Why Core Training Isn’t Enough
If you have ever been told that planks, crunches, and sit ups are the key to a strong core, you are not alone. For years, core training has been marketed as the solution for back pain, poor posture, and overall health and fitness. While core exercises have value, they are only a small piece of the puzzle.
I see it all the time. People who have done years of core workouts – they can hold a plank for a long time, yet still struggle with back discomfort, slouched posture, hurting shoulders or even feeling unstable in their daily life.
Each muscle in the body has a specific action and provides specific strength and joint mobility and function. A muscle starts in a certain place on the body, called its origin, and attaches at a different place on the body, called its insertion. Many muscles cross over each other, originate where another inserts, and create a matrix of stability for the human organism.
I would argue that all muscles provide “core” stability for the joint(s) they are moving. After all, that is the job of muscles, to provide mobility and stability. For the purposes of this article, we will agree that “core” relates to the musculature of the midsection of the human body. It does not include the upper muscles of the spine and rib cage like your latissimus dorsi, pectoralis major, etc.
In order to build strength in the midsection of the body, you need to strengthen the muscles in the midsection. The way to build strength in any muscle is by taking it through its intended range of motion and overloading it enough to reach the mechanical threshold needed to produce a stimulus to make the muscle get stronger. In other words, work with a safe amount of resistance that makes your muscles fatigue completely within about 60 seconds (8-12 six second repetitions), without momentum. Then rest it, hydrate it, and feed it so it can adapt to be stronger.
The muscles in the mid section of the body have a primary job – to flex, extend and rotate the spine. Their secondary job is to stabilize your spine while your arms and legs produce force. That means your core needs to work to maintain a neutral spine to keep it safe, when you are pushing, pulling, pressing, rotating, or resisting movement under a load.
In physical therapy we have a saying: “You need proximal stability for distal mobility.” This means you must have enough strength in the muscles closest to your center of movement in order to have the ability to push, pull, and pick up things with the muscles furthest from the center of your movement, without falling over.
While our midsection is the center of our body, it is not always the center of a movement taking place. Like when you are picking up a box off the floor, the center of movement is more at your knees and hips. I think it is important to note here that if you do not have good strength in the muscles furthest from the center of your movement – the ones that support your shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, ankles, fingers and toes, you will likely be unable to complete the task or get an injury.
That is why endless floor exercises often fail to deliver meaningful posture or strength improvements. This type of program omits strengthening the rest of the muscles that support the entire body!
Most “core” exercises also fail to load the spine appropriately. Without resistance, your nervous system never learns how to stabilize under real world demands. You may feel sore. You may feel the burn. But that does not automatically translate to better posture or a more resilient back.
Want to set up your own workout routine in the gym? We’ll help you train on your own to get results, to save time, and to stay injury-free. Get started with all you need to know to apply our High Intensity SAFE Strength Training® in your own gym and on your own time.
The Rock Solid Fitness High Intensity Safe Strength Training® Program focuses on slow, controlled, full range movements using equipment designed to support proper alignment. This approach forces the muscles of your midsection to work the way they were designed to work, as a stabilizer and force transmitter.
When you perform exercises like leg presses, rows, pulldowns, upper body presses, and controlled rotational movements, your core must engage deeply to keep your spine stable. This happens automatically and more effectively than with isolated core drills.
At Rock Solid Fitness, we also use advanced equipment like the Nautilus Abdominal Crunch, Rotary Torso, and Low Back machines. These allow clients to safely strengthen the entire core system while maintaining spinal support and precise resistance throughout the movement.
The result is not just stronger abs, but stronger internal stabilizers that protect the spine and improve posture.
Poor posture is rarely caused by weak abs alone. It is usually the result of muscle imbalances, particularly weak upper back, glutes, and spinal stabilizers combined with tight hip flexors, hamstrings and chest muscles.
The Rock Solid Fitness Program addresses this by strengthening the muscles that hold you upright. Upper back muscles help pull the shoulders into better alignment. Glutes support pelvic positioning. Spinal extensors keep the spine tall and supported. As these muscles get stronger, posture improves naturally without constant reminders to sit up straight.
“Core training” done incorrectly can actually make back pain worse. Twisting, flexing, or extending the spine under poor control or improper alignment, increases injury risk, especially as we age. Holding positions for prolonged periods of time can compromise posture and create abnormal stresses to joints.
Always use controlled speed, proper joint alignment, and individualized resistance to protect the spine while still getting powerful results. When your core is trained as part of a full body strength system, you experience benefits that go far beyond aesthetics.
Clients often report less back and neck pain, improved balance and confidence, better posture at work, and easier movement in daily life. Strength training does not just change how you look. It changes how you move and how you feel every day.
At Rock Solid Fitness in Dunedin, we provide personal training for people in Palm Harbor, Safety Harbor, Clearwater, Oldsmar and of course Dunedin. We specialize in helping clients build true strength safely and efficiently in just 25 minutes per session.
If you are ready to improve your posture, strengthen your core the right way, and feel better in your body, we invite you to experience it for yourself.
Claim your free training session and discover what real core strength feels like.
