Lordosis refers to an exaggerated curve of the lumbar spine. Everyone has a degree of lumbar lordosis (lower back curve) however some people believe that because a lumbar lordosis is present, their core must be weak. Let’s look at this a bit deeper: Let’s firstly unwrap what is meant by having a “weak core.. “
- Do you believe that to have a strong core you must be able to do ‘x’
- Do you believe that because you have some fat covering your tummy area, you have a ‘weak core’
- For your core to be strong do you believe you have to have a flat stomach?
- Do you believe that your core is weak if you can’t do crunches or planks?
- Have you been told that your core is ‘weak’ by a person of authority? *(we tend to hold onto negative ideas about ourselves if we have been told by somebody ‘in the know’)
The core muscles include the transverse abdominals, internal, external obliques, rectus abdominals, including muscles of the spine. For them to get stronger they need to be placed under load.
Lots of different, everyday, movements help with this, such as picking up a small child, hanging your washing out, pruning a tree, touching a door frame as you walk through it, lifting a puppy or holding a bucket over your head! (remember the ice bucket challenge?!) You could also do something like Pilates or other named movement regime. ** Please remember – spending too much time spent over focusing in on which body part is doing what may take the fun out of moving and could have a detrimental effect on your mental health !
Chances are if you can walk around with your head held up on top of your shoulders, without face planting, you’re doing ok. Your core is working and is not as weak as you think! So what about Lordosis…? Lordosis is a posture type (posture types are observations of body postures rather than diagnosis). Having a lordotic curve in our spine means our spine is simply better at doing some things, like back bends for example. It doesn’t have to mean that because you have an exaggerated curve in your lumber spine that:
- Injury or pain is present
- You have a week core.
As mentioned, everyone has a degree of lordosis which is great for absorbing shock through the spine when running/walking/skipping/dancing/playing and which in turn means that some muscles which surround the spine are better at holding it in place than others.
Just remember, spines are wonderful things..! They are supposed to bend and much like our personalities, our spines are all different… there is no perfect! We all have varying degrees of curvature both in our upper and lower spine, and having a deeper curve in your lower back doesn’t have to equal pain – it may just mean that you are better at some things than you are at others.
Non Specific Back Pain (NSBP) is multi faceted and there may be lots of different factors contributing towards any back ache including: lack of movement, too much movement, social factors, life stresses, diet, sleep, medication – the list goes on.. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have a damaged spine or a weak core!
If this resinates with you and you’d like to find out more about working with me on a 121 basis, please get in touch!
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