Posture and Core Stability:

Are posture and core stability related? Let's take a look. This past weekend I attended the 3rd Annual Midwest Strength, Conditioning & Rehab Symposium. This two day event featured some of Chicago's top physical therapists and personal trainers.

One of the overall themes is that the abs and low back muscles need to be trained to resist rotation and need to be trained to resist movement, in order to keep the spine stable.

These muscles provide stability while the upper or lower body is moving. For example, in the golf swing, you don't want to get your rotation through your lower back - you want to get your rotation from the hip and your thoracic spine - the area directly above your lower back.

If you are lacking in flexibility in either the hip or thoracic spine, you will be forced to rotate more with your lower back - which is not good! This area is built for stability and not designed to rotate very far.

According to top strength coach Mike Boyle, a lack of mobility in the hips will put undue stress on the low back, something I have stated in the past. I've worked on many people with low back pain who had excess tension in the muscles of their hips.

Sometimes you can greatly reduce back pain with skilled massage therapy, followed with specific stretching. Follow this up with core stability training and you've got a winning combo.

It was brought up that repeated spine flexion, such as doing endless crunches in a 15 minute abs class, is not too smart of an idea - idiotic, if I remember correctly. This is based on the work of expert spine researcher Dr. Stuart McGill - repeated spine flexion (crunches) puts you at increased risk of injuring a disc in your low back.

Reteaching proper breathing is usually the first place to start. Breathing through your diaphragm (stomach) is needed. Follow this up with exercises designed to provide stability, such as isometrics. You can gradually do movements for your upper or lower body.

Something as simple as pushups can be a great stability exercise, as you hold your stomach tight, keeping it from falling in towards the floor. Once you get going, all the muscles on the front, sides and low back should work without you thinking about it too much, keeping your spine stable.

The posture aspect comes from proper abdominal breathing, which allows you to be more upright and not bent forward at the shoulders. The breathing exercises are important for using the right muscles for stability. Ideally, this comes first.