Getting a STRONG CORE is EASY

Watch the YouTube video HERE!

The concept of “core strengthening” is hammered into every single chiropractic & physiotherapy student during their educations - and rightfully so! Be learning to properly brace their cores alone, many patients with low back pain feel immediate relief when performing movements that otherwise would be causing them significant pain! It’s nearly as close to magic as you can get.

There are usually some misconceptions held by patients when I initially use the term “core strengthening”. Namely, do visual abdominals = strong core? Do I need to lift HEAVY to be “strong”? How long is this going to take?

The short answer: No, no, and not as long as you likely think. In general, 8-12 weeks is sufficient time to garner the maximum initial increases in beginner strength (and some studies actually suggest even sooner than that, like 4-6 weeks).

This is due to a little phenomenon referred to as “Neural Adaptation”. Namely - your nervous systems adapts significantly faster than your muscles and joints do to the new activity (bracing your core).

Once sufficient neural adaptation has been obtained, the muscles gain a unique new “ability” - to successively alternate between “on” and “off” during prolonged physical activity. This essentially means that you will not have to always brace your core for movements that previously hurt you - your core will now be able to support your properly.

The TL;DR? If your healthcare provider suggests for you to do core rehabilitation, get to it. It’ll likely work quicker than you anticipate it to, and you’ll be back to doing all kinds of movements ASAP!