Does a weak core cause back pain?

"Strengthen your core" is the advice everyone hears, and there is truth in it - the deep muscles around the trunk help support the spine. But it is only half the picture. Plenty of strong people still have aching backs, because the other half is a spine that has spent years squeezed and stiff. Strengthening around a locked system just armours the lock; first the system wants to be freed, then supported.

Gravity Stretching works on that first half. Decompression of the body creates space and takes the pressure off, supported movement frees the hips and back, and the core gets to do its job from a relaxed, mobile base instead of bracing a stiff one. We never grind through anything - we start small, stay within comfort, and let the body learn a calmer pattern first.

Think of it as the partner to gentle strengthening, not a replacement: a mobile, unloaded spine plus a core that can support it. In that order, both work better.