Why it’s Important to Engage your Core

by westcoastsciJul 19, 2017Exercises, Physiotherapy

What happens if you don’t engage your core?

Round 8

What a workout today was! Since I didn’t come to my physiotherapy appointments with any pre-existing injuries or concerns, I am able to use more of the fitness training services offered at Westcoast SCI. Today’s session, I was dripping in sweat from start to finish.

With Peter, a lot of emphasis is put on engaging the core with every exercise we do. If you watch the recap video below, you’ll see him poke and nudge the areas of my body I should be working. We often don’t go beyond the basics, in order to establish a solid foundation for harder moves. Good technique will prevent future injuries due to certain muscles overcompensating for others.

The pull-up, for example, is one move that I haven’t yet been able to execute. I find hanging by itself challenging, but Peter explained that solidifying the hanging position first, will make a simple pull-up much cleaner and easier to achieve. Otherwise, I would be depending on momentum from swinging to pull myself up, which doesn’t use nearly as many muscles as I could and should be when completing a proper pull up.