What Most People Get Wrong About Core Strength
If you’ve ever worked with a physical therapist, taken a fitness class, practiced yoga, or attempted a plank, there’s a good chance someone has told you to “engage your core.” Most of us have a pretty predictable response. We tighten our stomach, pull our belly button in, or brace like someone is about to punch us. It feels like we’re doing something, so it must be working, right?
Not necessarily. Learning how to engage your core is less about how tightly you can contract your abdominal muscles and more about how well your body can create support while still allowing you to breathe and move. Those things should be able to happen together.
Your Core Is More Than Your Abs
Before we talk about core strength, it helps to understand what we actually mean by “core.” Because despite what all those ab workouts might have led us to believe, there’s a lot more involved than your abdominal muscles.
Your core muscles work as a coordinated system that includes your diaphragm, pelvic floor, and deep abdominal muscles. These muscles work together to support your trunk as you breathe and move. Ideally, that support happens naturally, without you having to constantly force or think about it. You shouldn't have to consciously squeeze your stomach every time you bend down to pick something up or get out of a chair.
As Dr. Paula says, “Intrinsic core engagement is reflexive, not cued.” In other words, your core should be able to respond to what you're asking your body to do without you constantly telling it to turn on.
That brings us back to what most of us do when we're told to “engage our core”: we brace. We tighten our stomach, create tension, and assume that if we can really feel those muscles working, we must be giving our body more support.
More Bracing Doesn't Always Mean More Support
But if core stability is meant to respond naturally to movement, does more bracing actually make it better? Not necessarily.
There are times when bracing is useful. If you're lifting something very heavy, for example, your body needs to create enough tension to handle the load. But you don't need that same amount of tension to carry a laundry basket upstairs, reach into the back seat of your car, or swing a pickleball paddle.
For everyday movement, your core needs to provide stability while still allowing the rest of your body to move. After all, the point of core strength isn't to hold your body perfectly still. It's to give you the support you need to move. If your go-to strategy is to tighten everything, hold your breath, and make your trunk as rigid as possible, you may be creating stability, but you're also working a lot harder than you need to.
Core strength is the ability to create the support you need for a movement without unnecessary tension or effort.
Activation Is About Access, Not Effort
So why might your body be relying on all that extra effort in the first place? It's easy to assume that a muscle is weak or has somehow “shut off.” But as Dr. Paula explains, “Activation is about access, not effort.” A muscle may simply be participating less because your body has learned to rely on something else. Maybe your low back works harder to stabilize you. Maybe you grip through your shoulders, stiffen your trunk, or hold your breath without realizing it.
We've talked before about how your body is adapted, not broken. Your body is very good at finding another way to keep you moving, and over time, those workarounds can become your default.
That's why trying harder to “engage your core” may not help. If your body is used to creating support another way, more effort can reinforce the same pattern. Activation helps make the appropriate muscles available so your body has other options.
Breath can help with that, too. As we discussed in why breathwork belongs in physical therapy, your diaphragm and pelvic floor are part of the support system through your center. Breathing can help those deeper core muscles participate without you having to force them into action.
How Do You Know If You’re Engaging Your Core?
So how do you know when your core muscles are supporting you well? You may actually notice that movement feels easier, not harder. When your body can access the support it needs, it doesn't have to rely as heavily on all those workarounds.
You may notice:
Easier breathing while you move
Less gripping or tension in your shoulders, back, or other areas
Smoother movement that doesn't feel as stiff or forced
Less work in your low back when you're lifting, bending, or exercising
More freedom to move while still feeling supported through your center
That's why core strength can't be measured only by how long you can hold a plank or how many core strengthening exercises you can do. You can have strong abs and still rely on a lot of extra tension to move.
At A Life in Balance, this is part of our approach to holistic physical therapy. We don't just look at whether a muscle is strong. We look at how your body is creating support during the things you actually want and need to do. Can you breathe comfortably? Can you move freely? Are your back, shoulders, or other muscles working harder than they need to?
Sometimes there absolutely is strength to build. But more effort isn't always the answer. If you've been working on your core and still feel like your back, hips, or shoulders are doing more of the work, it may be worth looking at why. Our physical therapists can help you understand how your body is moving now and what it may need to move with more support and less unnecessary effort.
Ready to get started? Schedule a physical therapy appointment with A Life in Balance at our Flemington, New Jersey, or Stratton, Vermont, location.
