Josh Bowen: The Core — The Center of Our Universe, Volume 1

The journey to the center of our bodies. What on earth is the core?

“Today class, our experiment is to stay in the gym for 12 hours and ask every person what their goals are.”  A landslide will mention “core” “abs” “stomach.” It is our obsession. Another experiment is to watch any informercial, pushing an obscure fitness product, and see how many times they mention “core” or “abs.” I’ll be willing to bet its more times than they mention anything nutrition related. I mean why eat well when you can do crunches, situps and use the shake weight and get ripped. That is until you realize you have to do 250,000 crunches, JUST to burn enough calories to lose one pound of fat…YES just one pound. You can do crunches until you are blue in the face but it won’t eliminate your stomach fat. And on a side note, whatever new product is out there, it won’t speed the results up any faster. So why do we do crunches? Well duh, its to get an 8 pack!

Abs are made in the kitchen, no matter how hard you work your “abs” you cannot outwork your diet. If your nutrition is not up to par, your stomach will not be either. “So what is the core?” “Why do we have to work it?” “How do we work it?” I answer all of the above!

Lets start with what the “core” actually is. The National Academy of Sports Medicine defines it as the Cervical, Thoracic and Lumbar spines and also the Lumbo-Pelvic-Hip complex (stabilizes the body during weight bearing functional movements producing and reducing forces). WHAT? Time for an anatomy lession! PS do not fall asleep, it gets better.

Anterior

• Rectus abdominus- The “abs.” A key postural muscle that flexes the lumbar spine and can aid in respiration

Posterior

• Erector spinae- lower back muscles that extend the vertebral column
• Multifidus- deep musculature that runs from the base of the cervical spine to the sacrum. Main job is the stabilize vertebrae in the vertebral column during movement

Lateral

• Internal Oblique-Compresses abdomen; unilateral contraction rotates vertebral column to same side
• External Oblique-rotates the torso
• Quadratus Lumborum-Alone, lateral flexion of vertebral column; Together, depression of thoracic rib cage

Deep

• Transverse Abdominus- compresses abdomen

“Professor Bowen, I am bored!” I hear you! But here is the point, the “core” is not a set one muscle group, it is alot of muscles acting together. Muscles do not move independently, they move in conjuction with each other. Which is why if you are only doing crunches to work your core you are leaving a host of muscles out of the equation. Is it wrong or a bad movement? No. Are there better exercises? Yes! In fact, a little known fact about how our anatomy works is the best way to load (add resistance) our core is not through flexion (bending at the hips) it is through extension (bending backwards). How is this? Here is how:

See the musculature at left. If you look there is a line of muscles that run from the top of your foot all the way to the top of your head. These are called myofascial lines, myo=muscle fascial=fascia or connective tissue. These lines of muscles move in harmony together. Injure one and the chain of muscles cannot act the same thus creating compensation. Do you consider your arms as part of the “core”? Probably not, but make your abs nice and soar and try placing your hands over your head. What happens? Your abs feel that movement. This is why target a specific muscle is impossible, work one and you are assured to work others. What you’ll notice is the way to load (add resistance) to these muscles is through extension instead of flexion. Essentially, our abs are best worked the opposite way we have been working them for years. From a functional stand point, we load and unload these lines of muscles everyday without knowing it. So why not work these muscles out the way they were intended? Probably because no one ever does. So let me show you some examples (I am not good with technology, so forgive me!)

Vid 1

Here the client is extending through the hips, abs and thoracic spine and quickly flexing, creating a rubberband effect. A higher progression movement to the next set of exercises.

Vid 2

Here we have the client doing a routine “woodchop” exercise, whereas the client is rotating at the shoulders (not the lower back) and extending the trunk area. We do this movement everyday picking things off the floor and returning it onto a shelf.

Vid 3

Here I have the client lifting a sandbag off the floor and extending overhead, lengthening the hip flexors and opening up the abdominal area. A very common exercise done when picking a box off the floor and putting it on a high shelf.

vid 4

Here I show a progression, the first exercise the client has their feet flat, hip with the part. They raise the dumbbells overhead, extending through the thoracic are and bring them back down. The next progression is to stagger the feet and perform one arm at a time. This loads and unloads the abominals nicely without putting un-needed stresson the spinal column.

The final exercise is called the quadreped. This exercise can be use in helping people with lower back pain. The directions at the bottom explain the proper technique that is involved.

• Assume the start position as shown in Figure 6.
• With the spine in neutral alignment, take a deep breath in and allow your belly to drop toward the floor.
• Exhale and draw your navel in toward your spine as far as you can. Once the air is completely expelled, hold the navel toward your spine for ten seconds, or as long as you comfortably can without taking a breath (not longer than ten seconds). Throughout the breathing pattern, keep your spine motionless.
• This process should be repeated ten times to complete a set.
• Rest one minute after completing one set. As you are able, build up to completing three sets of the exercise.

Volume 1 is now complete; we have discussed functional anatomy, the myofascial lines, and demonstrated several exercises. Volume 2 will be about how to design an effective program for your core.