Tuesday 19 July 2016

Core Stability and Hip Hyperextension

I've been a runner for years, and in the most recent ones, I've done a ton of core training, to say the least. Ever since I learned, myself, of the importance of core stability, I threw it into my regular routine in order to optimize my running performance.

One thing that plagued me, however, was how I still remained prone to lower back pain while running long distances. Not all the time, but definitely often enough to be a bother. I couldn't understand it though; I was specifying my training in order to prevent this back discomfort. Why wasn't it working?

The solution eventually came to me. When doing exercises such as planks or deadbugs, the core is always being trained to stabilize the spine through the hip's range of motion from 0 - 90 degrees, and nothing more. However, when you jog, sprint, skate, or doing virtually anything else active, we are constantly exceeding those 90 degrees, with the hip moving into hyperextension during activity rather than stopping at 0.

It should start to piece together now. Understand that, since the core hasn't been, at all, trained to stabilize during those extra degrees of extension, the integrity of the support breaks down and allows the spine to deform and extend itself, resulting in low back pain.

Now that we have figured out the problem, please enjoy the solution!




2 comments:

  1. The video on the Core Stability and Hip Hyperextension blog does not work.

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    1. Thanks for letting me know! I've reuploaded it and corrected the link. Enjoy!

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