4 Reasons to Strengthen Your Core Muscles
Most people don’t realize how often their core muscles come into play in their daily life. Physically they are the connection between your upper and lower body. Yes, your spine also connects them, but it does not have any strength to it by itself. It needs the strength of the core to do the heavy lifting (no pun intended) for it.
Regardless of what you do, core muscles are helping you do it. Everyday activities that you don’t even think about are using your inner core strength. Carrying in groceries or laundry, vacuuming, dusting and a whole host of other activities all either originate or travel through your core. Strengthen your core, and all of a sudden everyday tasks become easier to do.
Reduce Risk of Injuries
Because building a strong core improves balance and stability, you’ll have a lower risk of falling and suffering an injury … which depending on your age, can be life-changing. In the case of broken hips, some seniors never do fully recover and end up in an assisted living facility.
Take the back for example. Without the back core muscle Erectus Spinea running along both sides of it, it really is just like links of a chain hanging there; no real strength to support anything by itself.
Improve Posture
Weak core muscles eventually lead to slouching or your back bending towards the front. This creates an imbalance of weight that was located directly over the spine but now centered forward of the spine, creating an immense amount of stress on the back. But strengthening your entire core keeps your back straight and the weight centered over the spine.
Banish Back Pain
Four out of five Americans experience back pain of varying degrees in some point in their lives. Usually the cause is either weak core muscles as a whole or an imbalance where one muscle it taxed to do more than it should to compensate for another weak muscle, eventually itself giving out.
Look Great
This reason is a direct result of core strength, but it is an important reason in itself. If you feel good, have good posture, and have some confidence in your walk, you are going to look good and have a healthy outlook on life, instead of holed up worrying about your aches and pains.
And because your core is in great shape, it will allow you to do things that you might not be otherwise able to do, like water aerobics, dance, play tennis, etc.