Another Reason to Suck it In
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I saw it fitting for my first Fitness Friday post to be about the most basic, important part of exercise. It’s the “core” of exercise, if you will, and most people have absolutely no idea what it is and how to use it properly.
Just like with anything, going through the motions of exercise is not gonna cut it. Performing the movements called for in an exercise without consciously contracting the muscles you are supposed to be working may get you some results, but why put in all the time and energy if you can be reaping more benefits in faster time?
Core is one of the biggest buzz words in the fitness industry right now. I’m sure most of you have heard of it and some of you may even make an extra effort to train it. What most people don’t know is that your core is not a separate muscle group you are supposed to work individually, like your biceps or your hamstrings. Your core should be engaged and working in absolutely every exercise you do. Keeping your core strong and engaged during every exercise, be it a lunge or a shoulder press, is really the foundation of doing an exercise safely and effectively.
Many people use the word core to describe the abs, obliques and lower back, but this isn’t accurate. Your core is your Transverse Abdominis (or TVA as I will call it from here on out.) The muscle fibers of your TVA wrap horizontally around your spine and internal organs, acting like a girdle to protect them. Your abs (Rectus Abdominis) or “6-pack” muscles, run vertically on top of your TVA, and your obliques run diagonally on top of your TVA, the most superficial muscles.
A lot of people make the mistake of just training the superficial muscles without building the TVA first. As a personal trainer, I get a lot of complaints from clients about doing crunches all day long and not seeing any results. This is because if you don’t have a strong TVA, those exercises are basically useless. Its like trying to build a house on a poor foundation: no matter how strong the wood is, it won’t stay put if the foundation isn’t strong enough to support it. Without a strong TVA, not only will you not see the results you want, you can also injure yourself.
A strong TVA is so important because not only does it encase and protect your guts, it also transfers the momentun from your upper to lower body and vise versca. Say you are lifting your child into a car seat — your legs bend to crouch and scoop them up, and as you stand, you twist and raise your arms to place them into their seat. The momentum passes from your legs, through your TVA and to your arms to heft the squirmy load. If there is a weak link anywhere in your TVA, you can throw out your back, pull a muscle or over time suffer from regular, good old lower back pain — the number one complaint during doctor visits in the US.
The good news is, you can train your TVA without specific core exercises, which means no extra time added to your workout. And, quite frankly, you should be doing it anyway, because it’s just proper lifting form. Every exercise you do, you want to keep your TVA contracted, which means sucking in your belly button (think belly button to spine at all times) and keeping your hips rocked backwards (think of your pelvis as a bucket of water, and you want to poor the water down the back of your legs). This is proper TVA contraction whether you are laying down or standing.
When you are doing ab exercises, especially those that involve moving your legs, you know your TVA is contracted if your lower back is pressed against the ground. If your back arches and pulls away at any time, you need to stop there and return to start. Your TVA is not strong enough yet to stay contracted and the exercise is ineffective and unsafe if you push it any further than that — you will only be using momentum to finish the exercise. With time, you will find that you are able to push these exercises a little further as your TVA strengthens, and see the results to match.
To see a video demonstrating how to keep your TVA contracted through your exercises, click here and watch Core vs Abs, from my blog, www.everygymsnightmare.com.