Скачать или смотреть What is the core and why it is important?

A lot of people think that the core is just a fancy term for abs, that we in the fitness industry use to sound more professional. In reality the core is much more than just the abs. So, what is it then? First of all, you might be surprised to know that there is no unanimous agreement of what muscles comprise the core, ranging from everything except the limbs to just the deep muscles of the lower trunk. In most physiotherapy circles it is defined as the most intimate muscles that act directly on the spine and pelvis, and the 4 generally accepted are the diaphragm, lumbar multifidus, transverse abdominis and the muscles of the pelvic floor. I’d say this it could be extended to the erectors of the spine, as well as the iliopsoas, internal oblique, lower part of the lats, and the gluteus maximus.


Functions of the core


So, rather than being a well defined muscle group, the core is a compound system of muscles that act in synergy for two specific and very important purpose: to stabilize the spine, and to transfer force.


The core act as a stabilizer, because the spine alone wouldn't keep straight and stiff by itself and is dependent on a set of ligaments and muscles for its support and security.
In many real life activities the function of the core muscles is to stiffen and prevent motion in the deeper trunk, protecting the spine and internal organs. This is a fundamental difference to the muscles of the limbs which have the opposite function, that is, to create motion.
By stiffening the torso, the core muscles protect the spine from excessive motion and injury during static and dynamic movements. This is of a fundamental importance not only in sports, where impact, collision, and explosive movement are quite frequent, but also in everyday activities, being lifting boxes, moving furniture, or carrying a backpack.
The function of the core could be compared to a turtle's shell, it keeps what is inside it safe and still in case trouble comes.


The other function of the core muscles is to transfer force to the limbs. We can say that the core acts as a bridge or connection between the lower and the upper limbs. Because of its action of force transmission, some people consider the core as a powerhouse for the body. Although the limbs create motion, they don’t generate much power by themselves. Instead, power generated at the hips and lower trunk is transmitted efficiently by the core muscles to the upper or lower limbs.
Let’s take an example: if I throw a punch and I just engage my arm in the action, I won’t be able to produce much force because I lack a ground base of support for the motion and the muscle involved are small compared to the rest of the body and therefore cannot generate much force. Now watch the same punch, but this time I’m using my core muscles as well. The motion originates with the rotation the hips, with the assistance and support of the legs and feet firmly pressing on the ground, and is transferred to the arm through the core muscles. You can see how much more power is generated here, because now there are more muscles involved. The same goes with kicks. A kick given only activating the legs muscles doesn’t use all its potential. These muscles wouldn’t be able to communicate, and therefore force couldn’t be transmitted, if it weren’t for the core muscles. And the same thing can be applied to virtually any action is sport, from the rugby pass, to the golf swing, to the gymnastics back handspring, to the tennis serve and so on.
There’s a multitude of tests out there that measure core strength and stability, in this video I want to show a couple so you can use them to evaluate yourselves. For clarity purposes, I’ve divided each exercise into three levels of difficulty, where level one would be a beginner’s level of core strength, level two an intermediate, and level three advanced.