Core Strength, Balance, and Flexibility: Physical Therapist and Certified Professional Trainer, Karen Schmidt, Shares Her Expertise on Physical Wellness

The recipe for a healthier life is no secret. In fact, it’s incredibly simple: regular exercise, a good diet, and deep sleep. But just because something is simple doesn’t mean it’s easy, especially if we’re struggling with dis-ease through no fault of our own or simply trying to exercise regularly while living in our incredibly busy, sedentary society—an oxymoron if there ever was one.

Karen Schmidt, a physical therapist and certified professional trainer, offers her refreshingly wonderful and encouraging perspective on exercise, motivations for doing so, and how to take one step at a time to achieve our goals, whatever they might be. And while some of us might consider a healthy body as one worthy of a magazine cover or red carpet, Karen says a healthy body is one that rediscovers that spring in its step, moves faster with better balance, has more energy, and feels less achy . . . no matter its age.

Check out our conversation with Karen to discover what she has to say about exercise in general and, in particular, three important areas of our physical wellness: core strength, balance, and flexibility.

SIMQUILY: It’s often said we should aim to exercise 30 minutes a day. What are your thoughts on that?

KAREN: I often tell people that taking care of our bodies—working on our core strengthening, balance, and flexibility—is just like brushing our teeth. If we don’t brush our teeth for three or four days, what are our teeth like? Pretty gross! Just as we brush our teeth daily, we need to exercise every day to lovingly care for our bodies and take good care of them. Unfortunately, exercise takes a lot more time than brushing teeth, and that’s often where the obstacle exists. And while thirty minutes a day would be wonderful, people would see amazing improvements if they would exercise just fifteen minutes a day and focus on doing their exercises well.

SIMQUILY: What are some exercises we can do during those 15 minutes?

KAREN: For many of my clients, I recommend what I call the Kitchen Fast 5. For five minutes, you can do five exercises, one minute for each exercise:

1. Stand at your kitchen sink and do squats.
2. Stand at your kitchen sink and do push-ups.
3. Stand at your kitchen sink and do toe raises on one or two legs.
4. For balance, stand on one leg and hold for 30 seconds. And if that’s easy, then stand on one leg and move it gently back and forth and move it in different directions. Then, switch legs.
5. For upper body, I like to recommend using a TheraBand (or something similar) to do rowing-type exercises. But you don’t even need a TheraBand or special equipment because our arms and legs are heavy. Planks are also a great exercise—and a fabulous exercise that just about anyone can do is a wall plank. You put your elbows and forearms at shoulder height against a wall and get in a solid plank position. You then work on “arm walking”—alternate putting one arm up and then down. And then you can do alternating marching motions: bring one knee up to the wall and back down. In doing so, you work on strengthening your back and your core.

Stairs are also a great place to exercise, especially for pushups and step downs. For pushups, you can stand at the base of the stairs and put your hands on the third or fourth step and then do a pushup. As you get stronger, you just work your way down the stairs. For step downs, you put one foot on the step as the other foot hangs off the side of the step and you bend and straighten your supporting leg.

SIMQUILY: You mentioned plank exercises are great for strengthening our back and core. Why is it important to have a strong core?

KAREN: I think of our core as the anchor of the body. For our hips, legs, knees, and ankles to move well, they need an anchor to hold on to—the same with our shoulders. For us to reach, grab, push, and pull, our shoulders need an anchor. Our body has to have a strong foundation so our moving parts can work well and move efficiently.

And when talking about our core, I consider the whole muscular girdle, all the way around the body from the hips up to the shoulders. I also look at the head because head and neck position is incredibly important when exercising. It’s important to be aware of an excessive forward head position in which your head is strained forward, because wherever your head goes, it drags the rest of your body. You want to keep your ears over your shoulders.

SIMQUILY: When we exercise, aren’t we always engaging our core?

KAREN: In my work, I often have to help people learn how to activate their core. Some exercises such as planks will often help to activate the core reflexively—more so than a squat exercise, for example. But we can learn to activate our core until it becomes more natural to do so.

I really like plank-type exercises for those whose shoulders and necks can tolerate them. And even when floor planks aren’t feasible, nearly everyone can do a wall plank of some type. You just have to modify it.

SIMQUILY: What is your favorite core exercise?

KAREN: One of my favorites is a standing exercise with TheraBand:

• First, put the band around a stationary post and stand far enough away from the post for there to be little to no slack in the band as you stand with your arms out in front of you, elbows straight.
• Then, keeping your elbows perfectly straight, pull your arms back and down to your hips. As you do so, spread your collarbones wide apart, activating your back muscles and keeping your shoulder blades tucked in. It’s also important to ensure your head is in a good position (your ears over your shoulders).

That motion, when you pull, really activates the core. Sometimes, I’ll have my clients lift one knee up to also work on balance simultaneously. It’s a comprehensive compound exercise, where you’re working on postural control, balance, head and shoulder position, back strength, core work, and leg strength, all in one. I like doing this exercise slow and steady with three- to five-second holds and work up to three sets of fifteen repetitions. And, remember, it’s okay to build up to that, little by little.

When you use a TheraBand or something similar, be sure to use the right resistance for each exercise. If you choose one with too much resistance, you can end up doing an exercise poorly and cementing in unhealthy habits and movements.

SIMQUILY: In that core exercise you just walked us through, you mentioned balance. Why is balance important for our physical well-being?

KAREN: One of the reasons we focus on balance is because, as we age, the special cells in our inner ear for balance start to die off, which means we have to work even harder on balance. As we age, the sensations in our feet and legs might change, we become less mobile, less agile, and lose our strength. Add to that wearing bifocals or trifocals or corrective lenses—in addition to our balance cells dying—and you have a real opportunity for trouble.

When I work with my clients, I like to work on balance first because as we get tired it becomes more of a challenge to stay balanced.

In addition, the statistics on accidental falls every year keep growing. If people would start working on their balance at a young age, they would be better off their whole lives. And while we normally think of older folks who fall, there are plenty of young people who fall accidentally too. The younger people just tend to bounce back quicker and easier. That being said, everybody needs to work on balance their whole lives. There are so many different ways to work on your balance, and it’s not always by standing on one leg. We have to engage the vestibular system, which is done by turning our heads and moving our eyes up and down and side to side while on various ground surfaces, along with other kinds of exercises to help improve balance. I often encourage people to look online to see if there are any free balance seminars or classes nearby because some organizations offer these types of balance classes in their communities.

SIMQUILY: We’ve talked about core strength and balance. Now let’s talk about why flexibility is important.

KAREN: I define flexibility as the ability to move the body in all directions with ease. We need flexibility so we can squat or lunge down to the lower cabinet to retrieve a heavy pot; get up on a step stool to reach up high and get heavy things off of a high shelf; pick up young children and carry them around with one arm while the other arm is reaching and working; clean our homes, toilets, and showers without hurting our backs; and keep up with our kids and grandchildren. Flexibility is the ability to do anything we want and move in any direction we need to go—and hopefully at a good pace. Good flexibility also helps with balance, because people who get stiff have more difficulties with balance.

On the other side of the coin, you don’t want to become limber to the point where you make your joints unstable. People who are hyper-mobile—often times these people gravitate toward activities such as gymnastics, dance, and yoga—have to be careful that they do not unknowingly create instability.

SIMQUILY: For those of us who are ready to get started, how long can we expect before experiencing the fruits of our labors?

KAREN: A lot of people don’t realize that they don’t feel good—that having low energy and brain fog and an achy body is not normal. It may have been a long time since they felt great, and now they don’t know anything different. But if people would eliminate sugar or, at least decrease the amount of sugar in their diets (sugar is inflammatory); drink more water; get regular and consistent deep sleep; and exercise for fifteen to thirty minutes just four to five days a week, they will begin to notice a difference within one to two weeks. They should start to feel like they have more spring in their step, that their joints move more freely, and that they don’t feels as achy. Within a relatively short amount of time—with consistent and daily little improvements here and there to diet, exercise, and sleep—they will feel better.

SIMQUILY: What else would you like people to know as they get started? Especially for those of us who have started a million times but don’t have stellar track records when it comes to sticking with something?

KAREN: I believe we see the world as a better place when we feel good. When we feel good, we can better cope with the ups and downs of life. We can better manage all that life gives us—the wonderful things and the challenging things—if we feel good. We will have more energy to move beyond ourselves to do the work God has given each of us to do.

God tells us that we are made in His image—and while we don’t always feel like that, we have these beautiful bodies and amazing minds that God has given us. I know He wants us to use them well. He’s not given us a body and mind that should be hard to take care of. Scripture tells us that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and it really and truly is.

The Lord also tells us that every day is a new day and that joy comes in the morning. We can start this minute; we can start right now.

Get up off the chair and walk around your house. Walk on your tippy toes or on your heels to the bathroom or bedroom or kitchen. Raise your arms up and down. Just start moving right where you are. Whether you’re in good shape and have slacked off or you are struggling with your life’s circumstances, you can start fresh right now. And throughout your day, remember to thank your body for working. While we are often so critical of our bodies—focusing on how they don’t work well, how they hurt, or how little we like its shape—it’s helpful to be thankful for what our bodies do. Be thankful that you are able to walk up stairs, or pick up your baby or grandchild and see it and hold it and feel it and love it, or wrap your arms around your husband, or talk with your friends, or simply walk through a store and reach out to pick things up. As we thank God for giving us bodies that carry us through life, we will start to become thankful for how well our bodies do work instead of being so critical of our imperfections. God has given us these amazing bodies that can heal and rejuvenate—but we have to feed it well, move it well, and have it sleep well.

If you are in a hard place of suffering with dis-ease and you feel as if your body has betrayed you, draw your strength from God and hold on tight to Him. Give thanks for the strength He gives you to do small things that may be a mountain at this time in your life.

We have just this one body and it needs to last us as many years as the Lord gives us—and people are living a really long time! To the young people, I say, “Take good care of your body now because it has to last you a long time. If you don’t take care of it, it won’t take care of you, and you won’t be able to do the things you want to do as you age.” I encourage older people with this: If you do the right things, your body will start working a whole lot better, and you’ll be surprised at all the things you can begin to do again!

I have people who are ninety-three years old in my exercise class, and I am inspired with their perseverance and dedication. And what they do is exactly what we all can do: put one foot in front of the other and keep on going.

All this being said, I heard a quote that has become a favorite: “You cannot exercise your way out of poor nutrition.” So, if you are planning to only exercise to be healthy and strong, you cannot. Diet trumps everything.

But that’s a conversation for another time.