Getting to the core of your health

Your midsection is home to perhaps the most important muscular group for keeping you active and pain-free.

When golf legend and fitness pioneer Gary Player is asked to name the most important part of his conditioning, the 81-year-old slaps his midsection: "The core!"

Mr. Player is right on the mark. "Your core is the epicenter from which every movement revolves. It helps you bend forward and backward and twist side to side," says Patrick Davin, physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Center.