So, there's a sweet spot of abdominal wall muscle activation that maximizes spinal stability and vertical ground reaction force production while minimizing additional erector activation requirements and compressive force on the spine. However, you don't want to do so maximally, since any spinal flexion torque induced by abdominal and oblique contractions must be countered by the erector spinae - the spinal extension producing muscles - in order to maintain a stable spine.Īctivation of the anterior core muscles necessitates greater activation of the erector spinae and, in turn, higher compressive loads on the lumbar spine. You definitely need to activate the anterior core muscles when squatting and deadlifting for purposes of co-contraction, which enhances spinal stability. Several studies show that squats and deadlifts don't activate the rectus abdominis, internal obliques, and external obliques to high degrees, and those are the muscles that give you a thick waist.īiomechanically, this makes sense. However, there's more to the core than the erector spinae and IAP-producing muscles. In addition, the premise may be true if we're talking about intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) requirements.ĭue to the massive amounts of torque loading placed on the spine during heavy barbell squats and deadlifts, especially at the bottom position, very high magnitudes of IAP are necessarily produced in order to stabilize the spine and maximize performance. Interestingly, research shows that squats lead to higher lumbar erector spinae activation than deadlifts, whereas deadlifts lead to higher thoracic erector spinae activation than squats. If we're talking about the "core" as it concerns the erector spinae, then squats and deadlift may indeed be the best exercises for strengthening the core. They believe these exercises strengthen the core and that thickening is just an unfortunate side effect. Proponents of the anti-squat-and-deadlift movement believe that squats and deads are the best core exercises in existence.
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