The core of the matter #1

Let’s raise a very warm welcome to May, I am so happy to be seeing the longer days already, some glorious sun rises have adorned the studio on my early mornings recently and the exciting words ‘summer holidays’ are appearing frequently in conversations with clients!  The Easter weekend was stunning weather wasn’t it! So in my last edition arms were the topic du jour, now we move on to the next body part, from the top downwards and bringing your torso to the floor, even quite literally! The word core is a huge and key subject in a lot of fitness genres especially in pilates, if I were a fly on the wall at Hummingbird studios I would probably hear about it 150 times a day, for good reason. In simple terms the core of your body is our physical centre, not dissimilar to the core of an apple, but our core is all the trunk structures that support us between the collarbones and our pelvis. It is concerned with how our spines are held up, can  articulate back and forth, can support us when we run, jump or throw and the reaction of our body to not fall over when we trip up! When the core muscles aren’t functioning effectively we can accidentally start to create a dominant side, because it’s easier or just habit. If one set of muscles becomes stronger than its neighbour this creates an imbalance and could lead to aches and pains, even injuries. This is the same concept as the shoulder niggles and injuries and posture imbalance discussed in article 2. The most common thing I come across is ‘back pain’, which frequently comes out of nowhere, sometimes developing and worsening over time until it is almost crippling. In the absence of a specific trauma or any genetic irregularities, back pain is often related to core strength. For example, the ‘desk’ posture, being sat down in a slouched posture daily the natural shape of the spine (usually resembling an ‘s’ ) becomes flattened, strained, weak,  pulling our spinal muscles out of alignment creating discomfort in the lower back. By regularly moving and using those muscles, working on strengthening exercises and even noticing if there is a dominant side, we could help to alleviate pain. The most familiar muscle we hear of in the core are the abdominals which are found on the front of the trunk, vertically connecting the bottom of our ribs to the pelvis. There in fact are layers of ‘abs’, allowing us to cough and sneeze (deep) and those referred to as the ‘6 pack’ (superficial) but both are important to support our spine in daily life. If we can create a healthy ‘relationship’ between the back and the front (muscles) then we are on to a winner with creating stronger core. Next month I will be discussing oblique exercises (another significant core muscle) and even more ways to help your back.

Here are my top three exercises to work the abs and lower back:

Heel slides: a) Lay on your back, hands rested on the front of your hip bones, knees bent, feet 8 inches in front of hips, b) Draw your belly button inwards towards your back and without letting your pelvis tilt/rock off centre (it will want to), c) slide one foot out until the leg is 80% straight then return it again. Repeat alternating for 10-16 slides.

Table top hip rolls: Start as above a) and b), c) elevate your knees to 90 degrees above hips, d) allow one knee to ‘drop/rotate sideways’ until you feel your pelvis wants to rock then return the leg. Repeat alternating for 10-16 rolls.

Lower back extensions: a) Lie on your front, arms by sides, keeping facing the floor, b) on in breath lift chest and rib cage from floor until the length of your back feels tense, lower on the out breath. Repeat for 10.

If you would like some core health ideas or advise and any other help with exercise, at Hummingbird we can help with 1:1s or small group Pilates and yoga classes. You can view our full list of classes and workshops online   www.hummingbirdpilates.co.uk, or email us at [email protected] or call us 01245 422556