I know what it is, just want to know what you think it is.
Enlighten me.
I think, and this is an opinion rather than a dig at anyone or anything, that it is an over-rated and little understood thing.
Is it the ability to bite through an apple in one fell swoop?
It's the strength that you lose if you sit around doing nowt worthwhile..
I think its a thing that people trot out as a stock answer to 'sore back' or 'can't bend over enough' and as an actual thing doesn't mean that much.
It probably means 'good tummy muscles' to most folk
knowing a fair few people who research this malarkey (and the whole LBP thing) i'm not really sure anyone knows truly what it is or how to measure it, and even if you can whether it actually works...
If i remember correctly isn't it all that trans abs, QL, abs, and pelvic floor stuff. Needless to say i'm not musculo-skeletal
is it what big hitters have and flouncers lack?
Posterior chain?
The ability to do a plank for xx seconds.
As measured on the Gnarr-Jay scale?
Maybe. I say gnaaaarrrr lots when doing a plank.
Ahh...but Cptn... that makes you Jaycore.
I always thought it was to do with your "inner self"/personality/outlook on life/moral values etc.
For example, you often get people who'll put themselves out for anyone, always offering to lend a helping hand - these are described as having a "good core" or "good core strength"
Those that have nothing good to say about anyone, never lend a hand, always moaning/arguing/trolling etc. etc. are described as being "rotten to the core" or perhaps have a poor "core strength"
The Southern Yeti - Member
Ahh...but Cptn... that makes you Jaycore.
Cool, thanks.
I'd agree with Crikey. Good tummy muscles. They were forever going on about core muscles at gymnastics
I should add that I have no idea which end of the scale is which.
Any further ideas?
I always thought it meant your 'body' muscles; back, front, sides. Torso, I suppose. But I confess, I don't actually know, that's just been my understanding.
Is it something akin to BMI maybe, like an 'overall muscle mass' index or something, as that what you're getting at?
I know what I think it is, why don't you put us out of our misery and tell us what you think you know it is...
Is it something to do with magnets?
TSY - where's the fun in that?
Fun.... FUN?? Who said anything about fun!?
i thought it was something to do with making sure the muscles that have any impingement on the spine are strong and balanced. having a 6-pack on it's own ain't enough. i'm sure i read that somewhere when i decided i should work on my core strength... (which i never bothered doing, btw. i was petrified of making things bad by not balancing it right and snapping my spine, or something)
Torso, and you only realise just how important those muscles are when you crack / bruise your ribs and you can't do anything for a month 🙁
I'm sure there's an accepted medical definition in terms of attachments and flexion/extension of the peripheral skeleton but I would sum it as saying that core muscles work to align the pelvis, ribs and spine to resist either dynamic or static forces.
Core strength would be, in everyday terms, the ability of the body to maintain posture, resist force and initiate movement.
I'd class pelvic floor, diaphragm, transverse abs, obliques (internal and external), sacrospinalis & rectus abdominus (6 pack) as core muscles and also include lats, gluts and traps as having core function...
...hmmmm must get the anatomy books out again, I'm sure I've forgotten loads 😳
To me, it's not the muscles that we can see - abs, glutes, pecs etc.
It's the muscles inside you, which hold you up and hold all your organs together.
take up pilates brilliant for cycling and works on posture and your core strength good to do over the winter period you wont regret it.
Core strength = the muscles that let you swing a sledgehammer without falling over.
when you have it, you know it. And you wonder why you've lived so long without it.
It's great for walking, running and even standing better. And superb when you want to put some power into the bike.
Particularly helpful when the tube driver jams the brakes on too hard 😉
More people would have it if they knew how it felt
The muscles you use on a singlespeed
when you have it, you know it. And you wonder why you've lived so long without it.
It's great for walking, running and even standing better. And superb when you want to put some power into the bike.
Particularly helpful when the tube driver jams the brakes on too hard
the same could be said of having a willy like an anvil.
Isn't it a religious thing a bit like "core beliefs"?
Only more kick ass and smitey with super powers like Moses messing up baddies with the sea or the Jebus beating up satan with a burning bush or something innit?
Whenever I'm told someone has good "core strength" I assume they are extra pious and can fly or see through walls...
Interesting.
Muscles between the shoulder and knee all go towards supporting your torso. Some wrap around, some travel up but all go towards allowing you to walk upright.
I agree that being able to sustain the plank for over 60 seconds (without crying for mummy) displays some decent core strength.
FFS SBZ GOWI
Naw!!!
Plank for 60 secs, pah 2 minutes is more like it. Then I want my mummy.
Grrrrrrrrrrr
muscles in the abdomen that act as the leverage for limbs to act against. it does not mean abs.
I think it is misunderstood by a lot of people.
surely the only important muscles are your biceps and 6pack, they're the only reason men work out aren't they?
Don't forget your glutes Phil.
Guns and Buns baby, guns and buns.
Its a measurement of how many crunches you can do. Everyone knows it
OK - take a cylinder with your pelvic floor as the base and your diaphragm as the lid and the muscles round your belly and back as the wall. It's basically every muscle that can be used to increase the pressure within that cylinder whilst keeping it cylinder shaped.
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i bet he can do 1000 sit-ups just like peter andre used to do!
*MEGA SWOOOON*
surely the only important muscles are your biceps and 6pack, they're the only reason men work out aren't they?
I only work the glamour muscles. Why do anything else?
for me it include glutes, hips, pelvis, lower back and the much smaller muscles i.e not six pack ones - like the ones that if you put your fingers an inch in from your hip bones and then i think an inch or so down...despite my physio telling me the names a few times, i can't remember them. Working on strengthening that one has made a huge difference.
I'm training for the 'human flag' now.
I read it was the muscles surrounding your spine both inside and out, not so much your abs.
I think it's the muscles you use when staggering around drunkenly pretending to fall over with a 25kg toddler on your shoulders.
What is core strength?
The latest buzz-phrase to get the paying punters to hand over their money to the gym whilst not actually attending any classes or using the kit.
And because it's invisible, you can't deny it's existence.
Genius
Is it like.. strength.. in your core..?
Surrounded By Zulus - Member
OK - take a cylinder with your pelvic floor as the base and your diaphragm as the lid and the muscles round your belly and back as the wall. It's basically every muscle that can be used to increase the pressure within that cylinder whilst keeping it cylinder shaped.
Oh, a standard textbook definition, I thought we were going to hear something interesting 🙄
OK - take a cylinder with your pelvic floor as the base and your diaphragm as the lid and the muscles round your belly and back as the wall. It's basically every muscle that can be used to increase the pressure within that cylinder whilst keeping it cylinder shaped.
How is that a definition of core strength? It's just a vague location guide to numerous but not all postural muscles.
Do you have a better one?
So, it's what I said, then.
Rah.
Welcome to Fight Afternoon! Get your tickets for the showdown of the day! iDave vs SbZ! Roll up roll up!
All you've said is where you believe core muscles to be located - that doesn't define 'core strength'.
Shhh Molly - it's not often you get to see two silver backs squaring up in the wilds of the chat forum, right in the heart of fitness forest. Too much publicity and we might spook them.
Anyone want a pint of electrolyte replacement mix, protein bar or banana?
And you've refused to answer my question. Do you have a constructive point or are you going to do your usual pissing in the wind?
You asked a question, you waited until people had answered, then you gave what you felt was the correct answer. I just pointed out that it contained nothing at all relating to the 'strength' of any muscles, just where they were.
So, for example had you said "Core strength is defined as the ability of the muscles and muscle groups located in XYZ, to contract with sufficient force to allow ABC..." you'd be a little closer to the truth you seek.
Off of Wikipedia...
The core is more than just your abdominals, though that is what many people associate with the word. The glutes and lower back muscles, called the erector spinae, may come to mind as well. But even these three groups are not all of the core muscles. There is also the psoas muscle of the hips and the multifidus of the spine. All of these muscles stabilize the trunk, including the spine and pelvis, and core strength training targets these muscles.
That still appears to be a "NO".
You appear to have answered the question "what are core muscles? " not "what is core strength? "
I think iDave has a point. You've said what the 'core' is, but surely 'core strength' is about what it does, and why that's important?
For extra marks you could include a method of measuring it and for a distinction, what exercises one may do to increase it.
And the Wikipedia entry reads like it was written by the gym instructor at the local leisure centre. I'm not saying it's wrong (I wouldn't know), but it doesn't sound particularly authoritative.
the Wikipedia entry
The Wiki thing was actually from Livestrong... so you're probably right. I just thought it'd make for a better argument if it looked like Wiki was more authoritative than the right honourable Mr SBZ.
Anyway - where did I say I was answering the question of what core strength is?
Without invoking theoretically cylindrical torsos, I think Stoner had the best "everyday" definition
Stoner - Member
Core strength = the muscles that let you swing a sledgehammer without falling over
On of my collegues reading over my shoulder has just defined core muscles as "the ones you use for farting, puking and shagging" - also gets the message across in plainspeak 😉
This is going well....
Anyway - where did I say I was answering the question of what core strength is?
well.....
Do you have a better one?
... suggests strongly that you offered a definition then got in a strop about it being challenged?
I assume you can fill in the XYZ and ABC in my post, then you have your definition on a plate?
[i]Anyway - where did I say I was answering the question of what core strength is? [/i]
Ah, that's right, you've got me there.
Tool.
Does it?
Yes
So you didn't mean do I have a better definition, you meant...
Do you have a better [s]one[/s] pen/car/hat/horse/onion?
This thread has all the core srtength of two short planks.
I know what it is, just want to know what you think it is.Enlighten me.
What is it?
Enlighten me 😀
Most pointless thread ever.
has he gone yet?
🙄