The Importance of Core Stability

The aim of core stability training is to effectively recruit the trunk muscules and then learn to control the position of the lumbar spine during dynamic movements. The information presented on this page is based on an article written by Raphael Brandon that was first published in Peak Performance.



The Muscles

The deep trunk muscles, abdominals, internal obliques, external oblique and the pelvic floor, are the key to the active support of the lumbar spine.

The contraction of these muscles produce forces which stabilise the lumbar spine, and the muscles act directly to resist the forces acting on the lumbar spine.

It is suggested that these muscles predict dynamic forces that may act on the lumbar spine and stabilise the area prior to any movement.



Training

Having identified the key muscles and how they act, the next step is to establish how best to train these muscles. As with any type of strength and conditioning training, the training protocol for improving the function of the deep-trunk muscles must be exact to the task required.

The training must take into account the type of contraction, the muscle fibre type and the anatomical position required. By definition, the deep-trunk muscles act as "stabilisers" and are not involved in producing movements, but instead involve motionless contractions.

Furthermore, they must act as stabilisers continuously throughout everyday activities as well as fitness and sport activities, and so require very good endurance of low-level forces.

These muscles do not need to be very strong, but they must be correctly coordinated and capable of working continuously. In addition, we want these stabiliser muscles to act by holding the lumbar spine in the neutral position, which is the correct alignment of the pelvis that allows for the natural 'S' curve of the spine.



These characteristics underpin the deep-trunk muscle training program to follow soon.