A few weeks ago the following two videos showed up on an interesting guest blog by Perry Nickelston on my friend Carson Boddicker’s site HERE.

I don’t think you’ll get much argument that the “inner core” is made up primarily of the TVA, multifidi, pelvic floor, and diaphragm.  I would also agree that if the inner core is not working reflexively that you’ll develop a high threshold strategy to stabilize the core resulting in inefficient movement and even pain.  This is why strengthening the TVA and multifidi doesn’t work for eliminating back pain.  It is because reflexive timing and not strength is the issue.

However, what I’m not sure I get is how this test measures the function of the inner core.  Granted, it is certainly a lot harder than I expected (try it if you don’t believe me), and the rolling patterns left my intercostals in pain for a couple days.  But I think that stating that this test can measure the function of the inner core and that it can be corrected by repeating the various rolling patterns might be a little heavy on the speculation.  I’m not sure that there is any EMG to suggest that this might be the case.  You’ll definitely learn a new movement pattern, but whether it is related to inner core function is something I’m not totally sure about. 

Since the chop and lift patterns are often suggested in relation to these exercises, I’d be inclined to think they have something to do with rotation/anti-rotation patterns.  I’m interested to hear what you all think.

Give the test and drills a try and let me know your thoughts.