Do you experience low back pain or the inability to stand for extended periods of time? These are 2 of the signs of a weak core. In this week’s episode of Menopause Conversations, I am chatting with Peta Green who is a fitness expert who specialises in keeping women healthy and mobile as they age.
Many women I talk to tell me that they experience body and joint pain, and this limits their ability to be able to exercise and can often result in them putting on weight, which gives more pain and they exercise less and the cycle continues. Peta is on a mission to get women off this cycle or what she calls the “slippery slope”.
Peta focuses on 3 basic foundations of movement – stability, strength and power. You need all three of these foundations to be working together otherwise you will find your body out of balance and likely to be in pain or have limited mobility. We discussed these foundations in details particularly as I shared that whilst I was strong and had the power, my stability has not been the best in the past (due to a weak core) and this ended up putting more pressure on joints such as my hips, knees and ankles resulting in pain and a higher risk of injury.
The common signs of a weak core are:
- Low back pain
- Poor posture (this one is SO common these days)
- Issues with your balance
- Low endurance for standing
- Shortness of breath
- General weakness in the body
As you can see these signs are very common and it is likely that most of us have weak core muscles due to the type of life that we lead. It is important to note that just because you can do a heap of sit-ups doesn’t mean your core is strong. Your core muscles are not just your ab muscles.
Peta shared her favourite way to get a stronger core with Habit Stacking, which is doing some core strengthening exercises when you are doing other things that you normally do like cleaning your teeth, waiting for the kettle to boil plus more.
There was so much great information in this conversation with Peta, have a listen and let me know what your biggest ahha moment was or what small thing you are going to do to strengthen your core.
Many women I talk to tell me that they experience body and joint pain, and this limits their ability to be able to exercise and can often result in them putting on weight, which gives more pain and they exercise less and the cycle continues. Peta is on a mission to get women off this cycle or what she calls the “slippery slope”.
Peta focuses on 3 basic foundations of movement – stability, strength and power. You need all three of these foundations to be working together otherwise you will find your body out of balance and likely to be in pain or have limited mobility. We discussed these foundations in details particularly as I shared that whilst I was strong and had the power, my stability has not been the best in the past (due to a weak core) and this ended up putting more pressure on joints such as my hips, knees and ankles resulting in pain and a higher risk of injury.
The common signs of a weak core are:
- Low back pain
- Poor posture (this one is SO common these days)
- Issues with your balance
- Low endurance for standing
- Shortness of breath
- General weakness in the body
As you can see these signs are very common and it is likely that most of us have weak core muscles due to the type of life that we lead. It is important to note that just because you can do a heap of sit-ups doesn’t mean your core is strong. Your core muscles are not just your ab muscles.
Peta shared her favourite way to get a stronger core with Habit Stacking, which is doing some core strengthening exercises when you are doing other things that you normally do like cleaning your teeth, waiting for the kettle to boil plus more.
There was so much great information in this conversation with Peta, have a listen and let me know what your biggest ahha moment was or what small thing you are going to do to strengthen your core.
