The core is the foundation of the body, and from it all limb movements are based. In recent years athletes have recognized the importance of core strength and have been taking measures to improve the strength of their core muscles. No matter what the sport, whether it be basketball or golf or anything in between, core strength is important and athletes are taking strides in building it.
The core muscles are all the muscles that surround the spine and abdomen. They include the abdominals, hip flexors, gluteal muscles, and others. If we have control over these muscles, we can give greater stability to the spinal area as well as improve movement in other parts of the body, such as the arms or legs. Core strength is also a primary part in eliminating lower back pain, which is another reason so many athletes strive to increase it.
Of course core conditioning is not merely for athletes, people of all shapes and sizes as well as any age can benefit from having a strong core, especially when it comes to controlling or regulating back pain. Core stability is also a vital part of rehabilitation exercises and treatment for various conditions.
Many people jump into core exercises without any real idea or plan of what they are doing. People claim having experienced many awesome benefits from working out their abdominal and core muscles, but this is just not the case for every person. Why? Because there is no quick fix to core activation and stability.
People want to have fast and easy results and as a result they jump into core exercises that are simply too advanced for them. When taught correctly, core exercises are not fast, or easy. It takes a whole lot of time, and even more patience.
Core stability needs to be looked at as a set of skills that has been achieved due to time and dedication. The basics need to be mastered before you are ready to move on to a more advanced move. Just like crawling comes before walking, so core strength needs to be built up.
Functional Progression and basic motor skill strengthening and training are the three correct beginning steps to core activation techniques. You must learn how to activate, then strengthen, then utilize your core to work exactly as you need it to for your particular goal.
Anyone can do it, all that is required is time and consistent dedication and anyone can have a strong and stable core.