Our bodies have an unbelievable ability to compensate for weaknesses and joint dysfunction, which works for a hot second but usually leads to pain, injury, and other movement problems. I spend a significant amount of time with people addressing posture and core weakness. Our core consists of the deepest, inner core muscles that are our endurance muscles, and our stronger, outer muscles that do our heavy moving. When the heavy movers, aka sprinters, start trying to stabilize because our deep core is weak, we often end up with pain and tension in our back.
Some of the fittest people I see with back pain have the weakest deep cores, because they rely on their other muscles to stabilize their joints. While people that are very weak, have limited strength driving their symptoms.
I had a great conversation with pro snowboarder Jake Blauvelt about how he overcame a back injury focusing on building and recruiting his deep core properly. Check it out at the link below.
What are the main muscles of the deep core?
Your pelvic floor, transverse abdominis, and the diaphragm.
Why is it important to have a strong inner core?
These muscles work together to stabilize your spine and pelvis, maintain ideal posture, and make you stronger during sports and activities when you brace correctly.
Inner core weakness can cause bigger, stronger muscles to guard and work harder, leading to back and other pain and dysfunction, and puts you at risk for injuries, primarily in the back.
What are some causes of inner core weakness?
Back or hip pain, pregnancy and delivery, down time after an injury or surgery.
Worried you may have a weak inner core? Let’s make sure you know how to recruit and train your core properly to prevent any future problems or get you back to where you were before an injury occurred.