“Engage your core” is a phrase commonly heard in the fitness world. But what does it mean, and how can you do it effectively? Your core muscles are the muscles that surround your trunk, including your abdominals, obliques, diaphragm, pelvic floor, trunk extensors, and hip flexors. These muscles play a crucial role in providing stability, balance, and mobility to your body.
In this article, we’ll explore what the core muscles are, their role in trunk mobility and stability, and the various exercises you can incorporate into your workout regimen to strengthen them.
Understanding Your Core Muscles
Your core muscles provide stability and mobility to your trunk, allowing you to move in various directions, lift weights, and perform everyday activities such as breathing, posture control, urination, and defecation. Every time you exhale and inhale, your diaphragm plays a large part in allowing air to flow into and out of your lungs. When you sit up straight, your core muscles contract to keep your trunk upright. When you use the bathroom, they’re there to start and stop your business.
Engaging Your Core Muscles
Engaging your core muscles can mean many things, depending on what you’re trying to achieve. For instance, the muscles recruited and the order in which they fire will be different than if you’re trying to hold your balance while standing on one leg. The way your muscles feel when you engage them will also differ depending on several factors, such as whether you’re trying to move your spine or stabilize it, whether you’re pushing or pulling weight, and whether you’re standing, sitting, or lying down.
For a truly strong and functional core, it’s important to be able to engage your core in any situation and in every way, providing dynamic stability and spinal support for your moving body. Below are four primary ways to engage your core.
1. Concentric Contraction of the Abs or Back
If you’re doing a traditional ab exercise like a crunch or a back exercise like the superman, you are using core muscles as prime movers. In the crunch, for example, the rectus abdominis and obliques contract concentrically (in other words, they shorten) to pull your ribs toward your hips, lifting your shoulders and head. Concentric contractions are used to generate movement or accelerate the body.
2. Eccentric Contraction of the Abs or Back
Eccentric contractions are used to decelerate the force or movement of the body. They are lengthening contractions and always happen in tandem with a concentric contraction on the other side of the joint. For instance, if you’re sitting at your desk and notice that you’re slumping, two contractions will happen when you straighten and lift your spine: concentric contractions in the spinal extensors and an eccentric, or lengthening, contraction in the abdominals. Both are important for core function.
3. Abdominal Bracing
Abdominal bracing is an isometric contraction of the muscles of your abdominal wall that does not move or change the position of your spine, ribs, or pelvis. It is used as a way to protect the spine when moving heavy loads, such as when lifting weights. Research has shown that abdominal bracing is superior for activating the superficial abdominal muscles.
4. Abdominal Draw-in or Hollowing
The abdominal draw-in maneuver, also known as abdominal hollowing, happens when you focus on bringing your navel to your spine. This type of contraction is used for stability, such as bracing, and is most effective when thought of as a dynamic part of your exhalation.
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