You've been bombarded with the idea of your "core muscles"
and how important it is to work them. You get it from
infomercials, magazines, television... actually it feels
like everywhere really. Well, they are wrong.
OK, now that I've got your attention I need to back-peddle
a little. They are not completely wrong. There are 2
points that are missed in this mad rush to make the most of
your money... uh, I mean core.
Gee, What Are Them There Core Muscles Anyway?
In case you are not clear on what is being talked about
when the term "core muscles" is thrown about let's run
through the list. When talking about core muscles we are
referring to the muscles found at the obliques, abdominals
and lower back. These areas of the body are the ones that
usually frame the posture of a person. Hence, a good
posture reflects the good condition of these muscle areas.
Ok, back to the 2 points mentioned earlier in the program.
The first is the belief that your core muscles are just
your abdominals. The second is the over emphasis on only
the front half of your core.
At what point did the "core" become one sided? As
previously stated the lower back is an important part of
your core. Like many things in life there needs to be
balance. Your core requires strength in the lower back as
well as the stomach to maintain proper posture. Evidence
is coming to light that lower back pain can be caused by
many different muscles and not only a weak back as once
believed.
Too many people with perfectly strong backs end up laid out
in pain in spite of that strength. My personal experience
falls in line with back pain not being from a weak back.
My back pain improved dramatically once I got serious about
getting my stomach strength up to par with my lower back.
Please note that I got my stomach and lower back strength
on equal footing. That balance is crucial.
The second point of overemphasis relates to the too many
people pushing that you need to be working on your stomach
to get that sexy fitness model look. It is so heavily
preached that one can get the impression that it should be
the focus of your exercise routine all the time. If you
spend as much time working your abs as infomercials focus
on them you will never have time to do anything else.
Concentrating on your stomach as much as the infomercials
stress you will eventually fold in half. Alright, you
won't really fold in half but you can't neglect your lower
back and expect to skip through the rest of your life
injury free either.
In addition, while the core is an integral part of your
body it has a limit on how much strength can be gained.
Once a certain level of strength is gained it can be easily
maintained. Remember you only need to be as strong as your
goals require. (Danger! Bad pun zone ahead.) Any more is
wasted time.
Besides the most effective stomach exercise never talked
about is the full range back squat. Yes, the very back
squat that is demonized by the popular media. You cannot
crunch, twist or Swiss Ball Super Plank yourself to the
same level of effectiveness. But that is an article for
another day.
The take home lesson of this article is that while it is
critical that you exercise your core you must do so
properly and in a balanced manner. You must balance out
your core by making sure you perform exercise for you lower
back as well as the stomach. You also must look at your
stomach training as one part of an overall exercise routine
that emphasizes the whole body.
----------------------------------------------------
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