Core, core, core.. what does this mean?

inner-coreYour tummy muscles are like an onion – there are inner layers and outer layers.

Outer Core

Your outer layers consist of muscles such as rectus abdominus also known as the “six pack muscle” and your obliques. When you do crunches at the gym, these are the muscles you are working.

However, there are issues with overworking the outer core…

  • It means you are not working the inner core, the part where most of us are actually the weakest! This is what is most often missed in strength training.
  • Too many crunches can place too much pressure on lumbar discs and can lead to further disc injury, for those with lower back issues.
  • Too many crunches also can cause our hip flexors to over work, which can pull our trunk into a bent forward position, which further encourages slumping.

Physiotonic classes will help you to break this cycle and address muscle imbalances! Whilst some of our exercises will work the outer core to help build your overall body strength, Physiotonic will concentrate more on your inner core.

Inner core

When you go to the gym, what is often missed is the failure to pay attention to your inner core.  This is the deepest layer of your trunk muscle group, where the muscle “transverse abdominus” (TA) exists. TA is your main postural muscle that is like an old fashioned corset or a column of strength that should wrap around your spine to give you your stability.

Physiotonic will help you improve your strength from the inside out, so you have a strong inner framework.