Perkis People: CORE TIP #1: Engage Your Core

By Maggi Buckler

To “engage” your core simply means to brace or contract the muscles of the abdominal area. The primary focus here is on the transverse abdominis, the muscles of the pelvic floor, and the low back.

Bracing or engaging these muscles creates a ring of reinforcement and support around your midsection. Imagine wearing a girdle, or a back-brace; either type of support improves your posture and protects your spine. Our goal is to develop our natural, internal support device for better strength and support during any type of movement.

Now! Whether you’re sitting at a desk, lying on the floor or sprawled on the sofa; whether you’re walking, washing the car or running, carrying the laundry up the stairs, doing deadlifts at the gym or swimming laps. Not only CAN you do it at anytime, but you SHOULD. If you’re sitting at a desk, it will help improve your posture-- how many of us slouch, leaving the abdominal muscles slack, curving our backs and curling our shoulders inward throughout the day? Take some time to consciously engage your core and see if you can maintain that internal bracing throughout the day. If you’re running, walking or lifting weights, this abdominal bracing is the powerhouse of stabilized movement, which I talked about in the newsletter that went out on May 23, 2012. (For a refresher, go here.)

There are a couple different ways to visualize and practice this. The first thing you want to know is that this is NOT the same as sucking in your gut. In fact, this is nearly the opposite.

Visualization 1: Picture the way you would brace yourself if someone were about to punch you in the stomach-- would you suck in your gut? No, you’d brace it. It might even “pooch out” further as the muscles contract.
Visualization 2: Your core naturally engages as the first step in coughing or laughing. So another way to get the feel for how to activate your core is by initiating one of those actions–you’re looking for that abdominal activation that takes place just before any cough or laugh actually occurs.

Practice by lying on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Take a deep breath and exhale forcefully. As you exhale, focus on “drawing up” the muscles from the pelvic floor (women who practice kegel exercises will know what this feels like -- otherwise, think about tightening the muscles you’d use to prevent yourself from going to the bathroom.) Next, contract the muscles of the abdomen and low back -- don’t lift your back or let it arch away from the floor. Important note: if you can’t breathe, you’re not contracting the muscles, you’re sucking in your gut. Contract your muscles and KEEP BREATHING!

Additional Resource: This Youtube video starts out with another explanation of engaging the core, then moves on to four basic core exercises. While these are aimed at beginners, they can be modified to be more challenging as well. These exercises will help you strengthen all the way around the “girdle” of support muscles mentioned: the back, obliques (“side” abs), the transverse abdominis and rectus abdominus, and even the glutes.

Here’s the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCwsuPVZeZo

Perkis People