Learn How to Engage Your Core Properly

You've heard it before. Everyone says "engage your core!" when you're in the midst of any exercise whether it's a plank, squat, or sprint, but what does it really mean to engage your core?

First we must get one thing straight. The muscles of the core consist of more than just the highly desired 6-pack, the rectus abdominis. While this muscle may be appealing, it doesn't do much for stability since its primary role is to curl the trunk. Contracting the spinal stabilizers, particularly the transversus abdominis (the deepest abdominal muscle) is the key to spine stability and truly engaging your core.

How to Engage Your Core

To learn how to properly contract your core muscles try this exercise:

Lie on the floor and place your fingertips one inch above your hip bones and one inch in towards your navel. Continue to breathe normally as you draw your navel in towards your spine and up towards your ribcage and then slightly bear down, imagine lowering the navel towards the floor. You should feel your abdomen tighten; you may feel like you're on the verge of laughing or coughing. Keep the abs contracted about 30% throughout.

Another way to think of engaging your core is to imagine you're bracing yourself for a punch in the stomach. Hopefully no one in your pilates or aerobics class will throw any jabs, but bracing during exercise can be important for reducing nagging lower back pain that can feel worse than a single punch.