Multifidi, deep spinal stabilizers
Small muscles that are very active and you have never heard of them!
When you think of the core, do you picture your abdominals, or your “six-pack abs?” I think most people do. I think it may be kind of like when people go to the gym and consistently skip back day. They work the “mirror” muscles, the ones they can see. What’s interesting to me is that the rectus abdominis, the six-pack, isn’t even a functional spinal protector during everyday activity. But, the multifidi? It may be small, but it sure is mighty! They are really deep, under many other layers of muscles and fascia. How deep is it, you ask? So deep that the only area you can feel them is at their origin on the back of the sacrum (the large triangular bone at the base of your spine that connects to your pelvis).
These muscles are small and they are at each level of the spine from the sacrum to the second cervical vertebra. They are on the right and left sides. The singular version of the word is multifidus, plural is multifidi. They help stabilize the spine at each level and they help to extend the spine when both sides work together. When one side is more active, it can help rotate and side bend the spine. They help with our upright posture. There are fascial connections to the thoracolumbar fascia and the transverse abdominis.
If you have lower back pain, there is likely some dysfunction with the multifidi. According to Jeffrey Cooley’s research published in 2023, there seems to be a correlation between weakness in the muscle and fatty infiltration of the muscle if you experience chronic lower back pain. People with chronic lower back pain can have atrophy(shrinking) of the multifidus and a change in the muscle tissue because of increased fat within the muscle cells. Luckily, exercise can help change the makeup of the muscle!
What exercises can you do to strengthen the multifidi? I’ve included several that you try in a position that is accessible to you. I invite you to try one or all of them and let me know what works for you!
Bird dog- on your hands and knees, lift one arm and the opposite leg keeping the spine in its natural curve and the pelvis level as you lift your arm and leg. Or, lift only one leg and then the other while keeping both hands on the ground.
Bridge- laying on your back, bend your knees and lift the hips while keeping the lumbar spine in its natural curve
Tailbone lift- laying on your stomach, try to tilt your tailbone up to the ceiling
Seated anterior pelvic tilt- sitting in a chair, try to arch your lower back and return back to a neutral spine
In standing, place one foot forward like you’re taking a step, shift your weight forward and back between the front foot and the back foot. Try this with each foot and notice any differences between each side.
Take good care,
Sharon