Ok, part three of this series on stability.
And today I am going to focus on the notion of core stability because:
- that is often what people think of nowadays when the word stability is mentioned,
- back pain is so prevalent in modern times
- I keep seeing interest and also lack of understanding in this area.
We will resume from the notion of coordination and timing of stabiliser activation.
Strength and stability is really the ability to adapt to imposed demand.
“There is timing in everything.”
-Miyamoto Musashi
That is why it is not just a matter of brute or crude strength.
Stability is more than just stiffening and rigidity. It is more than having a flat stomach. That is just a modern cultural notion of aesthetics. Most people who have hard abs as it were have poor breathing because an overcontracted abdomen does not allow for full breathing. Which leads to poor health, fitness and stress.
So what is stability then?
It is adequate response to an imposed demand. It is only responding as needed. So that means your abdominals shouldn’t always be hard.
Rigidity by itself does not respond to demand but rather just arbitrarily sets an ‘absoprtion’ level as it were.
“what you are able to do is not as important as when you do it”
-Robert Jay Arnold
Cues like drawing belly buttons to spine are a learning tool for those who have lost touch with certain muscles but by themselves they lead to chronic tension in the thorax and pelvic floor).
That is not efficient. A lot of energy is wasted, ie tension is unnecessarily created. Matching demand is an adaptive process and requires integration and minimal effort to do the job. Maximal effort that is superfluous is self defeating, dead and leads to overgripping. Too rigid a midsection when it is not called for leads to reduced balance as the midsection can now no longer adapt to changing environmental conditions and demand.
It is like trying to counterbalance a weight on a seesaw. Too much and the first weight goes flying. Too little and the first weight slides off.
Because stability (and alignment) is not static. But that’s the next dosage of this series.
Align Breathe Connect 
I highly recommend The Core Program by Petty W. Brill. She integrates yoga (with breath awareness) with Pilates and the medical background of a physical therapist. Excellent book.