Unlike strengthening exercises which often take 4-8 weeks to really show their effects, positive results of core stabilization often come much quicker. Learning how to activate the muscles of the core properly is achieved through a series of progressive exercises.Once you develop the brain to muscle connection to turn on and control these muscles in a variety of positions, your therapist can focus more on building strength and endurance. Because neuromuscular control exercises require a lot of repetition to promote learning, you can help speed up progress by sticking with the home exercises prescribed by your therapist.

A DEEPER LOOK INTO CORE STABILIZATION

A common misconception is that the core consists only of the abdominals. The core actually refers to a group of several muscles that encapsulate the space between our ribcage, spine, abdominals and pelvis. Core muscles are typically divided into two categories, stabilizers and global movers. Stabilizer muscles should work in concert with one another to achieve several important goals:

• Control the spine during movement of the limbs
• Protect the spine from excessive and possibly injurious loads
• Transfer load from the upper to the lower body
• Increase force production capabilities in the limbs
• Promote stabilization at proximal limb structures such as the shoulders and hips

• Transversus abdominis: this muscle is the deepest of the 6 core muscles. It extends between the ribs and the pelvis with its fibers running horizontally like a belt. It can be felt most easily in the lower belly between the hip bones. When contracted it helps support the lower spine and organs and creates intra abdominal pressure.
• Internal obliques: these abdominal muscles lie on the lateral side of the abdomen and rib cage. They are aligned obliquely upward and extend from the hip bones up to the ribcage. These muscles help flex the trunk forward, to the side, create intra abdominal pressure and are essential for forced expiration.
• Diaphragm: this muscle is the primary muscle of inspiration and attaches at the inferior-most aspect of the ribcage separating the thoracic and abdominal cavities.
• Multifidus: the multifidus muscles are deep muscles that lie on either side of the lower spine. They have a role in extending and rotating the trunk and in maintaining posture.
• Pelvic floor: the pelvic floor is a dome-shaped sheet of muscles that lines the pelvis. It divides the pelvic cavity from the perineal region below it. Many muscles make up the pelvic floor and together they perform several functions including supporting pelvic organs, maintaining fecal and urinary continence and allowing voiding of urine and feces as well as sexual function and childbirth.

If you decide to work with a physical therapist to help with Core Stabilization related issues, your entire treatment plan could consist of around 8-20+ different physical therapy sessions that will each last 60-90 minutes. Once you complete your customized physical therapy treatment plan, you will be able to continue to do the prescribed stretches and exercises utilized during your PT sessions yet in the comfort of your own home.

Looking for the cause of an injury

While full recovery and return to play is the ultimate goal when it comes to injury rehabilitation, a physical therapist has much more to offer. We are interested in identifying the factors that may have predisposed you to the injury in the first place so that we can make a plan to address them. This helps decrease your risk for future injury. Here are some factors that we look for when assessing a player:

• Muscle strength, power and endurance
• Flexibility and mobility in muscles and joints
• Sleep, nutrition and recovery time
• Training schedule
• History of prior injury
• The physical demands of a player’s position on the team

While some injuries are unavoidable, there may be times when internal and external factors play a role. Identifying these factors allows us to address them with a good physical therapy program or give advice on beneficial modifications to your training.

Movement and Performance Analyses