Core Work
The “core” is a term most of us are probably familiar with, a term that is meant to relate to a part of our body that influences many other parts. Typically, folks liken the core to their abdominal muscles, abbreviated abs most commonly. We train this part of our body to be strong, often in an attempt to reduce our chances for back pain or maybe for the aesthetic 6-pack many of us strive for. Core muscles have been associated with many injuries and getting them stronger has become the solution for a number of problems in the field of movement. The central region of the body has many important functions, it does in fact transfer energy but also serves as a place in which we can absorb and generate forces from. This has less to do with muscles, and more to do with the interactions of the guts, connective tissues and finally muscles.
By traditional description, the core is a group of four muscles: the diaphragm, deep back muscles called multifidi, a deep abdominal muscle called transversus abdominis and finally the pelvic floor muscles. They are all said to interact in a way that promotes stability throughout the abdomen, pelvis and thorax. They do seem to play a role, however there are a number of other tissues, and tissue types that do not get mentioned that also play important roles. Understanding these interactions may reframe how we manage movement problems.
Your guts, like intestines and such, are primarily made up of water and provide an incompressible medium with which to generate torque that propels us through space via force transfer. They are connected to various regions of the body and to themselves via connective tissue. This tissue type is springy, it winds up to store energy and then releases that energy like a coil, providing substantial movement capabilities. The muscles in the area, including but not limited to the core muscles, guide connective tissue and the guts in a way that facilitates efficient movement. If muscles were the only ones moving us, the degree of fatigue that would set in would make moving much more exhausting.
One issue with the current methodology for training core muscles is that generally folks come to the idea that squeezing harder is better. It means we are getting stronger. The reality may in fact be that the harder we squeeze, the less we move. If we walk around bracing our muscles, as if we are about to move the heaviest object we possibly can, then joints do not move much. Our guts get locked into place and connective tissues get stiff as they are unable to uncoil and then recoil as they were intended to. We need to be able to move, and to move in specific ways. Should we lock ourselves into one big piece, movement-based activities (which is probably all activities) become difficult and effortful. If that pattern persists for long enough, pain can arise.
The idea behind core training in a traditional sense has some merit, but it may be short-sighted. Muscles influence movement without question, however they are one small slice of the whole picture. There is more nuance to this movement equation and if we gloss over those details, important things can be missed. Every tissue requires movement to stay health and happy, reduce those capabilities and problems can arise. We may be better able to help restore movement capabilities if we consider the different roles of multiple tissue types.
Austin Ulrich, Physical Therapist
