A SIX PACK IS NO SIGN OF CORE STRENGTH

MOBILITY, POWER & GRACE IS.

CONTENTS

Chapter Page

1. Introduction: The Secret is in the Spine 2

2. Basic Anatomy of the Spine 5

3. 5 Common Mistakes in Fitness Programs 8

4. Back and Core Strength 14

5. What Am I Really Training For? 16

References 17

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 Chapter 1: Introduction – The Secret is in the Spine

We admire the strength and beauty of their movements in wild animals, like the cheetah. When
these animals are hurt, they lose the ability to survive very quickly.
Movement is important to all mammals, including humans.
In the TV program, Down to Earth: The Cheetah’s Spine, Evolutionary biologist Ben Garrod,
narrates, “The fastest animal on the land, the cheetah is capable of speeds of nearly 70 miles an
hour, over short bursts. The secret is in its spine.”

Humans, like all mammals have a spine. It is not built for speeds like the cheetah but it is unique
from other mammals. The human spine provides erect posture and the only one well adapted to
moving on two feet or bipedalism.

The spine is the backbone of our body. A healthy spine is essential for living a full life. It allows us
to perform our daily duties and live an independent life.

The human spine is not just for daily living. A flexible and healthy

spine is essential in other forms such as dance, an art with a unique

form of expression. Dancers, in general move with poise and power.

Have you watched Mikhail Baryshnikov dance? Many consider him

one of the greatest ballet dancers of all time.

http://bit.ly/1LeQ3bT

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 In martial arts, Bruce Lee is a legend. A kick from him is like having a truck ram into you.

http://bit.ly/1TIVwfC

Or the gymnast swiveling on the pommel horse. His spine exhibits great strength, speed, power and
endurance – qualities we all admire and dream to have.

These world class athletes have very strong back and core strength. These are critical to protect the
spine under heavy load, and to move the spine/body with speed and grace.

For world class athletes, the six pack abs and physique are consequences of their training. It is not
the goal of their training. The abdominals or physique don't win medals – only the movements and
the quality of the movements do.

Deep inside, we have the need to look good. From young, we are bombarded with good looking
people – and good looking people are successful people, right? No, it is a myth. Yet today, the
image of good looks still triumph.

The reason why the pursuit of six pack abs and physical aesthetics remain the core of fitness
routines, rather than spinal health and mobility.

We fail to understand the importance of our spine for power and grace in life, regardless of what we
do.

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 Have you considered your movements lately?

Is your posture reflecting your status in life?

Can you bend down to pick up your child without breaking your back?

Why can’t you get enough power in that golf swing?

Why have you plateaued in your running times?

In this ebook, I want to highlight some of the current mindsets in fitness training. It is time to
change mindsets, to place a higher priority on movements, and that means building a core that is a
strong and mobile spine.

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 Chapter 2: Basic Anatomy of the Spine

Let's start with some basic understanding of our spine. The intention is to provide a general
understanding and not a formal education on the anatomy of the spine.

The spine is made up of 33 individual bones, stacked on top of each other. The spine is curved as
shown in the picture.

The bones of the spine are connected to each other, and to

other bones via connective tissues (ligaments, tendons) and

muscles. These structures keep the spine in alignment.

The natural curves of the spine work like a coiled spring to

absorb shock, maintain balance and allow a range of motion

throughout the spinal column.

When there is an injury or misalignment in any part of the

spine, sooner or later, it will surface as aches and pains, in that part of the spine and sometimes in
other regions of the body, known as referred pain. For example, if the lumbar spine is too curved –
deeper 'C' curve, the degeneration of the bones may lead to nerve impingement, which could
surface as leg pain.

Each joint in the spine can move, and it stays healthy with functional movement. Movement is like
'oiling' the joint, enabling it to move smoothly and slows down the wear and tear.

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 What is functional vs. dysfunctional movement?

When a joint moves functionally, it does so without uneven wear or tear, without pain and without
affecting connecting structures. When a spinal joint does not move well, quite often it affects
another joint function. It's akin to a well maintained car that runs smoothly or a car that emits odd
sounds.

For example, when the thoracic spine is stiff and hunched forward, the shoulder movement is
affected. The shoulder blade moves well when the thoracic spine can flex (bow forward) and extend
(straighten). An efficient spine creates efficient movements.

The spine is the organizer for all movements. How do you pick up an object from the floor? The
spine bends forward, allowing the hands to reach to the floor. Try this. Without bending your spine,
pick up an object from the floor. You can't.

“Low back pain is a very common health problem amongst the population and a major cause of
disability that affects work performances and well-being”, wrote Beatrice Duthey, PhD in a report
published by WHO.

Low back pain can be due to a number of factors: individual characteristics, working conditions
such as heavy physical work, awkward static and dynamic working postures, as well as manual
handling and lifting, lifestyle factors and psychological factors.

Let's examine a leading cause of low back pain. Office executives, who are desk bound and spends
long hours at the computer, are at a high risk to develop low back pain.

The back is in a rounded position for long hours. This sitting posture does not stop at the office
desk. It continues in other activities, driving, sitting in the train, having meals and watching TV.

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 Such posture develops problems in the muscles, as shown in the standing posture below.

The imbalanced muscles – front and back – pull the spine off alignment. The misalignment causes
faster wear and tear in the bones and joints of the spine. In the early phase, it might be pain from the
muscles or ligaments. When damage occurs in the discs and the bones of the spine, the pain
becomes severe.

Yet, many desk bound executives are in fitness programs without understanding “What am I really
training for'?

Here are some common answers:

• “I am trying to lose some weight.”
• “I want to build muscles and look fit”
• “I am trying to lose some body fat.”
• “I want to have the six pack abs.”
• “I want to stay healthy.”
• “I want to be stronger.”

All those reasons are good. Such motivations make us sweat it out in the gym, because it is hard
work.
But, it's time for people to evaluate their fitness program.
Is their fitness program achieving a mobile spine to move efficiently and for longevity?

In the next chapter, I will highlight the 5 common mistakes in fitness programs.

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 Chapter 3: 5 Common Mistakes in Fitness Programs

Mistake #1 Same Old Fitness Routine

Some people are still doing these workouts, isolated strength training, one muscle group at a time.

There is nothing wrong with the exercises but if it is only such exercises, then it's just building
muscles and not a body capable of efficient movements.

Notice how these people are either sitting or lying down doing the exercises – when they just came
from spending many hours hunched over the computer.

Achieving big muscles and looking good in short sleeves still motivate people to do these exercises.
They see their muscles improve within months. How well they move is not important.

A consequence of this training is tight superficial (the big) muscles. Tight muscles can cause joint
problems, as they hamper proper joint movement.

Mistake #2: A “Single-Type” or Limited Fitness Program

Some people love to run or cycle. This is their only fitness routine. For these fitness routines, they
build muscles in some parts of the body but not in others.

For example, runners might have strong legs but lack abdominal strength – which is a key
component of maintaining a healthy spine.

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 Running and cycling give people an adrenaline high. People can be addicted to it. In running alone,
some joints are overused, while others are underused. It's not a balanced conditioning of the whole
body.

For office people who spend many hours sitting, just cycling as a fitness routine will increase the
tightness of the hamstrings and hip flexors.

Running or cycling is not bad. You have to understand your spine and body joints need movements
to stay healthy, and your fitness program needs to address the effects of sitting too much.

A limited fitness program is one that does not target all the joints.

For example, in strengthening abdominals people tend to focus on

the front abdominals and miss out the obliques – well, it's the

single minded focus on six pack abs.

The spine has many muscles – transversus abdominis,

rectus abdominis (front abs), obliques (external & internal), quadratus lumborum (QL), latissimus
dorsi (lats), illiopsoas (hip flexors) – to name the big ones. Our human body is complex and these
muscles work harmoniously to create a healthy and mobile spine.

An example, a tight QL muscle can create problems in the lower back, by pulling the spine off
alignment. Once the spine is off alignment, compensations will occur within the body without our
knowledge and one day, pain will surface.

What may create a tight QL muscle? By sitting with a wallet in your back pocket. Your pelvis is
uneven, with the wallet side higher, thus causing changes in the muscles attached to the spine and
pelvis, which are the QL muscles. So remember do not to sit with a wallet in your back pocket.

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 The movement habits in adults are limited compared to children. An obvious example is extending
our spine – bending backwards. We hardly use this movement – unless you are looking up at
something tall at close distance. Our spine is often in a rounded position or flexed.

A good fitness program needs to address the lack of movements. The spine stays healthy a lot
longer when it is moved to its full range of motion capabilities – flex forward, side bend, extend and
rotate.

Mistake #3: Lack of Proper Programming

Every where in industrialized cities, people are urged to exercise or play a sport to stay fit, to
address a growing sedentary lifestyle. A sedentary lifestyle leads to costly health problems, such as
obesity, and heart diseases.

It is a positive step. Unfortunately, there is lack of advice for people how to start exercising or play
sports.

We return to the office executive who is desk bound and prone to have a weak back.

He decides he needs to strengthen his abdominals – he has a belly pouch due to many business
dinners and inactivity. He wants to maintain his image of being fit for the job.

He starts with a gym class doing crunches, including weight training. He realizes after some time,
he is developing low back pain. This is a scenario that can and does happen. Why?

His daily posture with tight abdominals and weak hamstrings are already causing a strain on his
lower back. With such unconditioned muscles, adding crunches too soon will further strain the
lower back. He is unaware stretching and mobility exercises are required, in addition to strength
work. He does not know about programming a workout appropriate for his body and to reach his
goal.

Most people don't know what their body needs. We are smarter in many areas, but not in the

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 appropriate fitness program for our body. Sadly, it's also a case of people not willing to listen to
advice. People skip stretching because it's not fun, and it's painful, but this is an important element
in any fitness program.

People without pain right now, can't appreciate the consequences. It's the culture of immediate
gratification. Why stretch, when I can start to lift weights and see how heavy I can lift over the
weeks.

The programming of a fitness program is important – the what, when, volume and intensity. Seek
proper advice from a well trained coach before starting any fitness program.

Mistake #4: Lack of Quality in the Training

If we can follow the exercise, we know how to do it. It is a myth. We lack body awareness, as we
spend so much time in fixed daily habits and have not regularly train our brain in new movements.

As beginners in a group class, we can get lost just between left and right, let alone know if we are
positioning our body correctly in any exercise.

Sometimes, we don't even know the exercises are causing harmful discomforts. We think it is part
of training – the “no pain, no gain” thing.

For example, the back extension exercise can cause strain and discomfort in the lower back, when
not executed properly. People tend to use their lower back to extend instead of starting from the
thoracic spine, and working their butt muscles.

The criss cross exercise for the obliques is done in many gyms, including Pilates studios. Quite
often, people are doing this exercise at such speed, that they are merely rotating their elbows and
heads.

This exercise done properly is to keep the elbows wide and twist the upper torso without dropping

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 the shoulders down (keep the chest lifted). It should be done at a slower rhythm to get a good
workout of the obliques.

It's easy to imitate the motion, but hard work working the muscles properly.

Another mistake is doing as many reps as possible within time limits. When poorly executed, it
does nothing to build strength and mobility, instead it leads to injuries. Proper execution has to
come first, and as strength and mobility increases, adding time limit as a component makes for a
well executed training.

Then there are those with a macho attitude and disregard techniques. They lift heavier weights or
push themselves when they are not ready. It requires a change in mind set – volume or heavier
weight does not count if not done properly. Worse, the brain picks up new poor habits.

Mistake #5: Focusing only on Muscular Strength

A common goal for training is to become stronger and bigger muscles. Stronger implies more
energy and more fit.

But are you stronger in your joints? Can you move well with power and grace? Instead are you
walking like a wooden block? In the words of GymnasticBodies.com, are you a zombie?

Mobility is a key component of healthy joints. Being muscle bound may actually hurt the joints in
the long term. Muscles move the joints but when over worked – become hypertonic, they are tight
and hamper the movement of joints. Have you seen people with strong muscles but can't roll their
spine down to touch their toes, with straight knees? This is lack of mobility.

The lack of joint mobility can result in injuries e.g. in faster degeneration of the discs between the
vertebrae in the lower back – a cause of back pain. Piling on the muscles makes it even harder to

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 move the joints. It's a vicious cycle.

Don't forget mobility work.

Some important knowledge to share about strengthening.

Muscles are easier to strengthen and repair (if injured) than ligaments, tendons, cartilage and the
bone - collectively known as connective tissues - of the joints. You see faster results in muscle
strengthening but it takes much longer to strengthen the connective tissue. Those who have had
ligament reconstruction – e.g. ACL in the knee – know it takes at least 4-6 months to return to their
sport, depending on the sporting activity.

Most joint injuries are in the connective tissue, e.g.

Lower back pain can be disk bulge/herniation, bone spurs,

spondylolisthesis – a forward displacement of a vertebra, most

common at L5-S1level. Anyone who has experienced such

problems know it takes a long time to recover.

Strengthening has to include the connective tissues of the joints.

But it takes time and patience.

Here are some extracts from the publication -Training Principles for Fascial Connective Tissue:

“...concept of the slow and long-term renewal of the fascial network. It is explained that in contrast
to muscular strength training (in which big gains occur early on and then a plateau is quickly
reached wherein only very small gains are possible) fascia changes more slowly and the results are
more lasting”.

“The intention of the proposed fascia oriented training is to influence the matrix renewal via
specific training activities which may, after 6 - 24 months, result in a more injury resistant and
resilient ‘silk-like body suit’ which is not only strong but also allows for a smoothly gliding joint
mobility over wide angular ranges”.

World class athletes take years to reach excellence. It is through their quality of rituals and habits.
Don't follow the mass thinking – of only building muscles.

It's strength and mobility in the joints. When it comes to the spine, it's building core strength and
spinal mobility, which will be discussed in the next chapter.

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 Chapter 4: Back and Core Strength

The human body is very complex. There are many muscles – shown are just the superficial muscles
– there are many deeper muscles, and they are connected to each other via connective tissue and
fascia.

When a person has six pack abs, it does not mean he/she has balanced strength in all the muscles
essential for spinal health and mobility.

The key muscles of the spine are:

1. Abdominals

a. Rectus abdominis – this muscle runs down the front from the chest to the pubic bone. This
muscle when toned gives the appearance of the six pack abs. It flexes the spine forward.

b. External and Internal obliques – muscles on the sides, that allows the trunk to rotate and
side bend.

c. Transversus abdominis – a thin muscle that surrounds the spine from back to front, known
as the corset muscle. It is the deepest abdominal muscle.

2. Latissimus dorsi (lats)– the broad muscles at the back, connected to the spine via fascia. Main
function is extend the arms – arms reaching backwards.

3. Quadratus lumborum (QL) – connects from the lowest rib and spine to the pelvis. It lifts the
pelvis up.

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 4. Illiopsoas muscles – or hip flexors, start from the spine and attach to the hip joints. They flex the
hips, i.e. bring the thighs close to the trunk.

5. Deeper muscles close to the vertebra – erector spinae and the smaller muscles such as the
rotators. The erector spinae extends the spine – i.e. bend backwards.

When it comes to back and core strengthening, a good programming has to work all these muscles
and their connective tissues.

But wait, this is not all.

The spine sits on the pelvis, which is the

equivalent of a table top. If the table top is

consistently uneven or off alignment, it means the

spine is off alignment.

For example, the office executive who spend

many hours sitting will have tight hamstrings. The hamstrings are attached to the sitz bones of the
pelvis. When they are tight, these muscles pull the pelvis into a scoop position, thus affecting the
alignment of the spine.

It will be challenging to build back and core strength if the hamstring muscles are not addressed.

Same goes with the muscles and connective tissues surrounding the hip joints, which affect the
positioning of the pelvis, and hence the spine.

For example, one of the butt muscles – gluteus medius is a hip stabilizer muscle. During gait, if this
muscle is weak, the person will exhibit Trendelenburg sign – inability to maintain level hips. If
uncorrected and the person does strenuous workout, like running, it may end up as a lower back
pain.

The key muscles are of the pelvis and hip joints are:

a. Butt muscles – gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus

b. Hip stabilizer muscles – e.g TFL (tensor fascia latae)

c. Hip external rotator muscles

d. Inner thigh muscles, hamstring muscles, quadriceps muscles

A good programming has to train all these muscles. It's mind boggling but your body is the only one
you have – take care of it.

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 Chapter 5: What Am I Really Training For?

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you have always gotten
– Anthony Robbins

We can't ignore the objectives of looking good, losing weight or becoming stronger. However, they
should be the consequence of a fitness program that builds both strength and mobility in all the
joints. It must be a program that progressively builds muscles and joints for longevity – to enable us
to be mobile for a very long time.

“Movement is Life. Life is Movement” by Ron Fletcher, master Pilates Teacher.

Movement has to be a higher priority in our fitness training.

At BodyTree GST, we have people after the first session, disappointed with their fitness level,
especially core strength and mobility. They don't have the endurance and mobility to do
fundamental gymnastic moves. Yet, they thought they were strong, considering they have spent
years building their fitness. Most of them have lost fundamental movements such as pelvic or spinal
mobility.

It's time to revisit your fitness program – and ask yourself – what am I really training for?

Muscles OR Movement skills

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 Are you ready for a change? Dare to to be different. Come for a [trial] Discovery Session at
BodyTree GST.

BodyTree GST is an affiliate of GymnasticBodies.com and is located at 100 Amoy Street,

Singapore.

For more information, contact:

Email: info@bodytreegst.com

Website: www.bodytreegst.com

Twitter: @bodytreegst

Facebook: www.facebook.com/BodytreeGST

YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/BodytreeGSTSingapore

References:
1. http://listverse.com/2013/05/12/10-greatest-dancers-of-the-twentieth-century/ May 12, 2013
2. Anatomy of the Spine, Mayfield Clinic, www.mayfieldclinic.com
3. www.spine-health.com
4. http://www.who.int/medicines/areas/priority_medicines/BP6_24LBP.pdf

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