People often confess to me sometimes with guilt, sometimes with resignation “I have a weak core.”
But here’s the twist: most of them aren’t weak at all. Their muscles are not broken. They are asleep. What we’re really dealing with is a fascinating condition known as muscular amnesia when your glutes and deep abdominals literally forget how to fire.
And it doesn’t take a catastrophic injury to switch them off. It just takes… a chair.
How Sitting Rewires the Brain
Think of the body as a finely tuned orchestra. Every instrument has a role. The glutes keep rhythm, the abdominals carry melody, the spine keeps harmony. But sit long enough day after day, year after year, and the conductor (your nervous system) quietly starts rewriting the score. The oboes play the violin parts, the trumpets step in for percussion. The result? Noise disguised as effort.
Your pelvis tilts forward, your hip flexors grip tighter, your lower back takes on a job it was never designed for. It’s the slow, invisible creep of dysfunction. Back pain is not the villain, it’s the symptom. The real culprit is disconnection.
The Silent Domino Effect
Once your stabilizers check out, a cascade begins:
- Glutes disengage → The pelvis tilts, straining the lumbar spine.
- Deep abs go quiet → The spine loses its shield; hip flexors clamp down.
- Compensation overload → Hamstrings, quads, and back muscles step into roles they can’t play without breaking down.
This isn’t just about pain. It’s about performance. An “asleep” core leaks energy, dulls efficiency, and robs you of the very power that movement is supposed to give.
The Traps of Modern Life
We imagine the problem is dramatic; a slipped disc, a pulled muscle. But the real saboteurs are ordinary:
- The desk chair you occupy for eight hours straight.
- The couch you melt into while scrolling on your phone.
- The cushioned seat that does all the work for you.
- The mobility drill you didn’t bother doing.
Every skipped activation is a message to your nervous system: forget this movement pattern, you don’t need it anymore. Muscular amnesia is less like trauma and more like memory loss.
The Early Warnings
You don’t need an MRI to know your core is asleep. The body whispers:
- Lower back pain that exercise doesn’t cure.
- Hip flexors that feel like piano wires.
- Wobbling when standing on one leg.
- Slouching starts to feel easier than sitting tall.
- Fatigue from walking short distances.
These aren’t random annoyances. They’re the nervous system’s SOS.
This 3-Minute Reboot Can Change Your Life
Here’s the paradox: reawakening sleeping muscles doesn’t take a yearlong rehab plan. It takes minutes a day.
- Glute Squeezes: Ten hard contractions, ten seconds each.
- Dead Bugs: Opposite arm and leg extended, spine braced.
- Bridges: Hips high, glutes firing, five-second holds.
- Bird Dogs: Balance and reach, stabilizers switched on.
This isn’t exercise in the traditional sense, it’s neural training. You’re reminding your body: this is your job, don’t forget it again.
Micro-Activations: The Hidden Edge
For high performers, the edge is rarely won in the gym. It’s forged in the in-between moments. Stand every 30–60 minutes. Tighten your abs while brushing your teeth. Squeeze your glutes while waiting for your coffee. These micro-activations stitch stability back into the fabric of daily life.
Weakness is rarely the problem. Disconnection is. A “sleeping” core is less a defect than a forgotten skill, like a language you once spoke fluently but abandoned. The good news? Memory can be restored. With small, deliberate rituals, you can reconnect to the stabilizers that hold you upright—literally and metaphorically.
Because the real question isn’t whether your core is weak. It’s whether you’re willing to wake it up.
Co- authored by: Shayamal Vallabhjee
Chief Science Officer: betterhood
Shayamal is a Human Performance Architect who works at the intersection of psychology, physiology, and human systems design, helping high-performing leaders, teams, and individuals thrive in environments of stress, complexity, and change. His work spans elite sport, corporate leadership, and chronic health, and is grounded in the belief that true performance isn’t about pushing harder, but designing better.
