Don’t Crunch your way to a Stronger Core (and what to do instead) part 2

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Don’t crunch your way to a stronger core! (And what to do instead) part 2

Now, if you’ve read part 1 of Don’t crunch your way to a stronger core, you might have a better understanding of what the core consists of and the significance of the breath. We also explored what ‘good’ breathing looks like and what it isn’t. 
Let’s dive into what we are looking for when it comes to a healthy functioning core. 

The core is responsive – not stiff or braced.

The core is responsive and adapts to the demands placed upon it. If you are lifting heavy weights, it will adapt to work harder. If you are leaning over in your chair to pick up a pencil, it will not need to work at the same amount. You want your body to react and respond appropriately to the task.

Getting a healthy and optimally functioning core is a process that involves many things including alignment, breathing mechanics, and training in an appropriate manner.

In addition to good breathing mechanics, posture plays a significant role to consider in this whole-body approach. Imagine your inner canister as a soda can. Slouching and rounding your shoulders forward puts a kink in the front of the canister. It also doesn’t allow for good ribcage expansion and may force pressure into the belly and doesn’t allow for the full excursion of the breath.
Practice:  Try this now by slouching your shoulders forward and take a few breaths. Notice how it feels. Then align your ribs stacked over your pelvis (and if seated, sitting on your sitzbones).  Take a few breaths and notice if you see a difference.
Along with posture, quite often we are cued to ‘pull your belly button in to your spine’ and end up holding our breath and or bracing. For some women, as young girls you might have been told to ‘suck your belly in’ and thus created a lifetime of habit that can be hard to unwind.

The core needs mobility, not just tightness.

As the video in the previous post from Julie Wiebe describes, many women use breath holding as a strategy for staying stable and ‘stiff’ at the centre for simple movements. Quite often we narrow our waist by holding breath and sucking in, or we squeeze our abs throughout the day to have a ‘flat’ stomach. When we squeeze all day long, the diaphragm can’t descend down and the inner canister doesn’t function as it should.
Think of it like flexing your bicep, you won’t achieve stronger biceps by flexing them non-stop. To be functional, you must release and relax the arm, for instance, to open a door. And then flex it when you need to pick something up. The core does not need to be engaged all day! Likewise, being engaged all day long won’t make it stronger.  
Another common example is women that seem to have a pouch in the lower belly that never seems to go away. This can often be a symptom of the upper abs and ribs crunching down in effect to create stability in our centre. These strategies can lead to a slew of aches, pains and dysfunction. Add a pregnancy or two, or three, on top of that and you might have some issues!
A properly functioning core is dynamic and fluid in nature. It needs mobility, not just tight or stiffness. Just like posture, whether sustaining or moving from one position to the next smoothly.

Rethink your relationship with pressure.

Breathing is how we manage pressure in our abdominal cavity. Regulating this inner canister of pressure is key in core control.  When we talk about stability or core, we want to see if we have the right amount of support for the task. In other words, how much ‘stiffness’ you should create in your trunk.
In the earlier example of lifting heavy weights, or picking up a pencil off the floor, the amount of pressure and control needed is widely different.
Moreover, holding your breath can indeed create stiffness, but does it create the appropriate amount of stiffness? Perhaps yes, if you are lifting a personal best PR 250lb deadlift.
But for most purposes, you want to breathe with the core. ‘Blow before you go’ is a great cue to help displace this internal pressure upon exertion. In this manner it helps so that this pressure doesn’t bear down onto weaker tissue. Exhaling helps you to get your inner core to fire first. If done correctly, you can feel the core react and contract inwards like a corset. You want to perform the movement on that corseting action.
But why does this matter for you and how could it impact you?
Pregnancy is one such jolt to the body, whereby the body experiences many changes quickly. Weakened tissue such as the pelvic floor or linea alba, are much more easily compromised by increases in pressure. (think leaking when sneezing or coughing!) Therefore, by exhaling more forcefully on your exertion it will turn on your deep abdominal muscles and sends the pressure up and out instead of trapping it in a possibly weak canister.

Core Breath, Alignment and Control.

If you want a strong core, having the ability to control your position and posture for the prescribed amount of time and prevent unwanted motion is essential!
Mastering core breath, coupled with alignment and the ability to control movement are the fundamental keys in obtaining a strong and functional core.
In addition to this, starting with small and slow controlled movements will help you notice your body’s default path and any compensations. Once you gain awareness and cement solid neural pathways in your brain, you can progress to more complex and dynamic movements. If you aren’t seeing the results you would like, make sure you are applying the principles of progressive overload and adding in more balance and coordination in all planes of movement with rotation and cross body integration. 
I cover all of this and more including simple exercises to help you connect to your core in my 7 Days to a stronger core challenge! It starts Monday, 26th September and you will receive a short video each day to help you work smarter, not harder! Learn to work from the inside out. Sign up now.
Sign up for the Challenge by entering your name and email address!

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