Core Muscles and Stability

Core Muscles

• The core can be described as a muscular box with the abdominals in the front, paraspinals and gluteals in the back, the diaphragm as the roof, and the pelvic floor and hip girdle musculature as the bottom.

Components of the Core

• The core is comprised of several groups of muscles including the transversus abdominus, multifidus, diaphragm, and pelvic floor muscles.

Function of Core Muscles

• These muscles work together to produce maximum stability in the abdominal and lumbar (lower) back region, as well as coordinate the movement of the arms, legs, and spine.

Core Stability

• The term “core stability” refers to the ability of these “core” muscles to stabilize the lumbar spine and pelvic girdle during static postures and dynamic movements.
• Core stability training is a form of training that challenges the stability of the spine while training muscle activity patterns and postures that ensure sufficient stability without unnecessarily overloading the tissue.

Lumbar Stabilizing Muscles

• The lumbar stabilizing muscles are divided into local and global muscles, based on their role in stabilizing the trunk.

Types of Muscle Fibers

• Two types of muscle fibers comprise the core muscles:
• Slow-twitch fibers: primarily make up the local muscle system (the deep muscle layer), suited for controlling intersegmental motion and responding to changes in posture and extrinsic loads.
• The local stabilizing muscles include the transversus abdominus, multifidus, and other muscles.