How to Engage Your Core Abdominal Muscles in 3 Easy Steps (Physical Therapy Guide)

Learn how to engage your core abdominal muscles correctly with the essential core basics (correct posture, breathing and abdominal core muscle activation) with Michelle from pelvicexercises.com.au This core exercise video is a starting point for beginners, core rehabilitation and anyone looking to engage their core abdominal muscles correctly.

More Safe Core Videos:
Physio Safe Core Exercises youtube.com/watch?v=gidN1N8nSRU&t=361s

How to Engage Your Core

The 3 key elements for correctly engaging your core abdominal muscles are:
1. Breathing
2. Posture Correction
3. Correctly engage your core abdominal muscles

These elements all work together. If your posture is poor, your breathing will be affected and your core abdominal muscles won't work well. To correctly engage your core follow these key elements before commencing specific core abdominal rehabilitation exercises including pelvic floor, deep abdominal and spinal muscle exercises.

1. Correct your Breathing

The first place to start your training is correct breathing. Breathing exercises improve pain and quality of life with core dysfunction - related conditions such as chronic lower back pain.(1) The core muscles all work best when breathing patterns are corrected.(2)

Breathing Exercises

One of the most common issues underlying core dysfunction is poor breathing patterns. Many people with core problems breathe incorrectly using their upper chest.

Correct breathing involves diaphragmatic breathing which involves breathing into the base of the lungs.

How to do Diaphragmatic Breathing

• Start sitting or lying down
• Imagine a ring encircling your lower ribs and wrapping right around your body
• Breathe in and expand this ring
• Alternatively use your hands on your on your lower rib cage and feel them move outwards as you breathe in
• Breathe slowly drawing the breath deep into your lungs making your rib cage wide (feel abdomen and rib cage both move outwards)
• Avoid lifting your ribs and upper chest forwards as you breathe in
• Breathe out slowly allowing your ribs to return to back to your starting

2. Posture Correction

How to Correct Your Posture

Correct posture involves a 'neutral spine' position. This position involves a slight inwards curve of the lower back with the chest and rib cage relaxed.(3)

Correct Your Sitting Posture
• Sit with your feet flat on the ground and your knees hip width apart
• Sit with your body weight evenly distributed between your two sit bones
• Lift the crown of your head upwards to lengthen your spine
• Keep your chest relaxed
• Gently engage your deep abdominal muscles
• Maintain the slight inward curve in your lower back

Research shows that this sitting posture involves greatest core abdominal and spinal muscle activity compared with slumped forwards posture and hyper extended back (arched) posture.(4)

3. Engage Your Core Abdominal Muscles

Start in the tall sitting position described already. Breathe into your abdomen and the base of your rib cage.
• Place your hands and fingers over your lower abdominal wall just inside your pelvic bones
• Gently draw your lower abdomen inwards towards your spine (this is the area beneath your briefs)
• Keep breathing normally and maintain your good sitting posture throughout
• Try to keep your deep abdominal muscles engaged for up to 5 breaths at a time before relaxing your abdomen.

Progress this core exercise by engaging your lower abdominal muscles when standing and walking as your core control improves.

References

1. Anderson, B & Huxel Bliven, K (2016). The Use of Breathing Exercises in the Treatment of Chronic, Non-Specific Low Back Pain. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation. 26. 10.1123/jsr.2015-0199.
Movement Therapies Volume 17, Issue 4, Pages 541-559.

2. Roussel, N, Nijs, J, Truijen, S, Vervecken, L, Mottram, S., Stassijns, G. (2009) Altered breathing patterns during lumbopelvic motor control tests in chronic low back pain: a case control study. Eur. Spine J. 18 (7), 1066e1073.

3. Key, J, Clift, A, Condie, F, Harley, C, (2008) A model of movement dysfunction provides a classification system guiding diagnosis and therapeutic care in spinal pain and related musculoskeletal pain disorders: a paradigm shift e part 2. J. Bodyw. Move. Ther. 12, 105e120.

4. O’Sullivan P, Dankaerts W, Burnett A, Farrell G, Jefford E, Naylor C, et al. (2006a) Effect of different upright sitting postures on spinal-pelvic curvature and trunk muscle activation in a pain-free population. Spine 31(19):E707-12.