Dr Mel Siff on Core Stability

view, all movementand stabilization occurs fromthe ground up….>>

*** Thisis a claimthatfar too manypeopletake for granted. Courses on

“Core Stabilisation”are offered by numerous fitness gurus,physical

therapists and fitness organisations, but few peopledare to make heretical remarksthatquestionthe ‘Core is All Important’ philosophy. If one has

backproblems, poortechniquein sport, lack of flexibility and so on, “blame iton deficiencies in corestability”is the cry.

An article thatI wrotefor several otherInternet discussion groupsis relevantin thisregard. ————————————– CORESTABILITY? MelSiff

Today, in the fitness and therapeuticworld, one of the latestbuzz terms;

is “corestability”and courses are cropping up everywhere to teachthis

amazing new discovery in the world of motorcontrol. The implicationsare

thatan athlete or normal human is somehowseriously deficient if core

stability exercises are not being donein someor otherdiscrete, isolated

fashion.

The beliefhere,of course,is thatisolated corestabilising exercises necessarilyimprove balance and postural control. They do not, since most

stabilisation and movementin sportswhere the handsand feet are in

contact witha surfacealso depends very strongly on PERIPHERALcontact

withthe givensurface(someexceptions are diving, airborne gymnastic and skatingmanoeuvres, and trampolining.) If thiscontact is inefficientor

unstable, then no amountof corestabilisation is goingto overcomeany

deficiency in peripheralstability.

Some simple examples- imagine what would happen to a gymnast or trapeze artistwithpooranklestrengthand stability or a huge weightlifterwith

great corestability but deficiencies in grip or anklestrengthand

stability? One could lista thousand similarexamples.

Thisconceptof a separate motorquality called “corestability”leadsto

the very faultybeliefthatcorestability is moreimportant and more

central to overall stability thanperipheralstability. The fact is that

the body is a linkedsystemof manyinteracting components, and current

“corestabilisation”dogma happens to be yet anotherexample of

isolationist training.To borrowa somewhatcliched termfromthe

vocabulary of the late SouthAfrican PrimeMinister,General Jan Smuts (who coinedthe word “holism”), it would be far better to talkabout“holistic;”

stability training.An emphasis on “corestability”is a steptowards

general instability,unless it is matchedby peripheralstabilisation. Onceupon a time we had kinaesthetic or proprioceptive trainingor even motorskill training- now we have “corestability”training, which is by

no means an suitablemodernsubstitute for what usedto be offered.

Possibly it is time for the whole “corestabilisation”industryneedsto

carefully re-examineitself and take a stepbackto its moresolidolder

roots. “Core stabilisation”may be a new term, but it offerslittleor

nothing new to fitness,therapyor sportstrainingthatwas not covered

perfectly wella longtime ago.