Good evening. Thank you for joining us this evening for another nightly podcast. For those of you who are new I am Dr. Harrison Campbell main chiropractor at Restoration Health a premier sugar land chiropractors office. I do hope you have a great fourth of July with your friends and family. I tonights podcast we will be discussing the core and comparing it to a lifting belt.
To begin let us describe the core. When most sugar land chiropractors use the term core patients immediately invasion the abs or abdominal muscles. This is not the core as it is termed for the muscles which protect the lumbar spine. The primary muscle for this core is the transverse abdominus muscle. The easiest way to describe this muscle is a hoop or band around the waist, envision a hoola-hoop. What this muscle does is support the lumbar spine when we are lifting. This means that the motion of the lumbar spine is restricted while this muscle contracts or tightens. This stabilizes the lumbar spine and prevents intervertebral disc injuries such as herniations from occurring if done correctly.

When the transverse abdominus contracts you will feel a tightening the the sides of where the abdominal muscles are located. You will be able to feel this tightening while being palpating or feeling in this area. Tightening the transverse abdominus however is not the end to being able to lift correctly. As sugar land chiropractors will tell you contracting the transverse abdominus without being able to breathe will not benefit you in the long run. The goal is to have the transverse abdominus tight while still being able to breathe with your belly. This is something you will have to work at constantly as being able to do this does not come naturally.

Once you can tighten the transverse abdominus and breathe we can start incorporating basic motions into this. We have covered the dead bud exercises previously I believe but I will briefly describe this exercise is for those of you who are new. While laying on your back you will tighten your core. The easiest way to do this is envision pulling your belly button to your spine. Make sure that you are able to belly breathe while tightening your transverse abdominus. Now extend your arms overhead. What we are are going to do is bring your right hand and your left knee and touch those together over your stomach. Then swap to the left hand and the right knee. These are slow controlled motions and the goal is to have your transverse abdominus tight throughout the exercise. I typically start off my patient with ten repetitions per side at Restoration Health a premier sugar land chiropractors office. It is important to remind the patients that the motion of the arms and legs is not the focus of the exercise. This motion is simply to divide your focus and required you to keep your core tight while simultaneously breathing correctly and still able to perform an activity.
Conversely a lifting belt straps around to waist and is rigid preventing from bending at the waist. This forces people using them to lift with the knees and keep the curve in the low back as people say. What this curve they are referring to is to sugar land chiropractors is the lordosis of the lumbar spine. By maintaining this curve in the lumbar spine you are reducing the pressure placed on the intervertebral discs reducing the risk of injury to the area. In essence this weight lifting belt is performing the job of the transverse abdominus.

This can be a good thing while weight lifting recreationally or if lifting is part of your job description. It can also be a bad thing if you rely on a weight lifting belt exclusively for lumbar support. Anytime a brace or wrap is used solely for the support of a body part the natural tissue responsible for providing the support grows weak as it is no longer utilized. Is this case if you use a weight lifting belt to stabilize the lumbar spine you allow your transverse abdominus to grow weak. This means should you lift something without your lifting belt you put yourself at great risk of injury to your lumber spine. This is why sugar land chiropractors use braces sparingly.

There is a time and a place to use a brace, but you must also strengthen the tissue to avoid injury when the brace is not utilized. Twenty years ago the philosophy behind an injury healing was to immobilize it to allow healing. Now the philosophy behind healing is that motion heals an injury. This is because a tissue which heals while immobile will heal and be strong but not flexible. Tissue which is not flexible is not functional. Thus using a brace at the beginning of an injury allows tissue to start the healing process. Removing the brace and strengthening the tissue and creating flexibly is required as well however. Therefore sugar land chiropractors will typically only use a brace at particular times and do not utilize them in all situations.
To summarize the transverse abdominus and a weight lifting belt function in identical ways while supporting the body. Using a weight lifting belt in situations is a smart and healthy lifestyle practice. Relying only on a weight lifting belt is asking for trouble. The transverse abdominus needs to be strong and you must practice is using this muscle correctly. You want the transverse abdominus to be tight while you perform any activity other than stretching and to accomplish this you will have to work at it.
Thank you for joining me once again for our podcast. I do hope you found tonights podcast informative and you can take this knowledge and apply it to your daily life. As always should you or someone you know require the services of sugar land chiropractors please call Restoration health today so that we can schedule you an appointment. I hope you see you for our next podcast. Have a good evening.