Archive: Around Town

The art and science of designing a workout is pretty complicated. The real dilemma is knowing what exercise to "prescribe" yourself. Crunches? Bicycles? Back extensions? Woodchops? Gyms (and exercises) are like a shelf full of drugs; how do you know which one(s) you need or which can be done unsafely without realizing? Luckily doctors go to medical school to know what drugs to prescribe their patients. For you and your fitness, here is a tip in exercise prescription for a better, stronger, healthier core.

 

Core musculature can be generalized into two categories: frontside and backside. There are also side muscles (obliques) that are trained more with rotational and side-to-side movements. The frontside is exactly what it sounds like, what you see in the mirror. Most people exercise their frontside core without thinking (sit-ups, crunches, etc). The backside is everything that you don't see in the mirror...but you know it is back there, looming large.

 

The backside core requires more attention than the frontside for three main reasons: back safety, functional fitness, and aesthetic fitness. In the end, all three are closely related. Being safe with your exercise means avoiding what may be harmful or reducing risk of injury with proper form. Consider strengthening your backside instead of the front because research shows that repeated flexion-bending of the spine is necessary to cause disc herniation (Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance, S. McGill).

Also, thanks to a generally stronger frontside than backside, especially in women, crunches can increase neck pain due to its consequent forward head posture (The New Rules of Lifting for Women, L. Schuler). Schuler sums up the feeling of progressive exercise science nicely by writing, "The basic crunch is at best a useless exercise." It may be advisable to avoid crunches, situps, etc, completely.
 

Gray Cook, physical therapist and author, comments strongly, "Don't tell me you have a strong core if you don't have strong glutes." For functional fitness, the backside chain of muscles is involved in practically all movement of daily life, the most predominant of which are the gluteals, a.k.a, your butt. Healthy functioning glutes are a key to overall fitness and function but the more you sit on them, the less they work properly, bad news considering that we are a society of "sitters."

 

When it comes to improving your aesthetics, consider that the people around you see your backside much more than your front. Remember this classic line from Space Balls (1987) when Dark Helmet asks, "How come no one told me my ass was this big?" Another aspect of appearance is posture; good posture is synonymous with a strong core. As we get older our body regresses into a forward head, rounded shoulder, "dowagers hump" posture that is accelerated by incredible amounts of sitting.

 

Picture this typical scenario of someone, maybe you, sitting in a chronic flexed position in front of their computer all day, reinforcing it with crunches in the gym after work, and then sitting some more in front of TV at night. On the other hand, the backside core contains tonic postural muscles that not only fight to keep you in a healthy straight posture but also fight gravity. Compared to the demands of 21st century life, postural backside core musculature has no chance.

 

Backside core exercise categories are hip extensions (bridging) from a back-on-floor position, prone stomach-on-floor extensions such as cobras and supermans, shoulder retraction holds where you squeeze your shoulder blades together, and back extensions such as on a typical back extension bench. For better exercise prescription, work your backside core and think about perfect posture while you train. Stay strong.

 

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and The Gym (Lansing).

 

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