Why Bracing Your Core Doesn't Help Back Pain

One of the BIGGEST and most dangerous myths I see being promoted in health and fitness is universally prescribing core strengthening exercises for back pain, that encourage you to brace your core.

In my 10+ years of experience training people with chronic back pain, not one of them needed to brace their core more. Personally I finally found relief from my own long-term back pain when I learned which muscles to relax.

Yes, at times you DO need to brace your core - generally for emergencies like falling ("brace for impact"), being punched in the stomach or picking up something heavy.

But for general life and normal activities like walking, you don't need to brace your core. If you can hold yourself upright in gravity, your core is working just fine!

Bracing makes you rigid - helpful if you're about to fall or lift a heavy object. But being rigid also makes your body stiff and tense - not so useful for overall mobility and movement.

I believe that bracing your core habitually can actually increase the risk of herniating a disc in your lumbar spine, rather than protecting your back. I demonstrate how this can happen in my Stretch classes.

If you have back pain, you'll generally need to work on improving your stability. BUT stability, including core stability, does NOT come from bracing your core.

How Do You Improve Stability Without Bracing Your Core?

This is the 5 step roadmap I follow to develop core stability:

• Balance the feet
• Balance and centre the pelvis
• Practice hip disassociation and rotation
• Restore control of the waist muscles
• Mobilise the ribs and shoulder blades for thoracic rotation

Note that I haven't mentioned "bracing the core" once!

Why Bracing Your Core Habitually Doesn't Help Improve Back Pain Long-Term

You've likely been told that if you have lower back pain, you need to strengthen your core to feel better.

If that was really true, all you'd need to do is a 12 week core strength programme and you'd never have back pain again. Right?

Hands up, if making your core stronger has permanently resolved your back pain......No? You're not alone!!!

Bracing your core typically involves tensing your abdominal and back muscles. This makes the middle of your body stiffer and more rigid. 

Modern Western lifestyles involve more sitting than is healthy - in the car, at work, on the laptop, in front of the TV, in a restaurant, the pub and the coffee shop.

All of this sitting and bracing makes the ribs and hips stiffer and stiffer. As you lose the natural rotation of your hips and ribs, you start to compensate by twisting your pelvis, sacroiliac joint and lumbar spine.

The shape of the lumbar vertebrae with their large spinous processes means they aren't designed to rotate any more than a few degrees (typically 5-7 degrees).

This unnatural twisting of the pelvis and lower spine leads to increased shearing forces on the vertebrae, resulting in more pressure on the inter-vertebral discs that they weren't designed for. Over time, the disc may herniate.

There are different grades of disc herniation from extrusion or protrusion (a bulging of disc material) to full sequestration (the disc ruptures, releasing all it's inner jelly).

What are the most common sites for disc herniations (so-called 'slipped discs')?

Answer? L4/L5 and L5/S1

These are the vertebrae closest to the sacroiliac joint, where the pelvis (ilium) connects to the spine (sacrum).

Remember too that bracing your muscles is an instinctive response to pain. When your brain believes that your body is in danger, or senses pain or injury, it'll tell the muscles in that region to contract and stiffen. This minimises movement with the aim of protecting that injured area from further damage.

So when you've got (or had) back pain, and you're training core strength exercises, you're teaching your body to brace. The human brain does best what it does regularly.

End result = you constantly and subconsciously brace your trunk muscles, making your body rigid. This stiffness reduces hip and rib mobility, so you compensate by twisting your pelvis and lumbar spine.

The pelvis and lumbar spine aren't designed for large amounts of rotation. These unnatural movements place huge pressure and forces on the lower vertebrae and discs.

Can you now see why constantly bracing the core out of habit can actually make back pain worse in the long run, and put you at risk of herniating a disc.

This is why I use this 5 step roadmap to develop natural core stability, without the need to constantly brace the core:

• Balance the feet
• Balance and centre the pelvis
• Practice hip disassociation and rotation
• Restore control of the waist muscles
• Mobilise the ribs and shoulder blades for thoracic rotation

When you follow and practice these 5 steps, you'll feel your back muscles breathing a sigh of relief as you give them permission to finally relax and soften. 

You'll rediscover the ease in your hips, and moving will feel joyful again, just like when you were a child and nothing ached!

NEXT STEPS

** BOOKINGS NOW OPEN ** 

The Befriend Your Body Method for Pain Management & Relaxation

A small group, tranquil mindful movement class for pain management and relaxation, with a deeply relaxing sound bath meditation and an optional 1:1 coaching slot for you to get help with a specific pain or injury before the class.

During the class, you'll learn how to use small movements to successfully release muscle tension and reduce pain. You'll also have the chance to practice my 5 step roadmap to building natural core stability without having to brace your core.

Then immerse yourself in the calming sounds and healing vibrations of the crystal singing bowls, ocean drum and rain stick. You'll leave feeling fully rested, deeply relaxed and rejuvenated. 

This class is for you whether you're looking for a natural way to manage pain, or simply to quietly rest in a peaceful sanctuary.

Click HERE for all the details, including how to book. Numbers are limited to a small group to nurture a friendly, inclusive and supportive community for all members.

Other ways you can find help with managing chronic pain or an injury are:

• Book into a Stretch or Pilates class with me - these are a good introduction to The Befriend Your Body (BYB) Method (mindful movement) for pain management.
• Get your copy of my free E-guide "How to Get Relief From Back Pain and Muscle Tension in just 10 mins a Day". This introduces the 3x universal stress responses that can keep you stuck in pain, and explains the 4x pillars of The BYB Method. There's also 2x video tutorials showing you how to release muscle tension from the front and back of your body in the comfort of your without expensive equipment. Download HERE
• Subscribe HERE to receive "The Movement Chronicle", a weekly e-newsletter delivering mobility and pain reduction tips directly into your inbox every Monday morning,

You can connect with me through any of these channels:

• Email at norma@unicornhealthandfitness.com
• Follow me on Facebook and DM me on Messenger https://www.facebook.com/norma.pearsonfitness
• WhatsApp message to 07801 867361.