Ode to the Core Muscles

Consider your core: is it an ambiguous muscle group in the middle of your body, or is it a dynamic group of muscles that synergize to influence just about every movement (sans limbs) your body makes. So many people hear “core,” and think, “crunches/situps.” While this is good for establishing the center of your body as a force producer, people with back pain may want to consider conditioning the core as a stabilizer to lend support to beleaguered structures in the lower back. 

Core strengthening is a key tool in any health plan attempting to rehabilitate an injury that is causing back pain and stiffness. Exercising these muscles regularly prevents them from weakening and keeps them strong enough to bear some of the burden of the upper body. Exercises that treat the core as a stabilizer include: 

• Planks and side-planks
• Bridges
• Deadlifts
• Twisting crunches>regular crunches

These exercises help create a powerful center of the body to help prevent rehabilitate injuries and prevent their recurrence. Any plan that is made in light of injury should be discussed seriously with a medical professional. At Haynes Chiropractic, we can help you address pain and stiffness with the following modalities: chiropractic adjustment, therapeutic massage, spinal decompression and spinal traction. From there, we can discuss what level of activity you could possibly maintain in support of your health plan and help you make subtle lifestyle adjustments to support the health of your back. 

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C.