Welcome back!! On the last blog post (many many moons ago!), we talked about the pelvic floor and how it is a part of a larger pressure system. This week, we will talk more about how to find your core muscles!!
In my early days of working out, I hated core work outs because they consisted of sit ups. And more sit ups. And more sit ups!! That’s really all I knew to do to work my “core.” Once i started practicing yoga, I finally understood that I could have a strong core without ever doing a sit up. As my journey through physical therapy school progressed, I learned how the Transverse Abdominis (TA) muscle is the deep root of our core. Our current working theory, is that these muscles help to support your organs so that your mover muscles-the Rectus abdominus muscles, the internal oblique, and the external oblique muscles-will let you do whatever it is that you are trying to do.
Permission to use copyright image from Pelvic Guru LLC
This idea has become more prevalent in the fitness community over the last 15++ years and I know I often hear cues about “locking your belly button back to your spine” to try to activate the TA muscles while doing movements. In reality, these muscles (or any other muscle!!!!) cannot function at the top of their game if they are 100% locked down. Think about how it feels to do a bicep curl.
Once you have reached the top of the curl, that muscle has nothing else left to give. As humans, we don’t bring any other muscle group to a full contraction and ask it to perform starting in that position, so why do we ask our TA to do this?! Personally, I tend to over use my TA if I am not careful. A better way for me to use my TA is to perform a GENTLE contraction of this muscle before doing the core exercise or activities in my day where I might need additional support. When I am having a day where I feel clenchy, I will gentle engage my TA and totally let it go before performing exercises. This allows my brain to still think about these muscles and cue my brain into them, but use them in a way that helps me complete the movement instead of get in the way of my exercise. I’m all about working smarter, not harder!!!!
Now you know the importance of these muscles, but how do you find them?! The transverse abdominal muscles start in your back and wrap around to the front. In workout classes and videos this is often cued as “draw your belly button towards your spine.” I find that this cue causes people-myself included-to hold their breath and tighten their upper abdominal wall instead of their TA muscles. When the TA muscle tightens, it will gently sink down while your pelvic remains level & you continue breathing normally. If you feel a slight tighten in your pelvic floor (like you’re doing a Kegel), that is normal because these two muscles are a team. You can use your hand on the inside of your pelvis (as pictured below) to help feel this muscle move. Try all the cues listed below and see which one works best for you!
5 Cues To Find Your TA Muscle:
Gently tighten your lower abdomen like you are zipping up a tight pair of low rise jeans, but do not let your pelvis tilt with this!!
Gently draw the front of your pelvic bones (the bones on the outside of your hand if your hand is placed on your stomach as pictured) closer together.
Try to gently draw your pubic bone (the front bone that your pelvic floor attach to) towards your spine without tilting your pelvis.
Take a normal breath in & let everything relax with your hand placed as pictured above. As you are breathing out, feel your lower abdominal area gently tighten and sink down towards your spine. As you breath in, you should feel the muscles totally relax and your abdomen should become soft. After you get this feeling, try the cues above again and see if you can better find these muscles.
Imagine a trampoline. When you step on it, the bounce mat (or fabric part) will tighten but sink away from your foot. You want to gently tighten that lower abdominal area while letting it gently sink away from your hand.
You can blow the air out with any of these cues to help support the TA activation especially when you are first learning to use this muscle. It can be tricky! I always think of the scene in Forgetting Sara Marshall where Peter, played by Jason Segel, is trying to learn how to surf. The instructor keeps telling him to do less and less, but he can’t just lay on the board—that’s not how surfing works!
Once you find the muscles, what can you do with them? Well, the possibilities are endless!! Try adding the gentle tighten into your normal core routine, but make sure you are letting these muscles totally relax once you’ve used them. You can try the strategy where you gently tighten the muscle and totally let it go before you do the core exercises and see if that allows you to complete the exercise with increased ease. You can even add this gentle tightening into your normal activities like lifting your baby or lifting your groceries. Remember, just like the pelvic floor—and really ANY muscle—you want these muscles to be strong and flexible!! This means you don’t want to hold the muscles tight at all times!!
I can’t wait to show you guys what I have been working on over the last few months! Sign up to join my mailing list and stay tuned for big things coming!!