The Great Core Distraction: A Clinical Reassessment

A curious phenomenon exists within the health and fitness industry: a zealous, almost religious devotion to the concept of “core stability,” pursued with the kind of single-mindedness usually reserved for discovering a new element. The clinical reality, however, suggests this devotion may be/is somewhat misplaced.

For decades, the prevailing dogma has been that a robust, resilient back and superior athletic output are forged in the fires of targeted core exercises. We’ve been instructed that low back pain is a simple deficiency of strength in the muscles of the trunk, a problem to be solved by diligently holding planks and performing bird-dogs.

And yet, despite this collective effort, low back pain remains stubbornly prevalent and athletic potential is often left untapped. This presents a clinical contradiction. If the solution were as simple as more core work, we should have solved the problem by now.

The evidence, it turns out, does not point to a crisis of strength. It points to a crisis of skill. The entire paradigm of “core stability,” as it is commonly understood and practiced, warrants a critical reassessment.

Here's a great example of a Plank done very, very poorly.  Excessive anterior pelvic tilt and locked out knees.  

Deconstructing the Stability Myth

Let us first be precise. The term "core stability" is itself nebulously defined - it's a term I almost cringe using now. The popular interpretation involves creating rigid, unyielding stiffness across the trunk. The assumption is that this stiffness will protect the spine. However, the correlation between isolated trunk muscle endurance—the very quality trained by holding a plank until you tremble—and the incidence of low back pain is surprisingly weak in the scientific literature.

I say to clients on almost a daily basis: "I could demonstrate 10 'core exercises' for you right now and demonstrate zero 'stability'". Just because you can hold a plank, or dynamically speaking, perform a cable chop, does not guarantee anything with respect to a positive cross-over to spinal or movement health. 

The issue is rarely a lack of brute strength. The muscles are, in most cases, perfectly capable. Muscles ultimately do not switch 'on' or 'off, so the deficit lies in motor control—the sophisticated, unconscious dialogue between the brain and the body that governs movement. Holding a plank for five minutes is a demonstration of muscular endurance and mental fortitude. It is not, however, a reliable indicator that you can maintain control over your lumbopelvic region during a dynamic, unpredictable activity. The transfer of that static skill to the dynamic reality of sport or life is, to be blunt, underwhelming.

The Primary Objective: Acquiring Lumbopelvic Control

The focus of our intervention should therefore shift from building raw endurance to refining a fundamental motor skill: the conscious control of pelvic tilt.

Your pelvis is the kinematic link between your spine and your lower extremities. Its orientation dictates the curvature of your lumbar spine and the subsequent distribution of load. Many individuals, through sedentary habits (long periods of sustained sitting is a great example, NOT sitting itself) or suboptimal movement patterns (poor glute 'pull' hip extension patterns in walking, running, swimming), develop poor proprioceptive awareness of this region. They effectively lose the ability to differentiate movement of the pelvis from movement of the lumbar spine, often defaulting to a chronically extended (anteriorly tilted) posture. And please do note, there is no angle X or Y we want your pelvic tilt to be, it's where it sits within your movement patterns.

The initial therapeutic intervention, therefore, is not a taxing physical exercise. It is a neurological one. It is the process of re-establishing a clear line of communication with the muscles that govern pelvic position. Can you, while lying supine (lying on your back with your knees bent), gently and smoothly produce a posterior pelvic tilt, drawing your pubic bone towards your navel, without activating global muscle systems (glutes or rectus abdominus) or holding your breath?

This is not a strength exercise. It is a lesson in control. Think of it as tuning a sensitive instrument. The objective is subtle, precise, and conscious action. We are re-educating the nervous system on how to find and manage a neutral pelvic position—the foundation upon which all other movement should be built.

Understanding 'Proximal Stability for Distal Mobility'

The phrase ‘proximal stability for distal mobility’ is a clinical principle that finds its perfect, non-negotiable application in the mechanics of a runner's hip extension.

This principle dictates that to achieve powerful movement of a limb (distal mobility), the foundation it pushes from must first be controlled (proximal stability).

Example: For a runner, the primary engine of propulsion is the forceful extension of the hip, driven by the gluteal and hamstring muscles. However, this action is fundamentally impossible (or at minimum super inefficient) without a stable pelvis. If the core musculature fails to hold the pelvis in a neutral position, the force of the contracting glute attempting to drive the leg backwards will instead be wasted, pulling the unstable pelvis into an excessive anterior tilt. It becomes a biomechanical paradox: trying to extend the hip from a foundation that is simultaneously tilting away from it. This is akin to attempting to launch a projectile from a crumbling platform; the force dissipates before it can be effectively applied. True hip extension, therefore, is not merely a function of gluteal strength, but is entirely dependent on the preceding act of motor control—the skill of stabilising the core to create the unyielding platform required for a powerful and efficient stride.

Key Word: SKILL, which could also read APPLICATION

The Principle of Transfer: Applying Skill in Motion

This newly acquired motor skill, however, is of little clinical utility if it remains an isolated party trick performed on a yoga mat. Its entire value is contingent on its successful transfer into complex, loaded, and often fatiguing movements. This is the step where true, meaningful stability is forged and the initial, conscious effort becomes an unconscious, reflexive competence.

The practice of maintaining a neutral pelvic position must become an integrated and automatic component of your primary movements, both in the gym and out in the world.

For the individual engaged in resistance training, this application is direct and immediate. Here, the core is truly trained under uncompromising loads:

• During a Goblet Squat: Is your primary focus on maintaining that precise lumbopelvic control to prevent the pelvic "wink" that signifies a loss of neutral spine at the bottom?
• During a Barbell Deadlift: Is the setup procedure dominated by the conscious act of setting the pelvis, co-contracting the surrounding musculature to lock the spine into a rigid lever before the load is even moved?
• During an Overhead Press: As fatigue sets in, can you resist the urge to hyperextend the lumbar spine—a common compensation strategy—by actively maintaining a slight posterior pelvic tilt?

However, this principle extends far beyond the four walls of a gym. For the endurance athlete, this skill is arguably even more critical, as it must be maintained over thousands of repetitive cycles where even minor inefficiencies are magnified into significant performance decrements or injuries.

Consider the simple act of walking or running. A pelvis that is not controlled by its musculature will display excessive motion—a lateral drop with every footfall (a Trendelenburg gait) or an excessive anterior tilt. This is not just poor aesthetic form; it is wasted energy. It represents a "leak" in the kinetic chain, where force that should be propelling you forward is instead being lost to manage extraneous pelvic motion. A stable pelvic platform allows for efficient transfer of force from the ground up through a quiet, steady trunk.

For the triathlete, this control becomes a central theme across all three disciplines:

• On the bike: Hours spent in the saddle demand the ability to "dissociate" the legs from the pelvis. The power generated by the pedal stroke should originate from the hips, not from a rocking or twisting motion of the entire pelvic girdle. A stable pelvis on the saddle is the foundation for both power and preventing the onset of nagging lower back pain during a long ride.
• In the water: An efficient swimmer moves through the water like a unified vessel. This is impossible without lumbopelvic control. A stable core connects the powerful pull of the upper body to the kick of the legs. Without it, the swimmer resembles a hinge, losing propulsive force and creating drag.
• During the run (especially off the bike): This is where motor control is truly tested. Under significant systemic fatigue, the nervous system will resort to its path of least resistance. If the skill of maintaining a neutral pelvis has not been deeply ingrained, form will disintegrate. The runner's gait will become inefficient and the load on passive structures will increase, opening the door to injury when the athlete is at their most vulnerable.

By embedding this skill into every relevant movement, you are training the trunk musculature exactly as it is designed to function: as a dynamic regulator of force within a whole-body system. This approach is not only more effective, it is profoundly more intelligent. True core function isn't found in a static hold on the floor; it's demonstrated in the flawless, efficient execution of movement, whether that's lifting a barbell or crossing a finish line. It's time to demand more from our training—not more effort, but more intelligence.

TAKEAWAYS:

1. Check your core stability in our free 7-point core test HERE
2. In standing can you softly posterior tilt without the glutes engaging on the mid-spine flexing?
3. In walking, do your glutes activate at initial contact to 'pull' the leg back?

These are 101 expectations!