Instant Strength Booster

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

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This simple yet incredibly effective neck retraction will boost your strength in seconds as it relieves tension in neck muscles. The movement expands the spaces between vertebrae so nerves in the upper extremities are free to send electrical impulses to muscles in the hands and arms. The muscles, in turn, can generate more force. (This is the same thing you do in the first movement of the first exercise in the Core Foundation, the Head-to-Toe Prep.) You can do this anytime, anywhere.

The Movement

• Sit, or stand, straight.
• Slide your head back, tuck your chin so that the back of your neck is elongated and your ears are over your shoulders, and pull your shoulder blades together. Hold the position for three seconds.
• Release slowly to a relaxed position.
• Repeat six times.

The First Core Goals: Strength and Toning, Balance and Alignment

My female-centered regimen goes to the heart of what women need to function well and feel as good as they possibly can. I'll show you how to work with your body, not against it. Instead of feeling weighed down by fatigued muscles, you'll get a burst of energy that will give you a lift. Knowing you can depend on your body, and watching it become better toned and defined within a few months, will give you a whole new level of confidence.

To make all these wonderful things happen, the Core Program will:

Rebalance your muscles

Unlike other fitness routines, the Core Program restores balance between muscles that work as a couple. The job of muscles is to pull, either concentrically (by creating force through shortening), or eccentrically (by absorbing force through elongating). But, as is the case with many couples, often one muscle becomes more dominant than the other. When this happens, their relationship is not equal. The result is that the muscles don't work in harmony, and the joint they attach to suffers.

Think of it this way: The muscle couples work like a seesaw, with the joint they attach to being the axis of motion. When that seesaw goes up and down in a constant, equal motion, the joint is where it should be. It's the same way in your body. There must be balance between muscles in order for them, and the joints attached to them, to work efficiently and painlessly. If there's an imbalance, problems can occur.

For instance, if you slouch, over a period of time the pectoral muscles in your chest will shorten, and become dominant. Over time, the upper back muscles with which they are paired will become elongated, or stretched. Then it becomes more difficult for the back muscles to pull with equal force. And here's an example of what can then go wrong: You want to push a heavy door open, but when you move your shoulder, your dominant pectoral muscles kick in before the upper back muscles with which they are paired. This imbalance alters the force on the shoulder joint, and can lead to injury. If you strain to push open a door and you feel pain in your shoulder, it means that your pectoral and back muscles are not balanced and your shoulder joint is out of alignment.

Release muscle tension

Muscles that have shortened feel tense. By stretching short muscles, you can release tension and experience an immediate feeling of relaxation.

Strengthen muscles without bulking up the body

Moving the body against gravity reinforces muscles. The more you do the exercises, the more they will define your muscles, thereby toning your body and giving it a sleek look.

Enhance stamina

Deep breathing, an integral part of the Core Program, delivers oxygen to muscles, which gives them endurance while also helping to relieve muscle tension.

Reshape your body

You'll tone your abdomen, hips and buttocks and give your arms better definition, too. Inches will disappear even without dieting because the more muscle you have, the more fat your body will burn. You'll be enhancing your lean muscle mass. If you are on a weight loss plan, doing the exercises will give you an extra boost.

Restore alignment

By stretching muscles that are shortened, and strengthening muscles that are weak, your joints will be restored to their optimal position. This means that your skeletal alignment will be reestablished. With your joints in their optimal positions, you will sit, stand and walk tall and strong and move with ease. Your posture will improve, allowing you to move more gracefully.

Increase flexibility

The flexibility of both muscles and joints is augmented. Achieving optimal muscle flexibility allows joints to move through their normal range of motion.

Increase capacity for sexual pleasure

Because the core exercises strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which include the muscles that contract during orgasm, you may discover a surprising side benefit - easier-to-reach, more intense orgasms.

The Second Core Goal: Prevention

You may believe that aging will take an inevitable toll on your body. Perhaps you've already begun to notice that when you go to the gym you are having a problem with urinary stress incontinence - "leaking," in more colloquial terms. This condition afflicts many women, especially as they get older.

Or if either arthritis or osteoporosis runs in your family, you might be concerned that you will eventually have to cope with one of these conditions. Perhaps you look at your grandmother and wonder whether you too will morph into a weaker version of your former self.

I'm happy to tell you that these scenarios do not have to happen. While a woman's body goes through inevitable physical changes over the years, age by itself doesn't determine how well a woman moves or holds herself nor does it dictate how strong or how healthy she is. There's a lot you can do to help prevent arthritis and osteoporosis as well as many other problems.

The Core Program will:

Reduce the risk of developing osteoarthritis, or relieve the symptoms

This painful joint inflammation, which stems from either overuse or underuse, can be avoided. When joints are in their normal alignment they absorb the forces exerted against them without injury. When joints are balanced they are lubricated, because the synovial fluid that is secreted by the membrane surrounding the joints isn't cut off by any kind of compression. A balanced joint is friction-free and healthy, allowing for ease of movement.

Sarah, who had chronic knee pain from arthritis, made great progress once she started doing the core exercises. "Walking down steps was so painful and I was getting worse. I just couldn't accept that, at 32, I was going to lose mobility. With the Core Program the pain disappeared, my strength returned and now I'm in really good physical shape."

Reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis, or relieve the symptoms

The core exercises cause muscles to pull on bone, which prompts the production of new bone cells. You can actually help create more bone mass by doing these movements. This is very important, as a decrease of just 10 percent in bone mass can result in 50 to 100 percent greater incidence of fracture. Bone density tests, which measure standard deviations from peak bone mass, have shown genuine changes in patients whom I have put on this exercise regimen.

Ana, who at 80 had osteoporosis, was amazed at the differences in her body. "I gained one whole point in bone density since I was tested last year. In addition, I can move so much better than I did before. After three months on the Core Program I could turn my head from side to side without a problem - and that's something I hadn't been able to do in much too long."

Decrease or eliminate the incidence of urinary stress incontinence

The same muscles that contract during orgasm can stop the flow of urine. So in building up the muscles of the pelvic floor, which hold the pubic bone and tailbone in place, you will also be helping to prevent urinary stress incontinence. The muscles of the bladder are strengthened as well.

Avert injuries

Muscle weakness leads to injury. When a demand is put on your body that you can't meet - whether it is lifting weights or lifting a child, taking an aerobics class or running to catch a bus, even sitting at a computer all day - injuries happen. But when your musculoskeletal system is strong and well balanced, you are much less likely to hurt yourself.

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.