The Core – What is it and how do you make it stronger?

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Kate Halsall

We often hear about our core muscles, how important they are and what new, trendy exercise routine is going to make your core go from weak and feeble to rock solid in no time. They are often conflated with your abdominal muscles, however in reality the core is an umbrella term for a much larger array of muscles that play many more important roles. Today we’re going to break down what exactly comprises the core, why these muscles are important and how to make them stronger to support your fitness journey and life in general.

What is the Core? What does the Core do?

Your “core” refers to the muscles on and around your torso that provide the stability necessary for most other muscle actions to occur. This includes the abdominals, obliques, back, pelvic floor, gluteals, and diaphragm. These muscles provide the solid frame against which other muscles and levers can brace in order to perform their actions. For example, in order to properly perform a squat, your core needs to be properly braced so that force can be transmitted through your legs. Otherwise your posture will be weakened and the body will attempt to complete the movement by compensating with the incorrect muscles or structures, such as your lower back, leading to injuries and imbalances. Beyond simply protecting your spine, (which you can find out more about here) having a strong core is important for maintaining balance and coordination, having better posture, having good exercise form, and avoiding any and all injuries. Core strength is also a vital component for performing countless everyday tasks, like lifting things, reaching for stuff and general movement. However it’s most important function is to support your body when generating power. Any compound movement, be it upper or lower body, relies upon core strength to be properly performed. As described with squats, the core muscles create the stability in your torso necessary to transmit force through the correct muscle groups. Additionally, certain core muscles will activate to provide more direct assistance in the movement and techniques like the Valsalva manoeuvre can be used to maximise this benefit. So given the core’s fundamental role in so many aspects of health and fitness, how can we improve our core strength to optimally benefit these different areas?

Building your core muscles

Core workouts can often be misleading. Abdominal work is core work, however it is often conveyed as the “be all and end all” of core work. As mentioned earlier, the abdominals are frequently considered synonymous with the core in its entirety. This is obviously false and to develop core strength, one doesn’t need to perform 1000 crunches everyday. In fact, arguably the best way to build a strong core is by regularly doing exercises that on their face don’t feel like core work at all, namely heavy compound movements. Exercises like heavy squats, deadlifts, overhead lifts and bench press all rely upon a strong core to stabilise the body for proper force generation and as such provide core development. Supplementing this with more traditional core or abdominal work will support core development by adding an additional stress to those muscle groups. It can also provide potential benefits from an aesthetic point of view, putting particular stress on muscles like the abs that are more visible indicators of a “good core”. But specifically for strength, heavy compound movements are the undefeated champions of developing core strength and strength in general. But maybe this is still a bit vague or abstract? Its example time!

Example Workout

The below workout incorporates all the aspects necessary for developing core strength, namely compound movements and direct isolation work for muscles that comprise the core. Check it out:

Compound Lift – BB Deadlift – 4 sets – 5 reps – 85-90% 1RM – 3 mins rest between sets

Direct Core Exercises: 15 Leg Raises – 20 Glute Bridges – 20 Sit ups – 30s rest between sets – Complete 2-3 rounds of the circuit

Stability/Thoracic Exercises: 10 Med Ball Rotational Slams – 60s Shoulder Tap Plank – Continuous 3 sets of each exercise back to back

This can act as a helpful template to base workouts around if your aim is to increase core strength. Perform your heavy lifts first as this will require the most strength from all working muscles. Then once they are fatigued, isolation work will be extra challenging and more beneficial as the muscles have already been stressed. Finally, finishing with thoracic and stability work will compound the benefits of the workout while also helping develop endurance in the muscles and prevent injury. To get involved in more workouts like this, come on down to our strength and core classes to build up your power, get a truly strong core and have a great time! And if you want to try some core workouts that you can do at home, have a look at the link here! In any case, you’re going to find your core strength will fly up in no time with a little help from your friends at motive8 north!