How your core helps the rest of your body move

Physical therapy

﻿Hi there. My name is Sophie Brazier. I'm a children's physiotherapist. Thank you for joining me today, where we are going to be continuing with the topic of core strengthening. Today, we will take a closer look at how your core can help the rest of your body move. What we'll do to start with is we'll have an introduction to this, looking at how your core can have your body move. Then we will work through an example of this, and then we will finish with an activity that gets you to look at moving our arms and legs in sitting, when your core is in slightly different positions. You don't need any equipment for the activity. You just need a stool or a chair or a bench. So if you'd like to get that now, we can then begin. I would just like to give you a little message from our team. We as therapists have tried to think of the best way to continue to support children, young people and their families. So you may be watching this as a child by yourself, or you might be with a parent or carer. We will be exploring topic areas that we regularly provide advice and support on across all ages and abilities. And each lesson we will aim to give you some ideas and activities that can be carried out either at home or in school. You may already have specific programmes that you're using, or advice that has been given to you by your child's school or therapist. So please make sure that you're using any information I'm giving you alongside anything you already have. And if you do have any questions, or would like help tailoring this to their needs, then please make sure you get in contact with your local therapy service. So the question I'm going to ask you now, how does core strength help you move? Do you have any idea? Because if you've got a nice, strong, stable core, this can help keep your body upright. So you have that stability and that nice position, so then your limbs are able to move, which can help with activities such as walking and running. It allows your pelvis, your hips, and your lower back to work better together. So if you got all those areas working well, and all those muscles working well together, your movement will be much smoother. Your arms and legs are all connected to the core. So the stronger your core, the stronger your limbs will be, and the stronger those movements around those limbs will be. Your core is the base of support for your whole body. So you might think that your feet are your base of support. Well, yes, you stand with your feet, so they are your base of support, but your core helps provide that strong, stable basis support for your whole body. And having that strong core, is important because you need it for everyday activities. All the activities that you do throughout a whole period of the day need strong core muscles. A good way to think of it, is imagine your core is like a tree trunk. It has to be strong and stable, so it's branches, which are your arms and legs, can move well. And if there's one thing you take from today, let it be that, that your core is a strong tree trunk, and that your arms and legs are the branches that move around it. So you want to make sure that you've got that strong core, so the movement can happen well. So let's think of an example of this. Let's take walking down a hill. When you're walking down a hill, you might just think that that happens quite naturally, which it does, but what's going on when you're walking down the hill, can be a little bit different. So when you're walking down a hill, your core muscles are working to support your body, to help stay balanced, which means you've got better reactions. So if you trip or you stumble, your core muscles are working without you realising to help readjust your body and readjust your positions to stop you falling flat on your face. That's why it's important to have that strong core, to help with your reactions. Now, we're going to look at an exercise where we're going to compare the movement of your limbs, so your arms and legs, when you're sitting. But you're going to do it in two different positions. You're going to do it when you're sitting crunched a little bit forward, and when you're sitting upright. So hopefully you'll see a difference between the two positions. So your starting position can be on a bench, a stool or a chair without support. And what you need to do, is you need to sit forward, so your chest is coming down to your knees. Then you're going to move your arm forward, as far as you can in front, to the side and then behind you, as if you're reaching for something. And you're going to compare this to sitting with your back, more upright, and you're going to move your arm forward, and as far forward as you can, to the side and back. So the same in both positions. And I want you to think about which way feels easier. So the first time you do it, your core is going to be a little bit more squashed, and the second time you do it, you're going to be in a more upright position, perhaps where you can use your core muscles a little bit easier. I'll now take you through a demonstration of that, so you can see what I'm doing. Remember, when that's finished, pause the video, have a go yourself, and then you can restart again afterwards. So you'll see here in this demonstration, as I'm moving my body forwards, into a crunch position, and then taking my arm into the different positions as I described. So I'm going to come forward with my arm, and then going to take it out to the side with my arm, and then reaching back, and just see how it feels in that crunch position with your abdominals. So you'll see in this next video, I'm keeping my body in a more upright position. So my tummy muscles are able to work more freely, and you can see that my movement, as I may forwards, to the side and back, increases a little bit. If you try this, you might find a similar thing. Remember to pause the video now, you can give the activity a try, and then press play again afterwards. Just to extend the activity, how about we think about this a little bit more. So let's think about your head. Which position is easier for you to move your head and look, whilst you're moving your arm? Now let's move to your tummy area. So your tummy or trunk area. In which position does your trunk help the arm to reach further and in a more comfortable way? Was this when you were more crunched over, or when you were more upright? And how about your feet, which position is easier for you to lift your leg and foot at the same time as you reach with the opposite arm? And lastly, your neck. Which position does your neck feel more comfortable in? Please pause the video again now, and try some of those ideas, and have a think about what's happening to those areas when you do those activities. Remember to start the video again, after you've had a go yourself. So we've reached the end of our lesson today. Thank you for joining me. And if you gave the activity a try, then well done. It can be really interesting to see how your core can affect the rest of your body. Please join me next time, where we will be continuing to look at core strengthening, and I will give you an idea of an activity to try lying, and it is called a hedgehog exercise. So have a great day, take care, and I will see you see soon. Goodbye.

How your core helps the rest of your body move

How your core helps the rest of your body move

These resources will be removed by the end of the Spring Term 2026.

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