Abdominal Core Muscle Exercises
Muscle Exercises; from transversus abdominus to rectus abdominus
The core is the area between the diaphragm and the pelvic floor. When we think of the abs, often the 6 pack comes to mind. But it’s much more and includes the diaphragm, pelvic floor, multifidus (deepest back muscle) and the transversus abdominus (deepest ab muscle).
These support the more exernal muscles by providing a stable base to move off of. If they’re not functioning synergistically with the superficial core, we can’t control movement around the back and pelvis. This can often lead to pain, injury, and a belly pouch (especially postpartum moms!) While this is a topic far too great for a blog post, we can introduce the concept. The deep core muscles aren’t action muscles, so we use imagery to help activate them and use our fingers to help feel for proper contractions.
Here, we focused on activating the transversus abdominus.
- A quick way to assess if you naturally activate this muscle is to lift your head off the floor and see if your abs dome. If they do, it means the TrA isn’t providing a stable base for your 6 pack muscle (rectus abdominus) to move off of
- Learn to activate the TrA. Imagine a line that connects the inside of your two pelvic bones (front of hips). Think about connecting, or drawing the muscle, along this line as if closing two book covers.
- When you can activate the TrA, add a head lift to challenge the synergy between the 4 ab layers. When this is mastered (ie your belly stays flat, no doming, TrA is activated), lift your shoulders also.
- If you have mastered steps 1-3, you can move into controlled fitness movements. Remember, your abs need to stay flat and controlled in this new position. Try a modified mountain climber but keep your movements slow and controlled. Synergistic ab activation is the goal, not speed.
- Now add the challenge of moving both arms and legs on the stable base of a well-activated core. Try the dead bug, monitoring your abs for shape and control
