One of the most common things people say to me when they first come for personal training or yoga is, “I’ve got a bad back.”
Sometimes they’ve had back pain for years. Sometimes it comes and goes. They may notice it after sitting at a desk, gardening, lifting something, driving for a long time or simply getting out of bed in the morning. And quite understandably, once you’ve experienced back pain, you can become frightened of doing anything that might make it worse.
But one of the things I want people to understand is that our backs are designed to move.
Back pain is complicated and there isn’t one single cause. It isn’t always because your core is weak, your posture is bad or something is “out of place”. Pain can be influenced by many things, including previous injury, activity levels, strength, sleep, stress and how sensitised the nervous system has become. Persistent or severe back pain should always be properly assessed rather than simply assuming you need to do more abdominal exercises.
But for many people, gradually developing strength and confidence in movement can be enormously helpful — and that’s where core strength becomes important.
When people hear the word “core”, they often immediately think about their stomach and doing hundreds of sit-ups.
Your core is much more than your six-pack muscles.
It’s a whole system of muscles around your trunk that work together to support and control your spine and pelvis. Your abdominal muscles are part of it, but so are deeper abdominal muscles, muscles around the spine, the diaphragm, pelvic-floor muscles and muscles around the hips and pelvis.
Rather than thinking about having a hard, permanently braced stomach, I prefer to think about creating a strong, responsive centre.
Your core needs to know when to engage, but it also needs to know when to relax and breathe.
That’s important because sometimes people who are worried about their backs become incredibly tense. They hold themselves rigidly, grip their stomachs and become frightened of bending or twisting. But a healthy body needs both stability and movement.
This is one of the reasons I love combining personal training with yoga.
In strength training we can gradually build the muscles that support everyday movement. We might use exercises such as bridges, squats, carries, controlled pulling and pushing movements, bird dogs or other appropriately chosen exercises. We’re teaching the body to produce and control force rather than simply trying to make the abdominal muscles burn.
Then yoga gives us another dimension. We can explore mobility, balance, breathing and controlled movement through different ranges. We learn to notice how the body feels rather than being frightened of every sensation.
And breathing is part of core function too.
Your diaphragm isn’t simply involved in breathing; it also works with the rest of your trunk during movement and changes in pressure. That’s one reason I don’t separate breathing completely from strength work. Sometimes I’ll ask somebody to slow down, breathe properly and learn how to coordinate the breath with an exercise rather than holding their breath and tensing everything unnecessarily.
I also think we need to move away from the idea that the answer to every back problem is stretching.
Sometimes stretching feels wonderful, particularly if you’ve been sitting for hours. But if somebody continually stretches an area without developing strength and control, they may be missing an important part of the picture.
We need mobility, but we also need the strength to control that mobility.
This becomes increasingly important as we get older. Think about the movements involved in ordinary life: getting out of a chair, lifting shopping bags, putting something into the boot of the car, picking something up from the floor, carrying a suitcase, gardening or getting yourself up from the ground.
Your core is involved in all of them.
That’s the kind of core training I’m interested in.
Not simply doing exercises because we want a flatter stomach, but building a body that can support us through everyday life.
If somebody comes to me with a history of back problems, I don’t want to frighten them and I don’t want to throw them straight into an aggressive workout. I want to understand what’s been happening, what they’ve already been advised, what movements they’re comfortable with and what they’re worried about.
Then we can start where they are.
Sometimes that means very simple movements.
We build confidence.
We build strength.
We gradually increase the challenge.
And one of the most rewarding things is seeing somebody begin to trust their body again.
Because pain can change your relationship with your body. You can start thinking of your back as fragile, damaged or something you constantly need to protect. For many common forms of back pain, appropriate movement and exercise are actually part of getting back to normal activity.
That doesn’t mean pushing through significant pain or ignoring warning signs. New severe pain, pain following significant trauma, progressive weakness or numbness, changes in bladder or bowel control, numbness around the saddle area, or feeling seriously unwell alongside back pain need medical assessment rather than a gym programme.
But for the many people living with ordinary recurring or persistent back discomfort, the goal is often not to become afraid of movement.
It’s to become better prepared for movement.
Strengthen the legs.
Strengthen the hips.
Strengthen the back.
Develop the core.
Work on balance and mobility.
Breathe.
And gradually teach the whole body to work together.
Because a strong core isn’t about having visible abdominal muscles.
It’s about having a strong centre that helps you lift, bend, walk, exercise, balance and live your life with greater confidence.
And that’s the kind of strength I want us to keep building at 50, 60, 70, 80 and beyond.
Selena
Personal Trainer, Yoga Teacher & Wellbeing Coach
In Flow Wellbeing Studio, Cheltenham
