Injury Prevention: Core Stability and Core Exercises
Maximize your core stability and prevent sports injury.
I constantly talk to my patients about core stability. Core stability is essential for proper form and mechanics while performing sports skills. It is also important for injury prevention during those sport activities as well. Core stability deals with the proper coordination of the key muscles used to support the spinal column in its naturals-curve.
What is Core Stability?
Core stability is the coordinated effort of the deep muscles of the trunk, pelvis, hips, abdominal muscles and small muscles along the spinal column. These muscles contract together to create force used to hold the spinal column in alignment.
The strength of these muscles is less important than their endurance and the co-contraction of the muscles to provide support. Since these muscles must stabilize the spinal column during all movement they must have good endurance with enough strength to counter forces placed on them during extreme activities. The muscles must be equal in strength and contract in correct proportions to maintain the proper posture of the spine during all activities.
Anatomy Involved
The deep muscles of the trunk and hip region are involved in core stability. The transverses abdominus (TA), the multifidus (MF), internal oblique (IO), paraspinal, and the muscles of the pelvic floor are all essential for core stability. The contraction of these muscles increases the force along the theracolumbar fascia that covers the spinal column. Intra-abdominal pressure increases as well, increasing support to the lumbar spine.
How do you Improve Core Stability?
It is important to differentiate between core strengthening and core stability. Core stability deals with the ability to stabilize the spinal column during all movements. This does not pertain to the strength of the muscles or force of their contraction. The muscles involved are also different. Core strength deals with the superficial muscles of the core; the abdominals, the gluteals, adductors, abductors, the spinal erectors and other trunk and hip muscles. Core stability deals with the deeper trunk and hip muscles.
These muscles are under static stress all day long, as long as a person is standing or moving (what I call “the muscles of mobility” versus “the muscles of mobility”). This requires a high degree of endurance, along with adequate strength to handle sport or fitness-related movements. The exercises must stress endurance under increasing workloads to focus on gradual strengthening of the muscles while enhancing endurance.
Finally, the muscles must be worked in their correct anatomical position. The spine has a natural S-curve that is designed to absorb the most shock and hold the body in correct alignment. Exercises for core stability must place the spine in its neutral position to ensure adequate involvement of all the muscles.
Precautions
When exercising to improve core stabilization it is essential that activities be done in correct form . It is also important that all the muscles be recruited together and in correct proportions.
At this point I can only request that you come to the office and see Dr. Lane. Instructions on good exercises and a program would be unprofessional without an assessment and a proper program based on your present health status, proper starting exercises that can be progressed accordingly based on your changing capabilities, and a monitoring of your progress.
via Blogger http://chiropractic-lane.blogspot.com/2013/08/injury-prevention-core-stability-and.html
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