The CORE of it All

The fourth post in the "The Aramandi Series"

Core stability has been a huge buzz word for at least the last decade. By now, most people are aware that “the core is not your 6 pack muscle”. So what is it?

A good way to think of the core is like a box in the middle of your body. There are muscles at the front, back, sides (obliques), top (diaphragm) and at the bottom (pelvic floor) of the box. Your core has you covered. 
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Another way to think of it is like the framework of a house. If the framework is well built then everything attaching onto it is going to stay and function like it is supposed to. If the framework is weak and not built properly, then all the attachments- the cement, the windows, the roof etc. will also fall/break and not function properly. 
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For those of you who are a little more anatomically knowledgable you may have read that the core muscles are the deep Transversus Abdominis and Multifidus muscles. Whilst this is true, it is only half true. There are many muscles around the abdomen that play a vital role in our stability and movement. They wouldn’t be there if we didn’t need them. So from here on, the term “trunk” will be used instead of “core”, as I feel core has a limited interpretation. ​

Why is it important?
There are many schools of thought regarding core strength. Hopefully I can help you make sense of it. ​

Transversus abdominis and multifidus - the two deeper spinal stabilisers are LOCAL MUSCLES. The rest are what I think of as GLOBAL MUSCLES. Both muscle groups are equally important, however for dancers in particular, it is especially important that the deep stabilising muscles are working well. These muscles work in conjunction with your diaphragm and pelvic floor muscles ​(shown the left) to provide stability WITH control of movement. ​

The global muscles ​(shown to the right) are relevant as they actually produce movement. With the background stability provided by the local muscles, the global muscles can kick legs, rotate the torso, jump etc.

If the global muscles try to stabilise the spine, fluidity of movement and control will be lost. Movements will look and feel like hard work because of the inefficient use of muscles. The global muscles are trying create movement and stabilise at the same time. They’re essentially stuck between a rock and a hard place. 

So the role of the core as a whole is to maintain stability through mob-

-ility and produce controlled movements. The right muscles, doing the right job, at the right time. ​​​
On the whole they allow for better balance, longer holds of poses and better endurance in dance. 

What does it do for my aramandi?
Aramandi (demi-plié) is not a static posture in dance. Whilst in aramandi, you will be moving your limbs. So, if you’re moving your legs, the pelvis must be stable, if you’re moving your arms, your torso must be stable. Otherwise, you may end up looking like the balloon man used for advertising outside various shops!

In other words, it allows you to do that second kuditumetta adavu with greater rotation and side bends, WITHOUT losing balance - if you know you know!

Having trunk control also helps with keeping the pelvis in an optimal position so that the hip joints and legs can move efficiently. This optimal position is call “neutral pelvis”. 
Neutral pelvis/spine is when the pubic bone and the top of your pelvis (ASIS) are in the same vertical alignment. Thus when standing your ankles, knees, hips, pubic bone and ASIS should technically be in the same vertical line, and the same logic is applied to aramandi. Why? In neutral pelvis, you get effective recruitment of your hip, leg (gluteals, adductors and quads) and turnout muscles, which allows for longer lasting aramandi. Trunk control is how you produce slow and graceful movements.

The Top and Tail End
As we discussed the core is like a box or a cylinder. It has a top and a bottom. When you’re not using the right muscles to hold yourself up, compensations can happen at either end- the pelvis and the ribs/diaphram.

Here are some signs your trunk control muscles may not be working efficiently:

Your tail is out
Dancers often roll their pelvis forwards in aramandi, because it allows them to sit deeper with more turnout. But in this position, there is a high chance that you’re overworking your hip flexors (muscles at the front of the hip. i.e. glute med, TFL, HF) and over loading your the joints and muscles of your lumbar spine/lower back. The hip flexors overwork to stabilise the spine and pelvis. This overactivity can later lead to other biomechanical dysfunctions such as soft tissue hip impingement. The increased arch in the lower back may cause excessive load on the vertebrae which may lead to low back pain and other issues. In addition, this position does not allow your deep turnout muscles to work efficiently, dumping the load onto your hip joints. 

I would be a hypocrite if I said having a neutral pelvis/spine is the only way to dance. Having an anterior tilt in aramandi is not wrong. In fact most bharatanatyam dancers do have a slight anterior tilt, myself included. It is also not possible, for Indian classical dancers to stay in neutral for the whole dance, as certain movements require pelvic and upper torso isolation- such as in Odissi, or when performing Karanas, or different hastaks in Kathak, or even just to make your choreography flow. However it is important that your trunk muscles are still active and supporting you in that position, rather than relying on your hip and larger back muscles. Excessive anterior tilt however definitely increases the load on your lumbar spine, given the high impact of dance.

Your chest is out
Rib flaring is another common compensation seen in a lot of dancers. This is where the chest and ribs stick out. It typically means you’re using your larger back muscles to hold your upper body upright rather than the deep trunk muscles we’ve been talking about. This often causes a lot of stress in what we call the thoracolumbar junction, right in the middle of your back where your waist is, due to the large amount of hinging that happens at this segment. ​

The Bottom Line
Putting it all together, it is important to have both mobility and stability in our spine and pelvis and this is what makes up trunk control. ​

Trunk control is important and is brought about by the local muscles that provide stability and the 
global muscles that provide movement.

Having good trunk control allows for optimal positioning of the pelvis and ribs, which allow for efficient use of the muscles of the limbs.

Optimal pelvic position for dance is the “neutral” position, however a small degree of anterior tilt is not unacceptable - as long as there is no excessive arching and hinging of the lower back. Whatever the position, it should be supported by active trunk stability.