Physically
Centered

By Ryan Iverach, DC

Dr. Ryan Iverach is a graduate of Western States Chiropractic College and is licensed in the state of Oregon as a Doctor of Chiropractic. An accomplished endurance athlete and Ironman Triathlete, Dr. Ryan has taught at Western States Chiropractic College and is a Chiropractic Physician at Pure Motion Chiropractic. Contact Dr. Ryan Iverach at 503-640-6404: email
drryan@puremotionchiropractic.com

A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world.
— Paul Dudley White

The Core Issue

Have you ever been in the gym and seen someone use one of those overgrown beach balls as a piece of equipment? Or, maybe you’ve seen someone holding a push-up position for what seems like forever, but they never actually do a push-up. Chances are these athletes are focusing on strengthening their core muscles. Many catch phrases and buzzwords exist in the health and fitness industry these days. “Core strengthening” is one of the more frequently used.

To begin, let’s identify the core muscles. Place your hands on your hips, and then move them up about 3”. All you should feel now is soft tissue, not bone. In fact, the only bones connecting your lower body and hips to your rib cage and the rest of your upper body are the five lumbar vertebrae known as the lower back. The remainder of the connection is made through muscles and connective tissue that span the gap between the hips and ribs: the core.

The major muscles that make up this area are the lumbar paraspinals in the back, the rectus abdominis and transverses abdominis in the front (you know, the ones that many covet but few can display with pride) and the internal and external abdominal obliques. This last pair of muscles is sheets of muscle on the side that run obliquely from the ribs to the pelvis. Collectively, these muscles (along with a few other, smaller ones) constitute your body’s core and are essential to the efficient transfer of the torsional energy generated between the upper and lower body.

Now, imagine your body as one big torque converter. To walk, run, or swim efficiently, your body needs to twist and pivot around a center point in order to convert the torque generated by the opposite twisting motions of your upper and lower body. The muscles of the core are critical in facilitating this torque conversion. Both walking and running require this power transfer to occur in order to transform the torsional energy created between the upper and lower body into energy that propels your stride forward.

The importance of a strong core cannot be overestimated, and the benefits of creating a proficient group of core muscles are many. When performing any core exercises, the emphasis should be on maintaining “as close to perfect” form at all times. Continuing an exercise past the point of being able to maintain proper form allows compensatory patterns to be repeated, and this defeats the purpose of training the core to properly respond in proper sequence to outside stresses.

By maintaining a strong and responsive core, stability is created throughout the lower back. In order to create this stability, remember to strengthen all of the muscle groups mentioned above. As a group, these muscles form a muscular girdle that wraps around the mid-section. Like any ring structure, weakness in a single area will compromise the integrity of the entire ring. This translates into unbalanced movement when you walk or run, and increases stress on certain vulnerable areas such as the lower back. This is evident in the common finding of weak abdominal and oblique abdominal muscles in those with lower back pain during or after activity. The lower back muscles are, in fact, strong, but the weak abdominal and abdominal oblique muscles cause an increase in stress on many structures of the lower back. End result: pain and stiffness during and/or after walking or running.

When strengthening the core muscles, keep in mind that you are trying to increase muscular endurance, not power, and therefore the exercises should focus on higher repetitions while maintaining the proper form. If the correct form cannot be maintained any longer, move on to another exercise.

In the beginning, only minimal reps may be able to be completed, but the core muscles typically respond quickly and as coordination improves so will the number of successful repetitions. Recall that as postural muscles the core muscles are endurance muscles, and using weights to increase the difficulty of a core exercise is typically not necessary. Focus instead on increasing the number of “perfect” reps. Try to perform these exercises at the conclusion of a walk or weight workout, so as not to fatigue these postural muscles before an activity in which they are needed.

As the core becomes better conditioned, the efficiency of movements such as walking and running will also improve, and this can translate into better times and fewer injuries for endurance athletes. Consistency is the key to training the core. Try to build a session into the end of main workouts two to three times per week. As always, if you have questions about which core exercises are best for you, consult a chiropractor, personal trainer, or other healthcare practitioner.