Is stabilisation training really effective?

What is stabilisation training about?

The term stabilisation training is defined as all kinds of exercises which are intended to increase the strength and endurance of postural muscles, the so-called deep muscles. It is these structures that make it possible to maintain the correct balance of the torso and maintain the correct body posture, especially in the context of optimal back and pelvic position. A strong core enables athletes to significantly improve their efficiency during the proper training and provides even better results in terms of functionality.

Examples of stabilisation training exercises:

• Dead Bug
• Superman
• Hollow body and Hollow rock
• Different variants of planks
• Alternating extensions of opposite limbs in a supported kneeling position

Apart from exercises based on your own body weight, it is worth mentioning exercises that can use additional equipment. Stabilisation training can be enriched with a BOSU platform or sensomotor disks (commonly called rehabilitation berets). By imitating unstable ground, they require increased involvement of the body in terms of deep muscles, which leads to a clear increase in the central stabilisation of the trunk.

Which muscles are involved in the stabilisation training?

• Diaphragm
• Multifidus muscle
• Pelvic floor muscles
• Abdominal transverse muscle

The above muscles work during practically every movement of the body. However, most people have little ability to engage them consciously. Regular stabilisation training has a positive effect on their activation, which at the same time allows them to gain completely new movement possibilities.

What are the benefits of stabilisation training?

• Supports central stabilisation of the trunk
• Helps to maintain a correct posture
• Has a positive effect on coordination
• Helps to maintain proper body balance
• Improves fluidity and quality of movement
• Reduces the risk of pain (especially back pain)
• Contributes to a real improvement in muscle condition and speed
• Enables better feeling and control of one's own body, e.g. making it easier to take the right starting position for exercises and work in the correct range of motion

Is stabilisation training recommended only for athletes?

Working on deep muscles is recommended especially for people with low physical activity or complete lack of physical activity. Their poor functioning is particularly noticeable in office workers, who spend most of their days in a sitting position. Starting stabilisation training leads to the elimination of the most common problems in this professional group, i.e. pain in the lumbar-sacral section, which usually results from weakened abdominal muscles as well as cramped spinal structures.