When most people think of the core they think of the abdominals and perhaps the musculature of the lower back. However the core extends well beyond this. If you remove them extremities (arms and legs) then you will be left with what is truly known as the core and in actual fact can even include the extremities when you begin to look at the bigger picture.
Core training can be just another fad or it can be a scientifically-based methodology that involves a functional and progressive approach to movement re-education and performance enhancement.
The concepts of core stabilization and spinal biomechanics are often misunderstood and as a result of this we see poorly designed programs and often downright dangerous.
An efficient core is necessary for maintaining proper muscle balance throughout the entire kinetic chain.
The core is defined as the lumbo-pelvic-hip (LPH) complex:
1. 29 muscles have attachments in the lumbo-pelvic-hip (LPH) complex.
2. Maintaining length tension and force-couple relationships will increase neuromuscular efficiency and provide optimal acceleration, deceleration and dynamic stabilization during functional movement.
3. Also provide proximal stability for efficient upper and lower extremity movements.
Efficient Dynamic Core Stabilization Allows For:
1. Maintenance of normal length-tension relationships
2. Maintenance of normal force couples
3. Maintenance of optimal arthrokinematics
4. Optimal efficiency in entire kinetic chain during movement
5. Acceleration, deceleration, dynamic stabilization
6. Proximal stability for movement of extremities
The muscular system of the core consists of two sub-systems:
1. Local System (Stabilization)
2. Global System (Movement)
The spinal stabilization system composed of three interdependent subsystems:
1. Passive subsystem (ligaments, bones)
2. Active subsystem (muscles)
3. Neural control subsystem (feedback and control)
Control of intersegmental motion around the neutral zone as a major parameter of spinal stability.
Spinal motion in this region is produced with minimal internal resistance. Movement outside this region is limited by the ligamentous structures that provide restraint in the so-called elastic (outer) zone.
Neutral position can be defined as:
“The posture of the spine in which the overall internal stresses in the spinal column and muscular effort to hold the posture are minimal″ (Panjabi 1992)
Clinical Research has shown that injury to the spine results in an increased “Neutral Zone,” resulting in Clinical Instability that can be defined as follows:
“A significant decrease in the capacity of the stabilizing system of the spine to maintain the intervertebral neutral zones within physiological limits which results in pain and disability” (Panjabi 1992)
The ligaments and other passive structures can only provide support towards the end of range. However, the muscle has the potential to compensate for instability by increasing the stiffness of the lumbar spine and decreasing the size of the neutral zone thereby forming the basis for the training of spinal stability or what is also referred to as super stiffness (McGill).