Understanding Core Strength Part 2

Continuing his deep dive into the meaning and upkeep of core strength, Tom looks into the role of the abdominal muscles and how they help to provide lumbar stability and protect your lumbar spine. He offers some alternative exercises that might improve the outcome of your training efforts.   KEY TAKEAWAYS The abdominal muscles sit in front of your spinal column. They form a barrier of protection. We want to have stability in the lumbar spine so we can transfer energy efficiently between the upper body and the lower body.  To the left and right of the spine, protection is provided by the quadratus lumborum muscles. Stabilisation is provided by the multifidus muscles present around the spine. The plank is an exercise to see how long your body can resist the force of gravity. It’s a good demonstration but is not a great exercise for equally training all the areas required to create stability. Side planks, on both sides, can exercise the left and right quadratus lumborum muscles also. To exercise all directions of the abdomen check out Tom's YouTube channel for visual demonstrations.     BEST MOMENTS ‘Why being a world class planker is not enough!’ ‘Protection to the south is provided by the relatively small stabilising muscles such as the multifidus muscles. Now they’re small in size, but mighty in as far as how efficient they are at providing stability.’ ‘Most of the stress is placed onto the lumbar spine where our abdominal muscles are. It’s because that’s the part of the body that is the furthest from our two points of support from the floor.’ ‘How are we going to work those east and west muscles better?’ ‘Let’s assume we can hold a standard plank, and a side plank for over 90 seconds each. That shows a good level of strength and endurance, good balance in the lumbar spine.’   VALUABLE RESOURCES https://youtube.com/channel/UCQXAka99a6MdZexeEJaMZbAhttps://m.facebook.com/elevatehealthuk/https://www.elevatehealthuk.com/https://instagram.com/elevate_healthuk?utm_medium=copy_link   ABOUT THE HOST TOM BUTTERFIELD I have always been interested in sports, unfortunately injuries and poor training decisions curtailed my dream of becoming a professional football player. I have always been very passionate about helping people and I get a real kick out of seeing people improve and make progress towards a chosen goal or aspiration. I have been actively learning and implementing knowledge for over 20 years with the aim of improving the level of service I can offer to my clients. This has included formal qualifications such as: BSc (Hons) in Sports Sciences Masters in chiropractic PGDip in Diagnostic Medical (Musculoskeletal) Ultrasonography 14 years clinical experience helping tens of thousands of members of the public to improve their health and wellbeing. Unofficially I have digested countless information in the form of audiobooks, books, videos, seminars, and countless conversations with experts within the health and wellbeing niche. I aim for at least one hour a day. The day I stop learning is the day I pack up my stuff and go home.   CONTACT METHOD https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-butterfield-801ba515/https://www.elevatehealthuk.com/[email protected]@healthandsportsshow.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.