What is the Core?
Core Health Mini Series
Part One: What is the Core?
Part Two: Identifying Core Dysfunction: How to Test Your Core Muscle Function
Part Three: The Secret to Core Training
Part Four: How to Relieve Core Tension with Diaphragm Massage
Your core is your center and foundation. It supports every activity you do and provides stability for the rest of your body. It is also part of every physiological process in your body - from circulation and nerve conduction to digestion, immune function and hormonal regulation. Recognizing core muscle dysfunction and then implementing the proper rehab protocol can help to prevent the common issues that core dysfunction can lead to, such as back, hip, and pelvic pain, breathing issues, digestive problems, hormonal and fertility issues, and even a distended waistline, just to name a few. Understanding the true role of your core muscles and what core dysfunction looks is an essential part of health and longevity.
In this 4-part core health series, we’ll explore how to care for your core and how to spot and heal any core muscle dysfunction you might have. In this post, we’ll start with defining what “the core” is and how it differs from the rest of the muscles in your body. Next, I’ll explain how you can test yourself for core muscle dysfunction (and what you can do about it!). Then we’ll take an in-depth look at core training. Finally, we’ll round out this series with one of my favorite ways to reset your core through a simple massage to your diaphragm.
What is “the core” and what does it do?
So what exactly is “the core”? Simply put, our core is everything except for our arms and legs. So, the core is the head, neck, the entire spinal column, the shoulders, the rib cage, the abdomen, the pelvis and the hips. This includes all the organs, muscles, nerves, fascia, lymph, arteries, and veins in the head, neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis. So, when we are training the core, it is essential to take into consideration all of this anatomy and not just focus on isolating muscles.
The core does A LOT for us! It is responsible for our posture, movement, respiration, circulation, nerve conduction, thinking, feeling, talking, digestion, immunity, hormonal regulation, detoxification, spinal stability, and internal pressure management. The muscles of the core are an integral part of all these functions.
The core muscles work as a single unit, an integrated system. The key core muscles to focus on during core training include: the abdominals, the paraspinal muscles, the glutes, the iliopsoas, the intercostals, serratus anterior, the SCM, the diaphragm, and the pelvic floor. Core training should focus on the coordinated activation of ALL of these muscles simultaneously.
All of these muscles work together as a single system to manage the pressure in your abdomen, keep your organs in place, stabilize your spine and help you move, breathe, and feel. Therefore, the health of your core muscles is absolutely essential to your overall health. Improving the function of your core muscles is one of the best things you can do to improve your longevity.
What’s so special about the core muscles?
Remember, your core is everything except for your arms and legs. So your core muscles include all the muscles in the head, neck, shoulders, chest, abdomen, hips and pelvis. The muscle composition of the core muscles and the limb muscles are very different, and for a good reason! Our limb muscles are required to have shorter bouts of activation, and need to turn on and then turn off to support our movement. Whereas the core muscles are required to have long sustained activation all day to support our spine, organs and brain and keep us upright as we move throughout our day. Therefore, the muscles of the core are composed of primarily involuntary muscle fibers; while the muscles of the limbs are composed of primarily voluntary muscle fibers.
Having primarily involuntary muscle fibers makes the core muscles excellent at their “involuntary” roles in our body: like spinal support, posture, balance, keeping our organs centered and lifted, managing the pressure in our abdomen, helping us take in and expel air, oxygenating our bodies, bladder and bowel function, supporting fertility and sexual function, and assisting in whole body circulation and nerve conduction.
The muscles of the core (e.g. abs, pelvic floor, paraspinals, diaphragm, intercostals) are comprised of 80% involuntary muscle fibers, and only 20% voluntary muscle fibers.
This is why we have to train them very differently from the other muscles in our bodies. The muscles of our limbs (e.g. glutes, hamstrings, biceps, triceps, quads) are primarily voluntary muscles and are comprised of 90% voluntary and only 10% involuntary muscle fibers. So, these muscles respond great to conscious voluntary contractions like sets and reps of specific exercises. However, when you perform conscious, voluntary contractions of the core muscles, like “sucking belly button to spine” or “doing a Kegel”, they only recruit about 20% of your core muscle fibers, and therefore are not effective for rehabilitating core dysfunction.
In order to train 100% of the core muscles, a reflex must be triggered that elicits involuntary activation of all of the muscle fibers of the core. And the reflex that best accomplishes this is BREATHING! The breath is the gateway to the involuntary nervous system (aka “autonomic nervous system”, aka “subconscious”). In order to completely rehabilitate the core muscles and resolve problems like: back pain, pelvic pain, pelvic floor dysfunction, diastasis, prolapse, hip pain, incontinence, constipation, bloating, postural dysfunction, breathing issues, distended waistline, IBS, endometriosis, fertility issues, sexual dysfunction, sciatica, disc herniation, and scoliosis, we must harness the power of the breath and train the involuntary muscle fibers of the core.
You can learn about these techniques (and more!) through The Core Recovery Method® online program. The Core Recovery Method® provides a simple way to learn essential core breathing techniques and create a regular practice for yourself in the comfort of your own home. You will learn the foundational principles of a technique known as hypopressive breathing and receive guidance on how to progress though the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels of this breath work technique. In this program, you are guided step by step through a series of exercises that target the involuntary muscle fibers of the core and functionally strengthen the deepest core muscles through reflexive activation.
