Summer 2010
Q & A
Question
David G., CORE Patient
I read your article on the core in the newsletter and it got me to thinking about joints. Is
there any one joint that if compromised, would affect the ability to strengthen the core? Along those same lines, I was wondering what you thought was the most “core” of the core muscles. It’s fun thinking…
Answer
Will Benton, Director of Exercise Physiology,
CORE Physical Medicine
Hmmm…well there are several different factors to consider. As to the “one” joint that might most impact core strength, one would have to consider what the definition of core strength is. If your definition of a strong core is simply strong muscles in the torso and a high level of balance on an unstable surface, then the hip/pelvic region would have to be the area that would set you back the most if injured. There are a number of muscles that connect the kinetic chain of the legs to the torso through the hip. For example, the origin of the psoas, a muscle in what is commonly known of as the hip fl exor, is located in the lower part of the middle back (T12 vertebrae). So it completely crosses the torso, and is actively involved in most trunk flexing movements. Even from the balance standpoint, the hips must constantly adjust for proper weight distribution on such simple tasks as walking. If an injury occurs to the hip/pelvic region, it will pretty much take you out of the core strengthening game all together.
For your other question: The muscle that I find to be the most “core” of the core muscles would have to be the transversus abdominis, because it truly is core as opposed to the trunk of the
body. Think of an apple…now when I ask you where the core is you would indicate that it is the interior, or center, of the apple. Now think of a tree… if I asked you where the trunk of the tree is you would indicate the outer area that you can see. My point with that is the muscles that most people associate as the core (rectus abdominis, internal and external oblique, quadratus lumborum, and the erector sipinae), you can see when your body fat is low
enough. These muscles I call your trunk. No matter how lean you get, you will never be able to see the TVA (transversus abdominis). Because it is internal or “core”. This is the area that you feel contracting when you lose your balance and are about to fall, and it is the muscle that will keep you standing straight when you are 90 years old.
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