Your core is the center of your body, and these muscles are crucial for your stability, balance, and posture. Researchers have found that core training improves various aspects of athletic performance, including balance, throwing, and jumping. In other words, including core-torching moves like planks, seated twists, and rotating mountain climbers in your workout routine could seriously help you jump higher, balance better, and throw further.
The muscles of your core
When many people talk about working the core, they’re mostly talking about their abs. However, the broad definition of the core muscles includes:
- Your abdominal muscles
- Obliques on the sides of your torso
- Deeper abdominal muscles of your back, like your quadratus lumborum
- Pelvic floor muscles
- Erector spinae and muscles that support the movement of your spine
- Glutes
Training your core is more than just ab training, and should also involve working your hips, back, and learning more about stabilizing these important muscles that support your spine and pelvis. I asked fitness expert Dr. Femi Betiku, DPT, NCPT, to share more about the problems with a weak core, especially for runners. Dr. Betiku is an instructor at Club Pilates and a doctor of physical therapy, so he understands the importance of core strength and stability. A weak core could be holding you back on the running track.
A weaker core means a higher risk of back pain
Dr. Betiku shares how a powerful, stable core helps with low back pain, and the research is resounding. “Core stability in different positions can and will help improve symptoms of low back pain. Runners with weak cores run the risk of increased low back pain due to compensation, and with a strong core, they can actually improve their running performance.”
Researchers have linked weak deep core muscles to a higher risk of lower back pain in runners. The study shows that a weaker deep core could make your body compensate and force superficial muscles like your abs to work harder, causing you to tire faster. The study authors point out that most people’s deep core muscles aren’t as strong as they should be. They used motion detection technology and force-measuring floor plates to estimate muscle movements during activity and examine the superficial and deeper core muscles.
A weaker core could compromise your running form
A weak core can compromise running form, which in turn compromises performance. It’s certainly possible that a weak core could be holding you back from achieving your full athletic potential. As Dr. Betiku points out, “Your core is essential in providing your body enough stability and support to withstand the forces being generated from the ground from your legs. Without a solid core, the upper body extremity and the lower extremity compensate more in order to provide your body with the support that’s lacking in your core.”
The power of the plank
In this study, researchers say to focus more on exercises like planks that stabilize your core, especially if you’re on an unstable surface, which makes balancing even more challenging. They emphasized the value of static exercises that force you to engage your core and hold your body in place.
