Core - It's Not Just for Breakfast Anymore!

Had to laugh at this one! One of my swimmers came to me last week with pain in both his groin and shoulder. We tested, identified the lesions and then went on to evaluate the cause. The overall cause was compensation due to dysfunctional and weak core musculature. He was surprised - he'd heard of the connection between low back pain and weak core musculature in swimmers, but had no idea is could be the cause of more distal repetitive stress injuries. Not being a fan of core exercises, he was not pleased.  After I explained and recommended he talk to his ATC about intervention and his CSCS about an appropriate post season program, he chuckled and parodied the old beer joke cynically stating  "Core - its not just for bad backs anymore!".

As amusing as this anecdote may seem, it is true. Dysfunctional and weak core musculature can lead to compensation and injuries in the distal aspects of an athlete's body. In cases like a swimmer, where a dysfunctional core is a weak link between the upper and lower body, or a baseball pitcher who has to coil and explosively uncoil his body, compensation by the extremities for power loss in the core is obvious. But the cause or partial cause of conditions like Achilles tendonitis and various knee conditions in many sports can also be traced to a dysfunctional core.

Bringing an athlete out of pain and restoring function is the job of the Athletic Trainer (AT) and I am blessed to work with some of the best among the universities sports medicine staff in Boston. Keeping them out of pain and improving their athleticism is the job of the certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS, NSCA) or a certified personal trainer (CPT) who has a background in periodization training. I have the cards of both great CSCS and CPT on the desk in my office, all very capable of helping the athlete develop a functional core appropriate to their sport.