
core.
The outer unit includes, yes,more abdominal muscles.
These are the ones that peoplemore often think of as the sexy
(04:06):
ones, like the obliques, whichcreate sort of an X-shaped wrap
across the front of the trunkand the rectus abdominis, also
known as the six-pack muscles.
In the back of the body we havelong back muscles that run from
the base of the skull all theway down to the sacrum part of
your pelvis, and the shorterones which travel between the
bottom of the skull all the waydown to the sacrum part of your
pelvis, and the shorter oneswhich travel between the bottom
(04:27):
of the ribs to the top of theback of the pelvis, and they're
part of the outer unit too.
We can't forget muscles in theregion of the hip, like the
gluteal muscles of the buttocksand the psoas, which is a deep
hip flexor and spine stabilizer.
Now we could get reallygranular on this, but I don't
think we really need to do thatfor now.
But maybe it's important tonotice why we bother to split
(04:51):
the core up into the inner andouter units, because while both
are significant components inthe structure and function of
the trunk, they have differentbut complementary roles in our
posture and on our movement,have different but complementary
roles in our posture and on ourmovement.
So here's the Coles Notesversion.
Okay, the deep system core hassome really important and
fundamental jobs.
(05:11):
One is to provide a measure ofstability for the spine and the
pelvis as we move around.
Another is to provide acontainer for our abdominal
organs and it serves to helpkind of regulate the pressure
inside the abdominal cavity.
The core also provides posturalsupport.
Humans started off asquadrupeds and we've had to
(05:34):
evolve quite a system ofsupports to maintain our current
upright bipedal position.
In our most sedentary world.
We now do that with varyingdegrees of success.
Sedentary world we now do thatwith varying degrees of success.
This structure doesn't generateforce on its own.
It provides the foundation forefficient movement, good posture
and overall function andperformance for our daily
(05:56):
activities and exercises.
It's a basic support system.
The outer unit core has theadded responsibility of
transmitting forces between theupper and the lower body and
across the midline around ourspines.
The power for those kinds ofmovements doesn't originate in
the core, but it moves throughit.
(06:19):
The outer unit helps us to kickor throw a ball, paddle a canoe
and even walk, run and ski.
I think of the outer unit askind of a bridge between the
holding things together part ofus and the moving our bodies
around in the world parts of us.
If life were simple and ifbuilding strength and mobility
(06:39):
were just about the musclesthemselves, then, armed with
this knowledge, you could go andlearn a few exercises to
strengthen these individualmuscles and you'd be all set.
But I'm betting that you knowthat's not all there is to it.
Ultimately, building a goodcore is like building a strong
foundation for a house.
(06:59):
Mechanical images rarelytranslate to the body
effectively in real life, but Ithink the idea of the foundation
holds here.
If you have a house built on anunstable foundation, then the
windows might not shut properly,the stairs might get a little
crooked and unstable, theplumbing might not work well and
(07:21):
the whole building could shiftin ways that make that structure
uninhabitable.
The function of the core iseffectively to provide a stable
foundation for our bodies inmotion.
When it's providing flexibleand responsive stability,
supporting our breathing and ourorgans and integrating well
with other structures, justabout everything else in our
(07:44):
bodies works better.
Our bodies can organize allkinds of different movement in
ways that provides the mostpower with the least effort.
A good core makes us moreefficient, more fluid movers.
We enjoy better balance withall that that word means.
There's a saying I've heardrecently.
(08:05):
It might be from Dr PerryNicholson Forgive me if I'm
wrong and this saying is that abody losing range of motion is a
body crying out for stability.
If you're chronically tight andthose stretches you keep doing
are not giving you any relief,figuring out where your body
needs stability is probably agood place to start.
(08:28):
If you have ongoing issues withyour back or your pelvis or
heck, even your hips, your knees, your shoulders, your neck
pretty much any joint problemcan probably use some core
support, and if you have thatpain, especially after
weightlifting or doing heavierphysical activities, some core
stability training might help.
If you leak when you laugh orexert yourself, you've probably
(08:52):
got a pressure problem in thatcore cylinder.
First I'd say talk to a pelvichealth specialist who will
assess your whole body and notjust your pelvis, and then try
exploring some new corestrategies.
If you find you're constantlyshort of breath or sighing
heavily a lot and you haven'tgot something like asthma or
(09:14):
COPD, some exploration into therelationship between your core
and your breathing patternsmight be helpful.
If you've been pregnant, had acesarean section, a episiotomy
or diastasis recti or a herniaor any abdominal, spinal or
pelvic surgery, and then if youjumped right into ab exercises
(09:34):
to get your body back or hurryback into whatever movement is
your jam.
A good look at your corestrategies could help if you're
experiencing other movementchallenges now.
Now I'll admit I think lots ofstructural, postural and
movement problems can beimproved with some dedicated
core training.
(09:56):
Remember, we're talking aboutthe foundation, but maybe you
don't think of yourself ashaving an issue.
Maybe you're an athlete, you'refit, you have strong abs, you
feel like you're crushing it,but what are you tolerating in
your body?
Maybe you can't get the poweryou want or the follow through
of your tennis serve or yourswing or your kick.
(10:18):
Maybe you lose stability andcontrol or even just stamina in
a technical climb on your bike.
Maybe you're feeling likeagility is a losing game.
You can't quite cut and weavethe way you want.
Perhaps you've got chronictightness or pain in your hips,
your back, your shoulders orneck that you've just got used
(10:40):
to pushing through.
Do any of these sound familiar?
I started doing Pilates not formy core, but because I had an
ongoing chronic pain in my knees.
I had exhausted what themedical system could do for me
and I heard Pilates might help,so I tried it.
At first I was frustratedbecause my teachers wouldn't let
(11:02):
me work as hard as I wanted to.
It felt too gentle to give mewhat I thought I needed.
What I got instead was aneducation and a practice for a
very different way of gettingstrong.
In the process, I learned howto better recruit my core to
support my movement and I wasable to stop relying on my quads
(11:24):
, my thigh muscles, to doeverything, and my movement got
better.
My knee pain improved.
I was able to better balancemusculature around my joints in
a very different way.
I got more flexible, withstrength in the full range of
motion.
It really made me a betterathlete.
(11:48):
But first I had to let go ofthe idea that the only way to
gain strength was to push ashard as I could for as long as I
could.
Okay.
So wrapped into all of this isthe fact that the core is a
pressure zone.
Remember at the beginning ofthe episode when we talked about
(12:10):
the deep system core providinga container for our abdominal
organs.
Well, those organs are packedpretty tightly inside us within
a fascial bag called theperitoneum.
There is no wasted space inthat bag.
Picture it like a water balloon.
The balloon is the bag, theperitoneum and the organs are
(12:32):
all packed inside like the waterin a balloon.
So humor me for a minute andtry this with me.
I want you to pick up animaginary water balloon.
It's small, it fits in the palmof your hand.
So just feel the weight of it,put it in your hand and, you
know, roll it around, get toknow it.
Then I want you to put yourother hand gently on the top, so
(12:58):
the balloon is between thepalms of both hands, one hand on
top, one hand on the bottom.
Now I'd like you to squeezethat balloon between your hands,
not so hard that you'll burstit, but enough that there's some
decent imaginary pressure intoyour balloon.
What do you notice?
(13:18):
What happens to the balloonunder the pressure of your hands
?
Can you compress that ballooninto the smaller space that
you're creating with your hands?
Do the contents of that waterballoon get smaller to
accommodate the smaller space?
No, you can't compress it, canyou?
(13:39):
As you increase the pressure,the balloon kind of squishes
itself out the side.
It squooshes out to the areaswhere there is less pressure.
That's pressure dynamics 101.
Things move from zones of highpressure to zones of lower
pressure.
The same kind of thing happensin the core.
(13:59):
The way that the top, thediaphragm, the bottom, the
pelvic floor and the sides ofthat container, your abdominal
muscles and your back muscles,the way that all of those apply
pressure to the contents of theabdomen, will have an effect on
our ability to recruit thosecore muscles to support the
spine and to manage the overallfunction of the core itself.
(14:22):
So there are some pressureproblems that can have a
negative influence on the coreand those can come from all
kinds of places.
Something as simple as tightback muscles or pelvic floor or
even a tight diaphragm.
If you have twists in thepelvis and your spine, those can
have an effect on the cylinderitself.
(14:44):
If you have compensatorypatterning and overactive outer
unit muscles outer unit coremuscles, like really strong
obliques relative to a weaktransverse abdominal muscles,
those kinds of things make adifference.
Or something like your nervoussystem is locked in what we call
sympathetic drive, which meansyou were just constantly in
(15:08):
fight or flight.
You're driving, you're pushingand you're unable to soften into
the restorative functions ofyour body.
Other things are things likedamage to the soft tissues
themselves.
If you've had incisions ortears and there's scar tissue
from surgeries or accidents inyour abdomen, in your back, in
your pelvis.
(15:28):
Those are going to have aneffect on the container and
where the pressure moves insidethat container, there are all
kinds of things that affect theintegrity of that container and
the pressures within it.
When we realize that, we canbegin to understand that just
throwing more muscle at the coreis not always the best way to
(15:50):
increase capacity, especiallywhen more muscle is increasing
pressure in the wrong places.
I read a paper many years agocalled the Myth of Core
Stability.
In it, the writer described thedearth of evidence to prove
that strengthening individualcomponents of the core did
anything to improve stability inthe spine and the pelvis.
(16:13):
At first, the idea spun my headaround.
How could this be?
I'd spent my life, well, mostof my adult life working on
figuring out this core stabilitything, most of my adult life
working on figuring out thiscore stability thing.
But then I realized that it'snot about the muscles themselves
, it's about the communicationbetween them.
(16:34):
Yes, the muscles obviously needadequate capacity to do their
job, but they have to understandthe job and the workflow and
they have to work well withothers in order to do the job
effectively.
There's learning involvedLearning about our own movement
habits and recruitmentstrategies, learning how to
(16:56):
breathe well, learning how tolet go of patterns that no
longer serve us.
And, yeah, you can take thatone as deep as you want to go.
Much of the work involved increating core stability is about
motor control, and you can't dothat at Mach 10 and under heavy
loads.
You have to start where you canmake a reliable connection and
(17:18):
work from there.
I think that anyone over acertain age can use some
attention to the core.
Beyond those exercises youmight find on YouTube.
I thought I'd share some of thethings that I think are really
worth exploring in the process.
Typically, I start with breath.
Good breathing is thefoundation of good core control.
(17:41):
If you're not breathing well,everything else gets harder.
A really great breath patternmeans that you're doing gentle
core work with every breath youtake.
The vertical, piston-likemovement of the respiratory
diaphragm in relation to thepelvic floor not only creates
breath, it helps our organs, ourcirculation and our lymph
(18:04):
systems.
Respiration is tied to ournervous systems too, so you can
activate your fight or flight orsoften your rest and digest all
with your breath.
I encourage every single personI work with to spend some time
with their breathing before theyjump into any kind of core
training or even just whatevertheir workout is for the day.
(18:25):
Jump into any kind of coretraining or even just whatever
their workout is for the day.
The next place I go typically isto help them kind of find the
spine and free their thorax orthe rib cage.
I mean, I bet you don't spend alot of time thinking about or
feeling into your spine or yourribs.
A 3D felt sense relationship tothe spine can help us integrate
the core with the spine and thethorax themselves.
(18:49):
If you can feel what you'retrying to stabilize, you're
better able to make it happen.
Let's start with this.
Imagine each spinal segment,each one of your vertebra, like
a cork and that cork is sittingon a rising tide.
So the tide begins to come up.
(19:09):
The corks gently float on thetop.
Picture length and space inyour spine rather than shortness
and density.
Allow the ribs to float on yourlungs like driftwood on water,
instead of clamping them downand gripping the life out of
them.
If, as you add load and motion,you can maintain a sense of
(19:34):
length and ease throughout thespine and the thorax, you're
likely well on your way to goodcore stability and you're
probably on your way to morerelaxed movement, even at high
effort.
The next piece we typically lookat is the pelvic floor.
In a culture that spends waytoo much time sitting on our
(19:57):
duffs, the pelvic floorsometimes gets a little lost.
It gets buried underneathoverwork, in the butt and the
inner thighs and by our slouchyposture.
Once upon a time, every fitnessclass taught participants to
lift the pelvic floors witheverything they had.
Again, you want to have accessand muscle capacity, but you
(20:19):
don't want chronic tension inthe pelvic floor.
You don't walk around with yourbicep flexed all day.
Why would you want that for yourpelvic floor?
The muscles in the pelvic floorneed to be able to lengthen and
soften as well as engage.
If you can't do that, it mightbe that your pelvic floor is too
tight and probably pretty weak.
(20:41):
So try this.
Try folding up a hand towel,maybe a few times, so it's got a
little square, and then I wantyou to sit on it right between
your sit bones.
You'll feel a little bit ofpressure on your pelvic floor.
Sit up tall and breathe.
Imagine that breath going rightdown into your pelvic floor.
(21:01):
You might be able to feel alittle additional pressure onto
the hand towel you're sitting onas you breathe in and perhaps a
little less pressure as youbreathe out.
It might take some practice toallow the muscles to relax
enough to do this.
Take the time, forgeteverything you've been told
(21:23):
about your posture and what youshould do and just play with
this.
See what you can feel.
If you try that and then tryaccessing your deep abdominal
wall, you might have better luck.
All right, next piece would berelaxing the hips, and this is
also something that I find,especially among athletes.
Too much tone in and around thehips gets in the way of great
(21:47):
core stability, partiallybecause it shifts the position
of the pelvic and spinal bonesto the point where stress is
applied to the soft tissue anddiscs of the spine and likely
down into the hips and knees too.
Finding some balance in theinner thighs, your hip flexors,
your rotators and glutealmuscles allows for a more
neutral position of the thighand the hip sockets, your
rotators and gluteal musclesallows for a more neutral
(22:07):
position of the thigh and thehip sockets and makes it a
little easier to engage the coreso it can do its job.
It's not being inhibited bysome of these big guys.
The next one is to connect thepsoas.
Now, if you've never heard ofthis muscle, it's a long muscle.
There's two of them.
They're down either side of thespine, from the bottom of the
(22:31):
rib cage across the front of thepelvis to the top of the inner
thigh.
It's a deep hip flexor, somewould say a core muscle.
It helps to stabilize the spineand it really helps the thigh
muscle to find a deep seat inthe hip socket, bringing it
closer to the core and allowingfor a better transmission of
forces through the hip and thespine, among other things.
(22:53):
If you can tame some of themore superficial hip flexors
that like to do more, more oftenand less efficiently, and if
you can activate the psoas andallow it to be long and strong
for easy flexion in the hip,you'll probably find a better
connection to your core ingeneral.
(23:15):
The psoas also has aninteresting relationship with
the respiratory diaphragm andthe pelvic floor.
It's another one of those bitsthat seems to connect the being
and the doing sides of us, bitsthat seems to connect the being
and the doing sides of us.
And then here we are, we learnto recruit the transverse
(23:37):
abdominals, that deep abdominalwall.
Learning to recruit this is notsexy, but in conjunction with
learning to recruit the deeplumbar stabilizers, it will help
you support your spine inwhatever movements you take on.
It's not about working this oneharder.
These muscles need capacity andstamina.
Learn to engage them well incombination with the other
(23:59):
structures of the deep core.
Only add load to the point thatyou can maintain gentle support
and activation of this deepsystem.
And then we come back to thebreathing.
I'll bet that after you'veexplored all this stuff, you'll
find your breath comes moreeasily and more deeply.
That's a good sign that you'reprobably on the right track.
(24:22):
Keep breathing well.
It is the best and mostconsistent core training of all.
Now, once you've established agood connection with your core
and you can sustain all thethings we've talked about in a
relatively limited range ofmotion, it's time to begin to
move bigger, with differentloads in different directions.
(24:44):
This is how you strengthen thecore.
Test your ability to stayconnected.
You may find you have toconcentrate on one or two of the
things, like your breath or ooh, I need to keep track of my
spine while you do this stuff,and what you focus on may be
different from what your bestfriend needs to connect.
It's about your body and yourmovement.
(25:07):
The trick is to stay present andto stay connected.
More than likely in real life,you'll feel the effects of core
stability more than the musculareffort of core stability.
When you're nailing it.
Your motion will feel easierand lighter.
You won't have to strategizehow you're going to get
somewhere or how you're going todo something quite so hard.
(25:28):
You'll be able to move moreweight with less effort.
And if, as you increase yourload, you're not able to
maintain a sense of length andease or feel that stability, I
would suggest that maybe you'reworking beyond what your
structure has the ability tosupport well at the moment.
This is when we have to let goof our egos, back off a little
(25:53):
bit on the load for a bit, untilyou can sustain better support
in your deep system, and Iguarantee that the result will
be a better, more sustainablestrength in the long run.
Keep working at it, keeppushing it, but take the time.
It's not something you're goingto do at a boot camp.
I like to think of it this wayFirst we train access Like can
(26:16):
we actually connect to the deepsystem at all?
Once we can, we train control.
Can we control things enough tomaintain access to this deep
support while we move and do thethings we want to do.
Once we can do that, it's aboutbuilding stamina.
(26:37):
Deep core support is aboutstamina.
We want to be able to do it forlong periods of time, not just
in flashes here and there.
So can we maintain connectionwhile we do the things we need
to do and beyond.
Then we build more strength, weadd weight, we add bigger
ranges of motion, we work forlonger periods of time and we
(26:59):
throw some surprises in.
When something falls apart, wetake a step back and build back
up again.
Something falls apart, we takea step back and build back up
again.
It's that simple and that hard.
The core is designed to beresponsive to our movement, so
the only way to challenge it andtest it is out in the world
(27:19):
doing things.
There's a limit to what you'lllearn about your core in the gym
, so go do stuff, move around tothe fullest you are able.
Now the last thing I want toadd about the core is that it
has some pretty deep mind-bodyconnections.
How we are with ourselves andwith the world around us can
(27:44):
have some pretty profoundimpacts on the core If you are
constantly bracing and defendingyourself from the world around
you or if you're constantlydriving yourself forward with
little room for respite orself-compassion or self-care, it
may be challenging to connectto that deep system.
Your nervous system may not bein a state to promote a good
(28:07):
relationship there.
The doing parts of ourselvesand the being parts of ourselves
connect in the core throughbreath and that whole core
system.
Sometimes the work of findingthe core also means navigating
some of those things withinourselves.
(28:30):
So after all this, would I saythat the core is the holy grail.
Some folks make it out to be Atthe risk of incurring the wrath
of Pilates teachers everywhere.
I'll say no, movement is theholy grail.
A strong, responsive andresilient core just helps us get
there.
Wherever you are in all of this, it's a journey.
(28:53):
It doesn't have to becomplicated.
Start where you are, be there,explore that and build on
whatever you find.
There are people who can helpalong the way and you know, get
in touch with them, use them,ask them questions.
(29:13):
But this is your life, yourjourney, your movement, your
core.
Ultimately, it's a trip thatwill bring you closer to the
things that support you most.
I don't know about you, but Ithink that's a trip worth taking
(29:34):
.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
Subscribe and if you love whatyou heard, leave a five-star
review and tell people what youenjoyed most.
Join me here again in a coupleof weeks.
For now, let's get moving.
Welcome to the Heart of Motion podcast.
I'm Susannah Steers and I'll beyour host as we explore the
heart, soul and science ofmovement as a pathway to more
active, vibrant and connectedliving.
Nothing happens until somethingmoves, so let's get started.
Welcome and thanks for joiningme this week.
(00:21):
We're going to start things offwith a quick word association.
Since this is Heart of Motion,we're going to stick to the
realm of movement and the body.
You ready?
Here we go!What's the very first thing that
pops into your mind when I sayyour "core?
If you said your abdominalmuscles, you're not alone.
You're not wrong, but you'reonly really partly right.
(00:45):
Do you know what your corereally is?
Do you know what it does?
If you don't, you're still notalone.
In all the years I've beenteaching movement and Pilates,
I've met a lot of people whoasked me to help them build a
strong core, and I would betmost of them thought that what
they were going to get was abunch of gut-busting abdominal
(01:06):
exercises.
Here's the thing thosegut-busting abdominal exercises
can be part of training awell-functioning core, but they
are by no means the whole story,and if you focus on the
gut-busting part before youfigure out how to connect to the
rest.
You may very well get prettyabdominal muscles, but you may
(01:27):
not get the benefits that you'veheard a strong core can bring.
Today, folks, I want to getdown to the nitty-gritty the
foundation, the center.
I want to talk about the body'score, what it is, what it isn't
, how it works and how we canimprove the ability of our core
to support stable, strong andfluid movement.
(01:50):
We're also going to talk aboutsome mind-body connections,
because those elements are notinsignificant when it comes to
working with the core.
All right, so what is it?
In general terms, the area knownas the core occupies that space
between the bottom of your ribsto the hips and the pelvis.
(02:10):
It's sometimes referred to as acanister or a cylinder or a
corset.
In the Pilates world, it'soften referred to as the
powerhouse.
In clinical circles, the coreis often described as having two
layers the deep system or innerunit, which, as the name
suggests, involves structuresthat lie deep inside our bodies,
(02:33):
close to the spine, and theouter unit, which involves the
bits that are more superficialand have different but
complementary function.
So why don't we start with areally super quick anatomy
lesson?
The inner unit, core, is madeup of, yes, abdominal muscles,
specifically the deepest layerof the abdominal muscles, known
(02:54):
as the transverse abdominis.
This muscle kind of wrapsaround your center, a little
like one of those big old WorldWrestling Federation title belts
a little like one of those bigold World Wrestling Federation
title belts.
The deep system also involvesyour deep back muscles, those
little short stabilizing onescalled the multifidus, and these
muscles are a little like achevron sign running up the back
(03:17):
of your body, connecting onevertebra to the next one, and
that makes up the front and theback of the cylinder.
On the top you have therespiratory diaphragm and on the
bottom the pelvic floor.
All these muscles haveattachments on the spine, around
the ribcage and on the pelvis.
If you can imagine themtogether as a cylinder, remember
(03:43):
that they form a dynamic,mobile cylinder.
When it's functioning well,it's this inner unit or deep
system that provides the lion'sshare of stabilizing support
that we need for the spine andthe pelvis as we move around in
the world.
A little further out from thecenter we have the outer unit,
core.
The outer unit includes, yes,more abdominal muscles.
These are the ones that peoplemore often think of as the sexy
(04:06):
ones, like the obliques, whichcreate sort of an X-shaped wrap
across the front of the trunkand the rectus abdominis, also
known as the six-pack muscles.
In the back of the body we havelong back muscles that run from
the base of the skull all theway down to the sacrum part of
your pelvis, and the shorterones which travel between the
bottom of the skull all the waydown to the sacrum part of your
pelvis, and the shorter oneswhich travel between the bottom
(04:27):
of the ribs to the top of theback of the pelvis, and they're
part of the outer unit too.
We can't forget muscles in theregion of the hip, like the
gluteal muscles of the buttocksand the psoas, which is a deep
hip flexor and spine stabilizer.
Now we could get reallygranular on this, but I don't
think we really need to do thatfor now.
But maybe it's important tonotice why we bother to split
(04:51):
the core up into the inner andouter units, because while both
are significant components inthe structure and function of
the trunk, they have differentbut complementary roles in our
posture and on our movement,have different but complementary
roles in our posture and on ourmovement.
So here's the Coles Notesversion.
Okay, the deep system core hassome really important and
fundamental jobs.
(05:11):
One is to provide a measure ofstability for the spine and the
pelvis as we move around.
Another is to provide acontainer for our abdominal
organs and it serves to helpkind of regulate the pressure
inside the abdominal cavity.
The core also provides posturalsupport.
Humans started off asquadrupeds and we've had to
(05:34):
evolve quite a system ofsupports to maintain our current
upright bipedal position.
In our most sedentary world.
We now do that with varyingdegrees of success.
Sedentary world we now do thatwith varying degrees of success.
This structure doesn't generateforce on its own.
It provides the foundation forefficient movement, good posture
and overall function andperformance for our daily
(05:56):
activities and exercises.
It's a basic support system.
The outer unit core has theadded responsibility of
transmitting forces between theupper and the lower body and
across the midline around ourspines.
The power for those kinds ofmovements doesn't originate in
the core, but it moves throughit.
(06:19):
The outer unit helps us to kickor throw a ball, paddle a canoe
and even walk, run and ski.
I think of the outer unit askind of a bridge between the
holding things together part ofus and the moving our bodies
around in the world parts of us.
If life were simple and ifbuilding strength and mobility
(06:39):
were just about the musclesthemselves, then, armed with
this knowledge, you could go andlearn a few exercises to
strengthen these individualmuscles and you'd be all set.
But I'm betting that you knowthat's not all there is to it.
Ultimately, building a goodcore is like building a strong
foundation for a house.
(06:59):
Mechanical images rarelytranslate to the body
effectively in real life, but Ithink the idea of the foundation
holds here.
If you have a house built on anunstable foundation, then the
windows might not shut properly,the stairs might get a little
crooked and unstable, theplumbing might not work well and
(07:21):
the whole building could shiftin ways that make that structure
uninhabitable.
The function of the core iseffectively to provide a stable
foundation for our bodies inmotion.
When it's providing flexibleand responsive stability,
supporting our breathing and ourorgans and integrating well
with other structures, justabout everything else in our
(07:44):
bodies works better.
Our bodies can organize allkinds of different movement in
ways that provides the mostpower with the least effort.
A good core makes us moreefficient, more fluid movers.
We enjoy better balance withall that that word means.
There's a saying I've heardrecently.
(08:05):
It might be from Dr PerryNicholson Forgive me if I'm
wrong and this saying is that abody losing range of motion is a
body crying out for stability.
If you're chronically tight andthose stretches you keep doing
are not giving you any relief,figuring out where your body
needs stability is probably agood place to start.
(08:28):
If you have ongoing issues withyour back or your pelvis or
heck, even your hips, your knees, your shoulders, your neck
pretty much any joint problemcan probably use some core
support, and if you have thatpain, especially after
weightlifting or doing heavierphysical activities, some core
stability training might help.
If you leak when you laugh orexert yourself, you've probably
(08:52):
got a pressure problem in thatcore cylinder.
First I'd say talk to a pelvichealth specialist who will
assess your whole body and notjust your pelvis, and then try
exploring some new corestrategies.
If you find you're constantlyshort of breath or sighing
heavily a lot and you haven'tgot something like asthma or
(09:14):
COPD, some exploration into therelationship between your core
and your breathing patternsmight be helpful.
If you've been pregnant, had acesarean section, a episiotomy
or diastasis recti or a herniaor any abdominal, spinal or
pelvic surgery, and then if youjumped right into ab exercises
(09:34):
to get your body back or hurryback into whatever movement is
your jam.
A good look at your corestrategies could help if you're
experiencing other movementchallenges now.
Now I'll admit I think lots ofstructural, postural and
movement problems can beimproved with some dedicated
core training.
(09:56):
Remember, we're talking aboutthe foundation, but maybe you
don't think of yourself ashaving an issue.
Maybe you're an athlete, you'refit, you have strong abs, you
feel like you're crushing it,but what are you tolerating in
your body?
Maybe you can't get the poweryou want or the follow through
of your tennis serve or yourswing or your kick.
(10:18):
Maybe you lose stability andcontrol or even just stamina in
a technical climb on your bike.
Maybe you're feeling likeagility is a losing game.
You can't quite cut and weavethe way you want.
Perhaps you've got chronictightness or pain in your hips,
your back, your shoulders orneck that you've just got used
(10:40):
to pushing through.
Do any of these sound familiar?
I started doing Pilates not formy core, but because I had an
ongoing chronic pain in my knees.
I had exhausted what themedical system could do for me
and I heard Pilates might help,so I tried it.
At first I was frustratedbecause my teachers wouldn't let
(11:02):
me work as hard as I wanted to.
It felt too gentle to give mewhat I thought I needed.
What I got instead was aneducation and a practice for a
very different way of gettingstrong.
In the process, I learned howto better recruit my core to
support my movement and I wasable to stop relying on my quads
(11:24):
, my thigh muscles, to doeverything, and my movement got
better.
My knee pain improved.
I was able to better balancemusculature around my joints in
a very different way.
I got more flexible, withstrength in the full range of
motion.
It really made me a betterathlete.
(11:48):
But first I had to let go ofthe idea that the only way to
gain strength was to push ashard as I could for as long as I
could.
Okay.
So wrapped into all of this isthe fact that the core is a
pressure zone.
Remember at the beginning ofthe episode when we talked about
(12:10):
the deep system core providinga container for our abdominal
organs.
Well, those organs are packedpretty tightly inside us within
a fascial bag called theperitoneum.
There is no wasted space inthat bag.
Picture it like a water balloon.
The balloon is the bag, theperitoneum and the organs are
(12:32):
all packed inside like the waterin a balloon.
So humor me for a minute andtry this with me.
I want you to pick up animaginary water balloon.
It's small, it fits in the palmof your hand.
So just feel the weight of it,put it in your hand and, you
know, roll it around, get toknow it.
Then I want you to put yourother hand gently on the top, so
(12:58):
the balloon is between thepalms of both hands, one hand on
top, one hand on the bottom.
Now I'd like you to squeezethat balloon between your hands,
not so hard that you'll burstit, but enough that there's some
decent imaginary pressure intoyour balloon.
What do you notice?
(13:18):
What happens to the balloonunder the pressure of your hands
?
Can you compress that ballooninto the smaller space that
you're creating with your hands?
Do the contents of that waterballoon get smaller to
accommodate the smaller space?
No, you can't compress it, canyou?
(13:39):
As you increase the pressure,the balloon kind of squishes
itself out the side.
It squooshes out to the areaswhere there is less pressure.
That's pressure dynamics 101.
Things move from zones of highpressure to zones of lower
pressure.
The same kind of thing happensin the core.
(13:59):
The way that the top, thediaphragm, the bottom, the
pelvic floor and the sides ofthat container, your abdominal
muscles and your back muscles,the way that all of those apply
pressure to the contents of theabdomen, will have an effect on
our ability to recruit thosecore muscles to support the
spine and to manage the overallfunction of the core itself.
(14:22):
So there are some pressureproblems that can have a
negative influence on the coreand those can come from all
kinds of places.
Something as simple as tightback muscles or pelvic floor or
even a tight diaphragm.
If you have twists in thepelvis and your spine, those can
have an effect on the cylinderitself.
(14:44):
If you have compensatorypatterning and overactive outer
unit muscles outer unit coremuscles, like really strong
obliques relative to a weaktransverse abdominal muscles,
those kinds of things make adifference.
Or something like your nervoussystem is locked in what we call
sympathetic drive, which meansyou were just constantly in
(15:08):
fight or flight.
You're driving, you're pushingand you're unable to soften into
the restorative functions ofyour body.
Other things are things likedamage to the soft tissues
themselves.
If you've had incisions ortears and there's scar tissue
from surgeries or accidents inyour abdomen, in your back, in
your pelvis.
(15:28):
Those are going to have aneffect on the container and
where the pressure moves insidethat container, there are all
kinds of things that affect theintegrity of that container and
the pressures within it.
When we realize that, we canbegin to understand that just
throwing more muscle at the coreis not always the best way to
(15:50):
increase capacity, especiallywhen more muscle is increasing
pressure in the wrong places.
I read a paper many years agocalled the Myth of Core
Stability.
In it, the writer described thedearth of evidence to prove
that strengthening individualcomponents of the core did
anything to improve stability inthe spine and the pelvis.
(16:13):
At first, the idea spun my headaround.
How could this be?
I'd spent my life, well, mostof my adult life working on
figuring out this core stabilitything, most of my adult life
working on figuring out thiscore stability thing.
But then I realized that it'snot about the muscles themselves
, it's about the communicationbetween them.
(16:34):
Yes, the muscles obviously needadequate capacity to do their
job, but they have to understandthe job and the workflow and
they have to work well withothers in order to do the job
effectively.
There's learning involvedLearning about our own movement
habits and recruitmentstrategies, learning how to
(16:56):
breathe well, learning how tolet go of patterns that no
longer serve us.
And, yeah, you can take thatone as deep as you want to go.
Much of the work involved increating core stability is about
motor control, and you can't dothat at Mach 10 and under heavy
loads.
You have to start where you canmake a reliable connection and
(17:18):
work from there.
I think that anyone over acertain age can use some
attention to the core.
Beyond those exercises youmight find on YouTube.
I thought I'd share some of thethings that I think are really
worth exploring in the process.
Typically, I start with breath.
Good breathing is thefoundation of good core control.
(17:41):
If you're not breathing well,everything else gets harder.
A really great breath patternmeans that you're doing gentle
core work with every breath youtake.
The vertical, piston-likemovement of the respiratory
diaphragm in relation to thepelvic floor not only creates
breath, it helps our organs, ourcirculation and our lymph
(18:04):
systems.
Respiration is tied to ournervous systems too, so you can
activate your fight or flight orsoften your rest and digest all
with your breath.
I encourage every single personI work with to spend some time
with their breathing before theyjump into any kind of core
training or even just whatevertheir workout is for the day.
(18:25):
Jump into any kind of coretraining or even just whatever
their workout is for the day.
The next place I go typically isto help them kind of find the
spine and free their thorax orthe rib cage.
I mean, I bet you don't spend alot of time thinking about or
feeling into your spine or yourribs.
A 3D felt sense relationship tothe spine can help us integrate
the core with the spine and thethorax themselves.
(18:49):
If you can feel what you'retrying to stabilize, you're
better able to make it happen.
Let's start with this.
Imagine each spinal segment,each one of your vertebra, like
a cork and that cork is sittingon a rising tide.
So the tide begins to come up.
(19:09):
The corks gently float on thetop.
Picture length and space inyour spine rather than shortness
and density.
Allow the ribs to float on yourlungs like driftwood on water,
instead of clamping them downand gripping the life out of
them.
If, as you add load and motion,you can maintain a sense of
(19:34):
length and ease throughout thespine and the thorax, you're
likely well on your way to goodcore stability and you're
probably on your way to morerelaxed movement, even at high
effort.
The next piece we typically lookat is the pelvic floor.
In a culture that spends waytoo much time sitting on our
(19:57):
duffs, the pelvic floorsometimes gets a little lost.
It gets buried underneathoverwork, in the butt and the
inner thighs and by our slouchyposture.
Once upon a time, every fitnessclass taught participants to
lift the pelvic floors witheverything they had.
Again, you want to have accessand muscle capacity, but you
(20:19):
don't want chronic tension inthe pelvic floor.
You don't walk around with yourbicep flexed all day.
Why would you want that for yourpelvic floor?
The muscles in the pelvic floorneed to be able to lengthen and
soften as well as engage.
If you can't do that, it mightbe that your pelvic floor is too
tight and probably pretty weak.
(20:41):
So try this.
Try folding up a hand towel,maybe a few times, so it's got a
little square, and then I wantyou to sit on it right between
your sit bones.
You'll feel a little bit ofpressure on your pelvic floor.
Sit up tall and breathe.
Imagine that breath going rightdown into your pelvic floor.
(21:01):
You might be able to feel alittle additional pressure onto
the hand towel you're sitting onas you breathe in and perhaps a
little less pressure as youbreathe out.
It might take some practice toallow the muscles to relax
enough to do this.
Take the time, forgeteverything you've been told
(21:23):
about your posture and what youshould do and just play with
this.
See what you can feel.
If you try that and then tryaccessing your deep abdominal
wall, you might have better luck.
All right, next piece would berelaxing the hips, and this is
also something that I find,especially among athletes.
Too much tone in and around thehips gets in the way of great
(21:47):
core stability, partiallybecause it shifts the position
of the pelvic and spinal bonesto the point where stress is
applied to the soft tissue anddiscs of the spine and likely
down into the hips and knees too.
Finding some balance in theinner thighs, your hip flexors,
your rotators and glutealmuscles allows for a more
neutral position of the thighand the hip sockets, your
rotators and gluteal musclesallows for a more neutral
(22:07):
position of the thigh and thehip sockets and makes it a
little easier to engage the coreso it can do its job.
It's not being inhibited bysome of these big guys.
The next one is to connect thepsoas.
Now, if you've never heard ofthis muscle, it's a long muscle.
There's two of them.
They're down either side of thespine, from the bottom of the
(22:31):
rib cage across the front of thepelvis to the top of the inner
thigh.
It's a deep hip flexor, somewould say a core muscle.
It helps to stabilize the spineand it really helps the thigh
muscle to find a deep seat inthe hip socket, bringing it
closer to the core and allowingfor a better transmission of
forces through the hip and thespine, among other things.
(22:53):
If you can tame some of themore superficial hip flexors
that like to do more, more oftenand less efficiently, and if
you can activate the psoas andallow it to be long and strong
for easy flexion in the hip,you'll probably find a better
connection to your core ingeneral.
(23:15):
The psoas also has aninteresting relationship with
the respiratory diaphragm andthe pelvic floor.
It's another one of those bitsthat seems to connect the being
and the doing sides of us, bitsthat seems to connect the being
and the doing sides of us.
And then here we are, we learnto recruit the transverse
(23:37):
abdominals, that deep abdominalwall.
Learning to recruit this is notsexy, but in conjunction with
learning to recruit the deeplumbar stabilizers, it will help
you support your spine inwhatever movements you take on.
It's not about working this oneharder.
These muscles need capacity andstamina.
Learn to engage them well incombination with the other
(23:59):
structures of the deep core.
Only add load to the point thatyou can maintain gentle support
and activation of this deepsystem.
And then we come back to thebreathing.
I'll bet that after you'veexplored all this stuff, you'll
find your breath comes moreeasily and more deeply.
That's a good sign that you'reprobably on the right track.
(24:22):
Keep breathing well.
It is the best and mostconsistent core training of all.
Now, once you've established agood connection with your core
and you can sustain all thethings we've talked about in a
relatively limited range ofmotion, it's time to begin to
move bigger, with differentloads in different directions.
(24:44):
This is how you strengthen thecore.
Test your ability to stayconnected.
You may find you have toconcentrate on one or two of the
things, like your breath or ooh, I need to keep track of my
spine while you do this stuff,and what you focus on may be
different from what your bestfriend needs to connect.
It's about your body and yourmovement.
(25:07):
The trick is to stay present andto stay connected.
More than likely in real life,you'll feel the effects of core
stability more than the musculareffort of core stability.
When you're nailing it.
Your motion will feel easierand lighter.
You won't have to strategizehow you're going to get
somewhere or how you're going todo something quite so hard.
(25:28):
You'll be able to move moreweight with less effort.
And if, as you increase yourload, you're not able to
maintain a sense of length andease or feel that stability, I
would suggest that maybe you'reworking beyond what your
structure has the ability tosupport well at the moment.
This is when we have to let goof our egos, back off a little
(25:53):
bit on the load for a bit, untilyou can sustain better support
in your deep system, and Iguarantee that the result will
be a better, more sustainablestrength in the long run.
Keep working at it, keeppushing it, but take the time.
It's not something you're goingto do at a boot camp.
I like to think of it this wayFirst we train access Like can
(26:16):
we actually connect to the deepsystem at all?
Once we can, we train control.
Can we control things enough tomaintain access to this deep
support while we move and do thethings we want to do.
Once we can do that, it's aboutbuilding stamina.
(26:37):
Deep core support is aboutstamina.
We want to be able to do it forlong periods of time, not just
in flashes here and there.
So can we maintain connectionwhile we do the things we need
to do and beyond.
Then we build more strength, weadd weight, we add bigger
ranges of motion, we work forlonger periods of time and we
(26:59):
throw some surprises in.
When something falls apart, wetake a step back and build back
up again.
Something falls apart, we takea step back and build back up
again.
It's that simple and that hard.
The core is designed to beresponsive to our movement, so
the only way to challenge it andtest it is out in the world
(27:19):
doing things.
There's a limit to what you'lllearn about your core in the gym
, so go do stuff, move around tothe fullest you are able.
Now the last thing I want toadd about the core is that it
has some pretty deep mind-bodyconnections.
How we are with ourselves andwith the world around us can
(27:44):
have some pretty profoundimpacts on the core If you are
constantly bracing and defendingyourself from the world around
you or if you're constantlydriving yourself forward with
little room for respite orself-compassion or self-care, it
may be challenging to connectto that deep system.
Your nervous system may not bein a state to promote a good
(28:07):
relationship there.
The doing parts of ourselvesand the being parts of ourselves
connect in the core throughbreath and that whole core
system.
Sometimes the work of findingthe core also means navigating
some of those things withinourselves.
(28:30):
So after all this, would I saythat the core is the holy grail.
Some folks make it out to be Atthe risk of incurring the wrath
of Pilates teachers everywhere.
I'll say no, movement is theholy grail.
A strong, responsive andresilient core just helps us get
there.
Wherever you are in all of this, it's a journey.
(28:53):
It doesn't have to becomplicated.
Start where you are, be there,explore that and build on
whatever you find.
There are people who can helpalong the way and you know, get
in touch with them, use them,ask them questions.
(29:13):
But this is your life, yourjourney, your movement, your
core.
Ultimately, it's a trip thatwill bring you closer to the
things that support you most.
I don't know about you, but Ithink that's a trip worth taking
(29:34):
.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
Subscribe and if you love whatyou heard, leave a five-star
review and tell people what youenjoyed most.
Join me here again in a coupleof weeks.
For now, let's get moving.
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