Did you know that having a strong core doesn't just mean having a good set of abs or that 'bikini body'? There is way more to it than you think when thinking about a strong core. Many people do not have a strong core which leads to lower back pain, poor posture, and even immobilizes you to function properly.

Your core is the center of your body. It needs to be strong in order to provide for your back, neck, and overall function. The more core strength that you have, the less medications and surgery that you will need in the future. There are many exercises that you can do to help strengthen your core. For example, some exercises are McGill sit up, plank, glute bridges, side plank, and bird dog. Did you notice that I didn't say to do a million sit ups? I want you to skip the crunches and really target the muscles in your core and keep your spine in a protected neutral position. Now, if your back is already in excruciating pain, I'd advise you to go see a chiropractor in Apex NC and seek help before trying to strengthen your core without proper guidance.

Core Strengthening in Apex NC

However, if you want to in general strengthen your core (which you should want to anyways) I would say give some of those exercises a go. If you start doing these and you feel that your back is in pain, stop. This could mean you have either had a muscle spasm, or from the twisting and turning that you've affected the ligaments and or spine. Just listen to your body and make a good judgment to either proceed or stop.

Now, for bad posture this can be a result of lack of core stability as well. Essentially the muscles that make up your core are kind of like a corset for the body. You want to have a strong core so that things can't move and become out of alignment. When your corset starts to loosen it starts to allow for room for muscles to become somewhat lazy. This then leads to muscles becoming shorter and tighter which is hard to stretch back out and will take some time to do so. If you think you can strengthen your core in a week, you are horribly mistaken. This will honestly take a while since not only your core is affected but your back, posture, and overall function of your body. Just think if you had a house with bad foundation there will come a time where things start falling apart and that's a great example of keeping your core stable.

To be able to function properly you need to have strong core stability. I mean, by now you should understand that because of what was said above.. but it's so true. Breathing plays a huge role in creating that foundation of core function. Just think, the first thing that you did when you got into this world is breath! At Omega Chiropractic Center - Sports Performance & Nutrition, we will go more in depth on how breathing is the first function of core but for now focus, and do your exercises and in no time, you will have the strongest core the world has ever seen!

Below is a video to help you with different balance and core exercises...follow along!