What Is Your Core?

The mythological entity known as the "core": What is it? You hear people talking fitness all of the time and the phrase comes up in a bunch of different ways, "Are you a core trainer?", "I want to work a lot of core", or "How do I work my core?". You probably say it to, but do you actually know what it means?

Technically your core refers to the group of muscles responsible for maintaining postural integrity or in layman's terms, keep you standing upright properly. You may need an anatomy chart for this one, but these major core muscles include the: transversus abdominis, multifidus, internal and external obliques, rectus abdominis and the erector spinae. Those muscles make up the major core musculature of the trunk, while the psoas muscles, glutes and lats also play an important role in posture.

How do you work your core? This can be accomplished through static or isometric movements such as prone and supine planks, as well as side planks. Rotational movements such as woodchops and various trunk twists work the obliques. Dynamic core work comes in the form of resisting changes in the core's plane of motion during exercise. This can come in the form of maintaining posture or upper body positioning during various lifts or movements.

The bottom line is if you're on your feet or your trunk is unsupported and your body is required to maintain good posture, you are activating your core muscles. Isolated work like planks, abdominal work and rotational movements all fall into what people traditionally think of core training. One of the greatest benefits of training functionally and removing machines out of the equation is that your "core" does tend to get a tremendous amount of work as postural integrity plays a key role in executing functional movements!