How Do I Properly Contract My Core?

Written By Lex Lancaster
 
 

The core is a pretty well-known term, but let’s be honest here… do you really know what it is and how to contract it or use it?

Core anatomy

When I’m explaining the anatomy of our core to patients I talk about 2 layers of core muscles: an inner unit and an outer unit.

Our outer unit is made up of bigger muscles that we could consider the external prime movers of our spine.

This would include rectus abdominis (the ‘6 pack’), the internal/external obliques that wrap around our trunk and the large columns of erector spinae that line either side of our spine.

When most people do core exercises at the gym, they traditionally think about planks, sit ups, crunches, etc. which are movements that predominantly use our outer unit.

The outer unit is important, but the other part of our core that I call the inner unit is arguably more crucial when it comes to core stability and injury prevention.

The inner unit is made up of 4 muscles that work together to function like an internal corset or back brace as we lift, twist, bend and move.

The four muscles involved in the inner unit are our diaphragm, pelvic floor, the deepest abdominal called transverse abdominis, and deep/small paraspinal muscles that run segmentally along our spine called multifidus.

The lumbar multifidus muscles become inhibited after a bad episode of low back pain and inflammation and need to be retrained to start firing again.

A study by Freeman et. al. showed that “The lumbar multifidus muscles (LMM) are important stabilizers of this neutral zone, and dysfunction in these muscles is strongly associated with LBP.”


How do we contract the core?

So how in the world do we start to engage this inner unit to set ourselves up for success?

The key to activating this entire internal corset is connecting our breath via the diaphragm to our pelvic floor activation.

Julie Weibe is a well known physiotherapist who has coined the term ‘piston breathing’.

Our diaphragm and pelvic floor move in tandem with each other.

When we take a breath in and allow our belly to expand, the diaphragm flattens, the abdominal contents are gently pushed downwards and the pelvic floor should relax which may seem counterintuitive at first.

As we exhale there is a recoil of both. The diaphragm returns to its slightly domed position and the pelvic floor lifts as the abdominal contents travel back upwards.

Any inner unit activation that we are going to add onto this should therefore be performed on our exhale. The inner unit is interconnected so when one of the four muscles fire up, the others should turn on.

To add a slight contraction of our pelvic floor to this piston breath, here are a few cues you can envision. 

Your pelvic floor is made up of the collection of muscles that run from your pubic bone anteriorly and wrap under to your anus.

When we’re thinking about activating the pelvic floor, you want to think about that entire collection of muscles front to back, internally lifting up like an elevator on your exhale.

Envision starting the elevator at the ground floor then gently lifting up to the 2nd floor. When you relax you can envision the elevator going down to the basement floor.

If that analogy doesn’t work, I always tell women to imagine picking up a blueberry with their vaginas on the exhale or for men, to think about ‘lifting the boys’ (testicles) on the exhale as if they were walking into a cold lake.

That would be followed by relaxing everything on the inhale. 

Here is a video that I filmed to demonstrate this contraction in four point.

It can be done in any position, but the position on hands and knees really lets you appreciate your inner unit relaxing and gently contracting.

In this position, you can also pretend someone is shrink-wrapping your midline on your exhale.


Wrapping it up

Moral of the story, in order to activate your core properly you need to learn how to incorporate your breath into your movements.

If you start to think about exhaling and engaging your core to support your movements, you will likely find they feel a bit easier to do with a bit more core support. For instance, when you squat think about inhaling and relaxing everything then as you drive yourself back up to standing, exhale to support your movement.

This concept is called ‘blow before you go’ which is also a concept introduced by Julie Weibe.


Where to learn how to use your core and strengthen your core in the best way

At Resilience Physiotherapy, we offer clinical pilates and physiotherapy treatment. In our sessions, we can help you learn how to use your core in the best way so that you can avoid future injuries and also get relief from current injuries.

Your core plays a major role in your overall stability and health so if you’re keen to learn more, book in with one of our talented physiotherapists at our Toronto clinic today!

Lex Lancaster https://lexlancaster.com
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