The Small Spinal Muscles You’re Ignoring—and Why They’re Key to a Pain-Free Back

The small muscles that support the spine —such as the multifidus, rotatores, and interspinales—are deep core stabilizers. They provide fine-tuned control, spinal alignment, and joint integrity during movement. Though, not as visible as the rectus abdominis (the much desired -for some- “six-pack”), they’re crucial for injury prevention, and core stability.

Training these muscles (through controlled, precise movements like Pilates) helps prevent or reduce back pain, enhances balance, and supports long-term spinal health. If resilience, strength, and endurance is what you’d like to attain, let’s dig a litter deeper.

Why These Small Muscles are a Big Deal

• Foundation for Movement: The small muscles that stabilize your spine act as the foundation for all your movements. They keep your spine steady so your arms and legs can move efficiently.
• Injury Prevention: Weak stabilizers can lead to poor posture, inefficient movement, and a higher risk of back pain or injury. When these muscles are strong, they protect your spine from excessive movement and dissipate stress.
• Posture and Everyday Function: They support your vertebrae and maintain good posture, making daily activities like walking, lifting, and reaching easier and safer.
• Joint Health: By keeping your spine stable, these muscles protect your joints from excessive stress and long-term wear.
• Proprioception: These muscles are rich in sensory receptors that sense the position of each spinal motion.

How to Effectively Train Spinal Stabilizers

Start simple! Begin with exercises that target the deep core and spinal stabilizers without a lot of movement. Focus on feeling these muscles working rather than using momentum or engaging large muscle groups—which is so easy to do, slow down and have patience. Emphasize spinal alignment with breath control.

Examples of Stabilizer Exercises:

• Segmental Cat-Cow: Improves proprioception and deep control by isolating spinal segments. Move one vertebra at a time, slowly through flexion and extension.
• Side Plank: Lying on your side, lift your hips off the ground and hold. This works the lateral stabilizers of your core and spine.
• Pilates Chest Lift: While not commonly suggested, I find this exercise highly beneficial. What makes it unique is how it works the spinal muscles segment by segment—while the lower abdominals stabilize, the upper abdominals flex.
• Prone Swimmers: Targets the multifidus and rotatores by lifting opposite limbs off the floor. Focus on small, controlled lifts—avoid overarching the back.
• Dead Bug: Engages the transverse abdominis and spinal stabilizers while minimizing spinal movement (this is when spinal alignment and breath control come into play).

At first, just holding these positions and focusing on good form is enough. As you get stronger, increase the duration and add gentle movement or instability.

Integrating Larger Core Muscles

Resist from rushing into big, dynamic core exercises (like crunches or Russian twists) until you can maintain good form and stability in the simpler moves. If you skip this step, the larger muscles may compensate, and the stabilizers won’t get stronger.

Here’s a little cheat sheet for exercise progression:

• Master Stabilization: Get comfortable with static holds and slow, controlled movements using the deep core muscles.
• Add Movement: Once you can stabilize, start adding arm or leg movements (like lifting one arm in a plank) while keeping your core steady.
• Integrate Larger Muscles: Move on to exercises that involve bigger ranges of motion and more muscle groups, such as crunches, back extensions, or medicine ball rotations. These moves should still be done with a focus on keeping your spine stable.
• Combine with Full-Body Training: As your core gets stronger, you can add core exercises to the end of your regular workouts or pair them with other strength exercises in supersets.

Key Takeaways

Training the small stabilizer muscles is essential for a healthy, pain-free back and strong overall movement.

Start with simple, focused exercises and only progress when you can maintain good form.

Gradually integrate larger core muscles and more dynamic movements as your foundation becomes stronger.

By following this approach, you’ll build a core that is both strong and stable, supporting you in all your activities and helping prevent injury.