Everyone’s day begins and ends with a succession of simple core activating motions. The act of rising in the morning and laying to rest in the evening requires the core to activate in a complex pattern with stabilization at the heart of the cores intention. Throughout the rest of the day the core is instrumental in every aspect of human motion, whether it be lifting you groceries from the cart, to placing your child into the safety seat, to throwing your dog’s ball while playing a game of fetch.
The core muscles are like an envelope that wraps around an important letter. They support the spine and its most valuable contents. These muscles must be the first objects to activate with any motion when motion is determined as a need. The muscles of the core are not unidimensional but three dimensional in their arrangement and usage. The normal person moves within these three dimensions and into different planes of motion with all aspects of life. Health and fitness professionals have their clients move into the forward and backwards directions which are referred to as the sagittal plane. Motion is created from side to side and referred to as the frontal plane. Lastly, motion into rotation is termed the transverse plane. Most people focus on one or two dimensions of motion when training and addressing the third dimension is paramount for true core strength.
When it pertains to functional training, there is merit in training into one and two planes of motion. To elicit the most strength and stability one must train into all three planes at once. There are similarities between a professional athlete training for sports specific skills when compared to a non-athlete training for daily expectations of life. It is our belief that everyone is an athlete and they are training for life! Movement specialists from Spooner Physical Therapy have devised a series of simple exercises to help increase the functional core strength by adding simple modifications to time tested and proven core movements, such as the common lunge.
Visit upcoming bootcamps in Desert Ridge hosted by Spooner Physical Therapy or join us for individualized 3 dimensional training! Enjoy developing a core for life through Health in Motion!
Pictured: Alyssa Ashmore and Ryan Lasley of Spooner Physical Therapy Desert Ridge.
