As a Woman, You Need the Core Program

The Core Program: Fifteen Minutes a Day That Can Change Your Life
by Peggy Wachterhauser Brill, P.T.

(Page 2 of 5)

The Core Program derives from my experience of treating thousands of women for the most frequent aches and pains they experienced in their heads, necks, shoulders, arms, backs and legs. I noticed that, no matter where they were feeling discomfort, all of their problems seemed to relate to underdeveloped and unbalanced muscle groups in one area of the body - the core. What I'm calling the "core" is the torso, which extends from the base of the neck to the bottom of the spine, and includes the abdomen and all the back and hip muscles. These are the parts that stabilize as well as encase the vertebrae surrounding the spinal cord, through which the thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves branching off from the spinal cord emerge.

The brachial plexus is the group of nerves that branches off the spinal cord through the area of the neck, extending into the upper extremities of the body. The sciatic nerve, the largest nerve in your body, which is actually made up of a group of five nerve roots, emerges from the lumbar spine and passes through the buttocks and down each leg, supplying the lower extremities of the body. Because their ultimate source is the spinal cord, the nerves in both your arms and your legs function best when you have a strong and stable core.

Both the neck and the lower back are dependent on the core muscles to stabilize the spine so that all the vertebral segments align with one another in a way that does not compress the nerves that pass through them. When nerves are compressed they can't deliver full electrical impulses to muscles. When that happens, the muscles can't work the way they should. Weakness and pain are the result.

In almost all of the patients I was seeing, I found that the core muscles supporting the torso weren't as strong as they needed to be - and that was the root of the discomfort.

The exercises I give to my patients - the exercises of the Core Program, which are the same exercises I'll be giving to you in this book - strengthen the core muscles. When those muscles are strong, discomfort disappears, and as long as you keep doing the program, it won't come back. Working the core muscles also helps to keep your body in good alignment, so that sitting and walking and running are easier.

There is a clear cause and effect. The stronger the core, the better the body works. Just as a firm infrastructure supports a building and prevents it from breaking down inside, a reinforced core becomes the basis of a strong, supported body.

That's why it made great sense to me to write a book offering a series of exercises specially designed to strengthen the core - and to gear it to women. As women facing women's challenges, we need to do what is necessary to make sure our bodies function smoothly throughout our lives. As I'll discuss in more detail in chapter two, there are numerous lifestyle stresses and strains that are unique to women, as well as physical demands on us, none of which we can do much to change. What we can change is how we respond to them. It's imperative that we take charge of how we use our bodies, which is what the Core Program can help us to do - and the earlier we make these changes, the better.

I always ask my patients if they would risk waiting until they were age 65 to fund a retirement account. After they look at me dumbfounded for a moment, they all reply with an indignant "No!" The same conclusion applies to meeting the needs of your body. Doing the Core Program is like investing in a retirement plan for your health. Start it now, and watch those dividends roll in. You'll be able to live your life to the fullest. You'll also find that the more you do the Core Program, the more effortless it becomes. I've been doing it for so long, it's as automatic as brushing my teeth.

Ultimately, the Core Program does something no other fitness plan can do: It makes you resilient against the "normal deterioration" of age.

The Missing Fitness Link: A Core Program
to Complement Other Fitness Regimens

If you are doing either aerobics or weight training or both, you might think that the exercise you are already doing, along with nutritious food and supplements, is all you need to keep your body in good condition. But that's not true. Please don't misunderstand me: I strongly support both aerobic exercise and weight training, as well as eating a balanced diet and drinking plenty of water, of course.

However, these healthy choices can't give your body the strength, balance and alignment it requires to perform hundreds of daily actions effortlessly, and without any kind of physical discomfort. Nor can other fitness programs prevent injuries - much less relieve pain.

Only the core exercises can enable your skeleton, muscles and joints to work together optimally, because only the core exercises offer the unique combination of strengthening, stretching, balancing and realigning that allows your body to withstand daily wear and tear.

However, you may choose, as many of my patients do, to add the Core Program to other workouts. Whether you quietly practice yoga, take part in boisterous aerobics classes and/or do strenuous weight training, the core exercises will give you a complementary program that will make your other fitness efforts more effective. These terrific movements will align and strengthen your body to prevent the injuries that often occur in other exercise programs. Even if you are just planning to begin a walking routine, doing the Core Program first will help you build your muscles properly, thereby preventing the muscle strains and pains you might otherwise suffer, especially if you haven't done any exercise in a long time.

Copyright © 2001 by Peggy W. Brill, P.T.

About the Author

Peggy Wachterhauser Brill, P.T., is a board-certified clinical specialist in orthopedic physical therapy. Peggy has a private practice in midtown Manhattan and also maintains an office in the corporate headquarters of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. Her expertise is sought after by the Duke University men's basketball team, top executives all over the world and leading physicians at the Hospital for Special Surgery and several other major medical centers. Peggy lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.