What is your Core? (How it works)

EXERCISES?

When you decide to add some abdominal exercises to your exercise program, be careful about which ones you choose. Some ‘abdominal’ exercises that used to be popular can be dangerous and uneffective.

Incorporate exercises to train your core muscle group, rather than standard crunches that target separate muscles.

If you have a pre-existing injury or medical condition, consult a physiotherapist or kinesiologist prior to starting. They can also can help you develop a safe, effective program.

Some more recent training ideas and equipment include:
•Pilates is used for deep-body conditioning and injury rehabilitation.
•The stability ball is an extra-large, inflatable ball designed to improve balance while targeting specific muscle groups. You can use exercise balls in a variety of ways to challenge balance, stability and torso strength.
•Your instructor at Westcoast SCI will help provide you with the correct and safe exercises that will suit your fitness level.

Things to remember:
•The abdominal muscles support the trunk, allow movement and hold organs in place by regulating internal abdominal pressure.
•The deep abdominal muscles, together with muscles in the back, make up your ‘core’ muscles and help keep your body stable and balanced, and protects your spine.
•Causes of abdominal muscle strains include overstretching, overuse or a violent, poorly performed movement of the trunk.

Here’s a link to a good YouTube video to help you learn how to initiate the TA.

Diane Lee has a great website that goes into great detail to describe the TA, if you would like a more in-depth article.

The following information is sourced from the Australian website: Better Health.

Banner/Thumbnail Photo by Elly Fairytale from Pexels

Anatomy