Must-do Core Exercises No One Told You About
Pain-Free Living Starts at the Core
Did you know that the stability of your body directly affects your ability to manage and mitigate pain? Stabilization is a key foundation of the work done by our team at Healcove Clinic, and it is an often misunderstood concept. Your path to a pain free life starts at the core - literally. Today, you are going to learn how stabilization, specifically core stabilization, can help support you on your journey to stepping into better health and fitness. We’ll also demonstrate a number of exercises for you to practice below— and they’re not what you’d expect.
What exactly does “stability” even mean?
Your core is more than just your superficial “6 pack muscles”, and having a strong core doesn’t mean your end goal is to have a 6 pack. Your core is composed of many different muscles from the front to the back of your body that all work together to create a strong and stable center.
This part of the body provides a strong foundation for movement, allowing you to take on the many movement challenges your day may bring you. Core strength helps stabilize your hips and shoulders, takes pressure off of your spine in movements, and helps transfer force between your upper and lower body. When the core is weak, opportunities for injury become present because the foundation isn’t strong.
Why you should care about your core stability
Core stability can be a preventive measure to ensure that you are developing a strong foundation for movement. Whether you are just getting started in the gym again, training for an athletic event, or trying to keep up with your kids, working on core stabilization can help you create a pain free lifestyle.
Core stability provides you with the foundation for the movements that you do every day - bending to tie your shoes, lifting your dishes into the cupboard, carrying your groceries into the house. These are simple movements that you typically do not think about, until you start to experience pain while doing the movements. Finding a way to add core stability into your movement practice can help you to do your everyday tasks, pain free.
"When the core is weak, opportunities for injury become present because the foundation isn’t strong. "
If you are currently experiencing pain, especially non specific low back pain, core stability can be an integral part of your treatment plan. This study followed two groups of people with non specific low back pain over a period of 6 weeks and found that the group that received core stabilization exercises had a greater reduction of pain than the group that did not receive it (PMID: 29067082).
Another study found that when dealing with chronic low back pain, doing core stabilization exercises was more beneficial than doing no movement at all (PMID: 33922389). It may seem counterintuitive to do movement when you are in pain, but working on strengthening the core can help take some of the pressure off the muscles that may be picking up the slack of the other muscles that are underdeveloped.
Ready to get moving?
Core stabilization starts with the breath. Your diaphragm is a muscle that contributes to core stability that is also responsible for moving your lungs as you breathe. You don’t have to do 100 crunches a day to get started with stabilizing your core, it can start with a practice as simple as spending 5 minutes to focus on your breathing. We have a great article all about Breathwork and how it works for you to get started.
If you’re ready to get moving, we have some core stabilization exercises to share with you. Don’t forget to focus on your breath during these exercises. This study found that adding core stabilization exercises to deep breathing exercises can help improve core mobility.
Healcove’s staff favorite core stabilization exercises
3 Month Wall Push
Start on the back with knees hip width apart, toward the sky, and feet pressed into the wall inline with the placement of the knees. After getting into position, place a small flat object onto the belly for feedback in a diaphragmatic breath and brace. Raise the head and pull the chin to the chest. Maintain a midsection brace, press your feet into the wall firmly and pull your shoulder blades to your back pockets. Hold for 3 rounds of :30 seconds. Progress in the challenging of :10 seconds additional intervals. (ex: :40/:50/:60)Exercise
3 Month Wall Push - Overhead Pullover
Start on the back with knees hip width apart, toward the sky, and feet pressed into the wall inline with the placement of the knees. After getting into position, place a small weight onto the belly for feedback in a diaphragmatic breath and brace. Raise the head and pull the chin to the chest. Maintain a midsection brace, press your feet into the wall firmly and pull your shoulder blades to your back pockets. Lift small weight off belly and avoid rib flaring while you press above chest. Then challenge lowering the small weight closer to the floor while maintaining wall push and midsection brace.
Overhead Wall Push with Single Knee Raises
Start on the back with knees hip width apart, toward the sky. Hands pressed into the wall inline with the placement of the shoulders. Alternate lowering feet flat to ground without allowing the lower back to lose contact with the floor while maintaining a push away from the wall with hands.
Dead Bug Supine with Feet on the Wall
While lying on your back, place your feet on the wall and press gently. Next, press your lower back (small of your back) into the floor, then lift your head and shoulders off of the ground and hold. As you hold, think of reaching your fingertips through the ceiling.
Bird Dog Quadruped (Four-point)
Begin in an all fours position (four-point) with your knees under your hips and hands under your shoulders. From there, extend opposite limbs. Think of reaching your hand forward as far as you can while extending your opposite foot behind you as far as you can. Keep your hips and shoulders square to the ground.
Bear Position with Hip Raise
Begin in four-point position. From there lift your knees an inch or so off the ground and hold for a second. Pushing through your toes and palms, lift your hips up, then return to the Bear position. Repeat several times while maintaining stability through your shoulders, hips, and feet.
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Our chiropractors are movement & mobility specialists. We evaluate lifestyles and partner with our patients to make lasting improvements in their health and fitness. Learn more about Healcove chiropractors and how we approach health and fitness setbacks.