Health Vlog #2: The Core, Explained

I'm very interested in this subject. I'm a regular hillwalker and also passionate about indoor climbing, so I use the muscles in my upper thighs and gluteus maximus a lot! But I often notice when I'm walking up a steep hill that I seem to be engaging my core muscles too. I wonder if that's one reason why losing belly fat helps you increase your pace on the hills too (apart from the obvious reason, that you're carrying less weight).
I lost 31lbs last year after overcoming subclinical hypothyroidism, and my fitness has rocketed since. I have also worked on strengthening my core through yoga, and on strengthening my scapular area, in order to improve my fitness for indoor bouldering.
I notice that friends who are carrying a lot of belly fat struggle to keep up with me on the hills, despite doing as much exercise as I do (or almost as much). I know how they feel, as I was like that before I lost my hypothyroid weight. No matter how much exercise I did, I would huff and puff my way up the hills, and go pretty slowly. This was partly due to being hypothyroid, but I also feel that the core area is key to this too, linked to belly fat.
I often skip up the hills now, and it feels as if the power is coming from my core - or as you say, from my leg muscles acting through my core. It feels to me as if the core is key to good health and fitness. I would love to learn more about it!

Thanks for your comment!

Congrats on overcoming your hormonal imbalances. The endocrine system really can affect the bodies metabolism of energy. I am so happy you are experiencing improved energy levels.

You are correct by engaging the core during climbs. The more we resist movement in the lumbar spine, the better we transfer the energy from the legs to the direction we desire to move in.

From what I can gather, your weight loss and ’revival’ of your thyroid are where the majority of your fitness gains are coming from.

I hope that you will see continued progress in your exercise endeavours! Best of luck.

Good video, I've wondered if 6 packs/strong abs were very useful other than the aesthetics. It's an odd muscle, biceps/shoulders/chest can be used to lift or push weight but the core is just "there" and I don't think we should lift weights with our stomach... If crunches and situps are inefficient, I naturally want to know more efficient ways of doing it!

I guess the wire analogy was meant to convey that if we bend our core a lot and it's not very strong then there's 'power leakage' and there's inefficient energy transfer through the body, I hadn't thought about it that way before

Thanks! The thyroid malfunction was quite a wake-up call really, and I feel fitter than ever now. Looking forward to reading more about the core.

Thank you!

Strong abs are definitely important. It depends how you define strong though.

Abs should be isometrically strong.

The importance of strengthening the whole core (not only abs but obliques and all the way around to the small of your back) is something that isn't practiced enough! Great post! Doing crunches until you are blue in the face doesn't mean you have a strong core, a balance of different kinds of core training as well as an awareness of how the core works is the most important part of strength training!

A strong core is the best way to prevent injuries! :)