Core Synergistics and Abdominal Muscle Functions

Core Synergistics was my 2nd workout of the day yesterday, and I'm really sore as compared to my Core Synergistics workout earlier in the week.  A person's "Core" is made up of all the muscles that support your trunk, so your whole body that isn't a limb, or as copied from wikipedia:
"The major muscles of the core reside in the area of the belly and the mid and lower back (not the shoulders), and peripherally include the hips, the shoulders and the neck."

The 1 hour Core synergistics routine focuses on having a person slightly flex all of their trunk muscles while doing movements.  The plank position is used a lot (Position of being extended flat out before doing a pushup) because you tighten your glutes, lower back and abdominal muscles to hold a straight and strong position.


So what is the importance of core strength?
The importance of keeping your core muscles strong is to prevent injury.  All of these muscles help support your spine, which is very delicate due to all the functions it provides.  If you learn to tighten the muscles when doing simple every day lifts, you reduce the chance of back injuries because all of your muscles are supporting each other and keep the spine from hyper-extending.

Other positives for core strength:
With sports and other athletic events, your body needs to be strong to be competitive, for example a pitcher, or a batter at the plate wanting to hit the ball really hard.  When you learn to swing a bat correctly, you learn to twist your body as you swing it, because it generates more force, and the same thing when throwing a baseball.
The amount of strength in the core of your body allows you to load a ton of power behind regular movements that you normally think of being simply based on limb strength.

Runners strengthen their core so that when they run, they let the torso twist in combination with their steps to generate a stronger push off with each foot, and it also helps increase their stride length.  Any sport that you swing in, be it tennis, baseball, hockey, mixed martial arts, all will receive extra bonuses of strength and power because of a strong core.  (MMA fighters gain power in their punches and kicks because of their core strength  allowing more force through twisting their body.)

Why I felt this important to bring up:
A lot of people have no idea what the function of the abdominal muscles are for, as well as the understanding of the importance of strengthening all the muscles in your trunk.
Many people think of abdominal muscles as a cosmetic attribute, not an anatomically important function.



Last night I had to stop the core workout with about 10 minutes left because my previously injured lower-left abdominal muscle was acting up again.  Fortunately I think I stopped before I re-injured it for a long period of time and I should be good to go as soon as Monday comes around.