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Core Strength vs Stability

Published On: May 21, 2024By Tags: , , , , , , ,

Core strength is the ability to move the torso activating and contracting the core muscles (of which there are quite a few other than abs).

Core stability is the ability to generate static resistance to unwanted movement. Think of it simply as the difference between a sit-up and holding a plank.

But there is a deeper layer to both strength and stability, beyond just muscle power. Infrastructure – the alignment of your spine, pelvis, ribs and shoulders. 

The efficiency of all these core muscles will be affected by the alignment (and stability) of the bones and joints that anchor these muscles to your skeleton.

With nearly all my patients, I test their spinal stability by lightly pushing with one finger at areas I suspect are misaligned in their spine. If they sway or loose balance, then this area of their spine is in an unstable, i.e. unable to support their body against gravity. If we were all astronauts in space it wouldn’t be a problem – but we’re not. 

For day to day life, core stability is the key for without it, the muscles are working overtime to compensate, This is why simple tasks like light gardening, housework or picking up your slippers cause your back to twinge.

The image below on the left depicts a typical posture we see in our clinic (not a patient). It is how the body stands if fully relaxed. The image on the right is how the body should stand if fully relaxed – with minimal muscular effort to hold a neutral posture. This depends on correct alignment of the spine, pelvis, legs and shoulders. Walking, running and most daily tasks become much harde work with poor stability. Hence, the reason for fatigue setting in quickly for many.

The good news is that using Advanced Biostructural Correction (ABC), we can stabilise the body by correcting the joints that your body cannot self correct, and allow the body to function more optimally.

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About the Author: Robert Spratley

I started my working life in the IT industry. Sitting long hours initially didn’t bother me. I was young and back pain wasn’t a thing in your 20s – right?! Then in my late 20s I injured my back carrying a piano. Although I didn’t have any pain immediately, over the coming days and weeks, my back started to hurt and I was getting pain down my right leg. I saw a physiotherapist on my GP’s referral and although it helped it didn’t resolve the pain for long. A friend of mine suggested seeing a chiropractor. This did help – and ignited an interest in how and why it helped as well as why I was in pain. Subsequently, I started my training to become a chiropractor and 5 years later qualified in 2013. As all new chiropractors do, I tested different techniques to see what seemed to work the best for me and my patients. During my first year of practice, I went to a seminar in Advanced Biostructural Correction (ABC). This turned out to be quite a radical approach to why bodies go wrong and how to fix them. The word ‘why‘ is important here because most techniques focus on looking at what is out of alignment in the skeleton and how to adjust it. But what if the misalignment is due to some other underlying problem that the body cannot fix? And how did this problem occur? This is where ABC shed light and provided a reliable and consistent template to fix structural body problems. In practical terms, I found that being treated with the ABC technique stabilised my body allowing my muscles to relax rather than constantly fighting against gravity to hold me upright. Previous techniques offered relief for a while by freeing up joints but then the tension and pain returned – because my body was still unstable. Furthermore, my body had formed layer upon layer of compensations to try and deal with the underlying issues that have taken time to unravel. These include fatigue, headaches, knee pain and shoulder pain. After receiving regular ABC treatment for almost a year, my symptoms were much improved. The goal of ABC is to have an ‘unawareness’ of your body. Most of us, if we stand still for a moment and focus on our body will realise that something hurts or doesn’t feel right. This is because it isn’t right. Pain often becomes like a background noise you get accustomed to and forget what silence sounds like. This is the aim with Advanced Biostructural Correction. Contact Details Email: info@rebalancechiropractic.co.uk Website Facebook Instagram X

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