
Is back pain making standing tall more difficult? Have you noticed you don’t feel as balanced as you once used to? What’s the connection? These are both signs that may indicate core muscle weakness. At PTPro Physical Therapy, our physical therapists can help you figure out if your core is affecting your condition and, if so, how to get it strong again!
Your core muscles help you do a lot — from sitting to standing to getting up and down from chairs. A strong core allows smooth, coordinated actions, thus impacting almost every activity you do every day. If your core muscles are weak, they may affect your function and possibly your pain levels.
It’s important to note that core muscles are not just important for physical fitness but are also essential to the overall quality of life. Our physical therapists understand the importance of core strength and will assess you to determine if it’s affecting your daily activities. With our expert guidance, you’ll learn how to engage your muscles in how they were designed to move!
Contact us today to set up an appointment or learn more about how our team can help you strengthen your core!
What Is the “Core”?
When most people think of core muscles, they immediately think of the abdominals. However, the core muscles comprise the lower back, hip, pelvis, pelvic floor, and even the diaphragm muscle.
Significant weakness in the core will often lead to compensations and straining of different body areas, most commonly the back and neck muscles. As a result, this leads to undesirable consequences, such as poor posture, fatigue, or pain.
The muscles that make up your core are designed to help stabilize your body, support your posture, ensure your balance, and support movements in all directions. If any of these muscles are weak, injured, or used inappropriately, your trunk becomes unstable, making it difficult for your body to function correctly.
The core assists in almost every movement, from bending down to picking up an object to standing up straight. It also plays a significant role in breathing, lifting a heavy object, twisting your body, or even just walking. Core strength is also essential in sports performances, allowing the body to balance and control movements while running, jumping, and sustaining contact. A strong core enhances power, speed, coordination, and agility with all sports and recreational pursuits. It also can help reduce the risk of injuries and may help to prevent chronic lower back pain.
A strong core is vital to your overall health, functional movement, and athletic performance. Proper core training helps maintain spine health, ensures optimal performance in your daily life, and can help prevent various injuries.
Building Core Strength with Expert Guidance
Physical therapy is a great starting point for building your core strength. Our licensed therapists will conduct a detailed evaluation to identify the underlying muscle weaknesses and strategies to strengthen them.
Whether you feel pain in your back, neck, shoulders, or legs, we will thoroughly analyze your posture, movement patterns, and strength, pinpointing the exact cause of the pain. From there, we will create an individualized treatment plan for you based on your specific needs to strengthen your core, improve your posture, and alleviate pain.
Core stability is about both muscular strength and proper sensory input. This sensory input informs the central nervous system about your body’s movements and positions to facilitate specific actions, ensuring your body reacts appropriately. When functioning properly, our body can perform the most basic tasks and advanced athletic activities.
Our therapists will design a program to teach you how to use your core muscles properly. We will create a strength program focusing on core-specific exercises and progressing to multi-joint free-weight exercises for comprehensive core muscle training. You can anticipate continuous feedback and guidance for fine-tuning your movements to ensure optimal spinal stabilization through a strong core.


Book Your Appointment at PTPro Physical Therapy Today!
Our physical therapy team will assess your condition to identify how your core affects your function. We’ll educate you on how your core affects your physical activity and contributes to the pain you may be experiencing. Our individualized exercise programs can reduce your pain and improve your overall quality of life!
Call us today to set up an appointment!

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Return to PTPro Physical Therapy and Let’s Continue Your Journey to Wellness Together. Schedule Your Appointment Now!
💪 Core Strength: Myth or Fact?
Exercise of the Month
DEAD BUG
Lie down on your back with your arms by your sides, your knees bent to 90-degrees, and your feet on the floor. Raise one arm up straight and one knee up towards the ceiling at the same time. Your arm should stay straight and be pointing straight up at the top and your knee should be at 90-degrees and be pointing straight up at the top. Return to the starting position, then repeat on the other side.
3 Sets, 10 Reps.
🌟 Staff Spotlight 🌟
Meet one of the experienced clinicians helping patients move with confidence.

Maureen Madden, PT, OCS
Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist
Maureen graduated Cum Laude from the University of Connecticut in 1991 with a B.S. in Allied Health and Honors Scholar in Physical Therapy. She is Board Certified as a Clinical Specialist in Orthopedics and has treated patients throughout Colorado, Arizona, San Francisco, Seattle, and the Pacific Northwest.
Her experience ranges from injured workers to professional NBA, NFL, NHL, and X-Games athletes. She specializes in hands-on care, movement analysis, and precise exercise prescription while working closely with orthopedic surgeons and physiatrists. Outside the clinic, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters and has backgrounds in rowing, climbing, mountain biking, running, and mountaineering.
Education
University of Connecticut
BS in Allied Health, Honors Scholar in Physical Therapy (Cum Laude), May 1991
Continuing Education Highlights
- Advanced Dynamic Anatomy (2018)
- Treatment of the Lumbar Complex
- Foundations of Manual Therapy
- Extremity Thrust Manipulation
- Rowing Health & Wellness Symposium
- Sciatica & Low Back Management
- Institute of Physical Art coursework
- Dry Needling
- Cervical & Lumbar Spine Assessment
- Running Analysis & Treatment
- Shoulder Rehabilitation
- Manual Therapy, PNF, Functional Mobilization, Orthotics, Sports Medicine, Spine, and many additional advanced orthopedic courses from 1992–2018.
- Published articles on ACL injury prevention, gait analysis, and ankle stabilization.
- Lecturer for sports medicine, ACL rehabilitation, ankle instability, and osteoarthritis.
- Speaker at the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Conference.
- Member of the American Physical Therapy Association.
- Former Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist.
- Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.
- Special Olympics coach, competitive rower, runner, cyclist, rock climber, and hiker.
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Ingredients
- 1 pound strawberries, washed and stems removed
- 1 large ripe banana
- 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
- 1/2 cup milk
- Sugar to taste (optional)
Directions
- Add the strawberries, banana, milk, and vanilla yogurt to a blender or food processor.
- Blend until completely smooth.
- Taste and add sugar if desired depending on fruit sweetness.
- Pour mixture into popsicle molds or paper cups.
- Insert popsicle sticks or handles.
- Freeze until completely firm, preferably overnight.
- Enjoy your refreshing homemade popsicles the next day!

Why Hitting the Beach Is More than Just Fun in the Sun
A beach vacation offers much more than relaxation. Walking on sand, playing in the waves, and enjoying time outdoors can improve strength, endurance, and overall wellness while helping you recharge mentally and physically.
🚶 Walk on the Sand
Walking on soft sand creates natural resistance that helps strengthen your legs, improve balance, and challenge stabilizing muscles more than walking on firm ground.
🌊 Splash in the Waves
Even if you aren’t swimming, moving through the water makes your muscles work harder thanks to water resistance, creating a fun low-impact workout.
🌞 Relax in the Breeze
Taking time to breathe deeply and enjoy nature can reduce stress, improve mood, and support your overall physical health before the beach becomes busy.
💙 Stay Injury-Free
If aches or pains are keeping you from enjoying your summer adventures, a physical therapist can help you move comfortably and prepare for an active beach season.
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Our Patients Get Great Results

"I’ve had a great experience here! Megumi has been very thorough as she has worked with me! Going above and beyond to make sure all of my concerns are addressed and that I’m feeling my very best before releasing me! I love that she gives me exercises and ways to correct misaligned joints so that I can realign things at home instead of waiting until my next appointment to feel good again! I will definitely be coming back here next time I need PT!"
-Ashley B.
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