A strong core has been “in” for years. But the biomechanic awareness that has trickled into yoga and fitness studios has been affected by loads of misinformation and the “quick-build” mentality. Unfortunately, this can often do the body more harm than good.
A brief unauthorized biography of the core
1) The six-pack: It is commonly known now that doing excessive crunches might build a stronger rectus abdominis (the six-pack muscles), but the action of curling the spine repeatedly can ravage the back muscles and damage precious vertebral discs.
2) Navel to spine: Pilates introduced the transverse abdominal (TA) muscle into our vocabulary. We were told that this would protect our backs, as the TA acts like a cummerbund to pull in sagging guts and make us look like we’re wearing Spanx! The problem with pinning the navel to the spine is that students will often flair their ribs out to make the “appearance” of the navel drawing in the spine. But this actually creates a stretch and weakening of both the TA and the obliques!
3) Side bends: The obliques are often misrepresented as the ubiquitous “side-bending” muscle. They are actually two layers of diagonal abdominal muscles that are like crisscrossing sashes spiraling around our midsections. But biomechanically, the obliques are not all that functional in a side bend. It’s the quadratus lumborum, a deep lower back muscle, that is chiefly responsible.
So when reviewing this partial list of core muscles, it’s clear that they all need a new public relations firm in order to get firm — while keeping you safe! These fabulous muscles have been stripped of their dignity, oversimplified and reduced to dysfunctional, unintegrated tissues. Yes, making your core muscles actually think while they work can be hard work, but the payoff is a sounder structure that will support you for a lifetime!
3 core exercises that help your muscles think
Here are three great Yoga Tune Up® abdominal exercises that wake up all of the major core muscles and more:
1) Corset Contraction: diaphragm, intercostals, TA, obliques, rectus, spinal erectors
Stand upright with good posture and place hands on either side of the ribcage. Inhale fully into the lungs with an expansive thoracic breath. Feel the spreading and flaring of the ribs as the external intercostals contract and the internal intercostals stretch.
Exhale and close down the ribs by tensing and contracting the internal intercostals to reset the ribcage. Intensify the end of the exhalation by drawing the bottom of the ribs down toward the navel and creating a binding action all throughout the midsection.
Continue to exhale until no breath is left, as if the whole torso were being corseted. Feel the blending of the internal intercostals with the obliques, transverse and diaphragm.
Practice eight to 10 complete rounds.
2) Megaplank with Active Serratus: rectus, obliques, TA, intercostals, serratus anterior (a shoulder-core muscle), pectoralis
Mega Plank with Active Serratus will strengthen your core from armpits to pelvis!
The forearms are parallel to each other, shoulder-distance apart. Shoulder sockets are vertically joint-stacked over elbows.
Body is stiff as a solid board, while belly inflates slightly to ignite the abdominals into full tension.
To activate the serratus anterior, protract the shoulder blades by pushing the ground away while the upper back hunches, then depress the shoulder blades as if pulling a window shut while the arms remain pinned to the floor.
Maintain all actions at once. Hold for about 30 seconds.
3) Jithara Parivartonasana (revolved abdominal pose): obliques, TA, iliopsoas, quadratus lumborum, spinal erectors
Revolved Abdominal Pose A
Lay supine on a mat. Arms reach out to your sides like a “T,” with palms pressing into the floor. Keeping the thighs pinned together, legs stretch toward the ceiling stick straight (or slightly bent if hamstrings are tight). Inhale and glide the pelvis to the right about 20 to 30 degrees (fig. A).
Revolved Abdominal Pose B
Exhale as the waist twists and the legs descend toward the left hand, thighs maintaining a 90-degree or more acute angle with the torso at all times (fig. B). The legs do not touch the ground, and they hover during a new full inhalation.
Exhale and return the legs to face the ceiling, unwinding the core. Inhale and repeat on left side.
Do at least four complete rounds, and add one more round every practice.
Take your time with these exercises and coordinate your breath with your movements. Your abdominals are smart but also need you to think, so show them that you really care!
I have really weak abs and I’m always looking for ways to improve them. This is a big help.
I love these new suggestions for ways to strengthen my abs. Especially the first one, which I can do most anywhere!
Thanks for the tip about the risks from doing too many crunches! I will try the exercises you recommend.
Core work is my favorite and I’m always looking to add variety. These seem great, thanks.
It’s great the way you are emphasizing the protraction of the shoulder blades to stay safe and properly support yourself in the plank pose.
I liked your article. You were very specific on the core muscles targeted in each of the exercises you described which is very helpful. Thank you.
Thanks for reminding us that the diaphragm is a muscle that we can stregthen. I will definitely try that first exercise.
your note about the 6 pack and the cumberbund is so interesting. thanks for these alternative exercises!
Having taught pilates for several years, one of my frustrations has been the singular focus on shortening and tightening. What I love about revolved abdominal is how the spine lengthens and the obliques really lengthen as well as contract. What I’m not so crazy about is how aware I am now about how weak my right oblique is. I like cueing to start with knees bent to reduce the temptation to strain with the neck. I’ve also used megaplank, but on the hands to help facilitate bringing one knee forward to plant a. Foot to move into lunges, warriors, etc…it is amazing how quickly clients go from sagging hips to super strong abs by using should protraction.
We learned about protracting the shoulders while in plank pose in the YTU training. Since then I have been trying to work on this in yoga practice – it makes a difference as you feel more stable. Thanks for the suggestions – I’m always looking to improve my abs!
Theses exercises are fabulous – I speak from experience. I have difficulty with core strength, particularly the rectus abdominus. My spine has a transition vertabrae at S1…what that means is when my sacrum was fusing their vertabrae my S1 couldn’t decide to be a part of the sacrum or the lumbar spine. It chose the lumbar spine! If you look at an x-ray of that area it looks like I have 6 lumbar vertabrae instead of 5. This causes me to have an excessive lumbar lordosis and an anterior tilt to my pelvis.Like a J-Lo booty! These exercises really help bring awareness and strength to an area that has caused me some grief for years.
Always looking for new ways to strengthen the core…thanks for the suggestions!
I am excited to try these exercises! Thank you.
I never knew that crunches are not good for the back muscles. My core is weak from several abdominal surgeries, thanks for explaining these 3 core exercises that are also good for the back.
This biography of the core is so eye-opening – had many misconceptions about the core. And the three Yoga Tune-up exercises are great. Love that I can do the first one at work!
I am definitely going to do these exercises!!!
These abs exercises are fantastic. Any chance we can get a video demonstration??? My favorite is Mega Plank!
This triple view of the core strengthening techniques offered in the yoga tune up series shed a light on why many practioners still experience limited core strength even with lenghty practice of other postures. A good way to gain control of the tubular core muscles.
Thank you for clarifying the facts about our abdominal muscles and these exercises. Learning the anatomy in relation to yoga and yoga tune up exercises has helped me a lot in choosing the right poses and knowing what muscles are activated in each pose. knowing that in side bends we don’t use the obliques is an eye opener!
Thank you for the exercises. I agree, photos and/or videos would be helpful! I look forward to trying these.
These exercises are a fabulous way to strengthen the core muscles in a safe way. I definitely will be adding these to my exercise routine and skipping the crunches!! It’s terrific to find an effective way to keep the abdominal and back muscles in good shape to support so many asanas. My primary goal in my yoga practice is to feel great for years to come. It’s fabulous to have information out there that supports doing so in a safe way to reduce risk of injury.
Core has always been in the center of my personal attention since I had my first kid. I’ve tryed all the possible ways to work it out: building a six-pack, cardio-abs, pilates core etc. Now as a beginning yoga teacher I am looking for new safe ways to keep core toned and weist-line beautiful. This article gives a new fresh perspective of core muscles and ways to activate them, and the detailed description of the exercises makes them easy to do and to incorporate into my yoga sequences.
Thank you so much for these exercises! I have had difficulty building my core muscles through these traditional methods you mention and even in my yoga practice. I often find myself using my back muscles and even leg muscles to override my abs. I’m excited to try these exercises as they seem so focused and targeted, leaving less room for my back and legs to kick in and try to help. Thanks!
I cant wait to try these core strengthening techniques. Looking forward to adding them to my own personal practice. Especially curious about the corset one, sounds like a really interesting approach.
Awesome breakdown of what’s really at work in the core. What I like best about these poses is they work so many muscles in symphony with one another. While trying to work my core, I would always find that my legs or back would compensate for the core weakness in order to complete the exercise. This has the whole body working without being able to avoid turning on those key core muscles.
Yes, it was very interesting to learn how to utilize the serratus anterior to protract the shoulder blades today in class. Is this something that should always be done in plank or should it be alternated with retracting with rhomboids?
I had a similar question, Amanda. I was wondering if it’s recommended for people with kyphosis to practice megaplank with active serratus. It seems like creating a curve in the upper thoracic wouldn’t be the best idea for people with kyphosis, but maybe activating and engaging the serratus, while depressing the scapulae, would help tone the serratus and ultimately strengthen the upper back muscles. Does anyone have any ideas on this? Megaplank with active serratus for kyphosis — yes or no?
Thanks Jill, teaching fitness I was taught very tradition exercises and ideas about the core. Moving toward more functional fitness your ideas make absolute sense. This was a very informative blog with great exercises. As for Amanda & Dawn’s question I’m not sure either. I have a kyphosis tendency myself so that is a great question.
About 3 months ago I started to focus on the tubular core after a weekend YTU workshop. The exercises I started with were sidewinder and abdominal focused crunches, my thoracic spine supported a squishy ball, now including the above mentioned exercises my core strength has improved so much and I love sharing these techniques with my fellow yogis. Thanks YTU
I always find core work challenging and have thought that perhaps doing crunches and other strength training exercises might help. Now I understand that that approach might cause more problems. I’m happy to pick up these three techniques for my core and will smile while doing them happy to be helping my core instead of hurting it.
hi jill! i’m not sure how other pilates instructors have cued their students, but even though i’ve been classically trained, i have used the cue to pull the navel into the spine to identify the TA, but also, to keep the ribs pulled down by recruiting the obliques and rectus abdominus; this way its much more like the corset contraction to get all of the abdominals to work together to brace around the spine and torso. if anything, we encourage students to expand their back ribs by breathing into them, allowing more posterior space for the lungs. my pilates teachers have always been against the cue of “hollowing out the midsection” as this will cause students to flare their ribs out and not recruit any abdominal activity. in my pilates practice and teachings, these three exercises are totally similar – corset contraction/tubular core is the base of which we practice, megaplank with active serratus positioning is used in many exercises like the long stretch, balance control and all of our plank work; and jithara parivatonasana is a version of what we call “tic toc” or “corkscrew”
oh and for dawn and amanda – there are exercises to condition the serratus, basically from megaplank, one could “melt” the chest down between the shoulders to the floor, allowing for a retraction of the shoulder blades and then returning back to start with the full protraction of the shoulder blades. i’m thinking it it might not be good to cue someone with over kyphosis round but instead to lengthen. looking forward to hearing jill’s response to your question!
I’ve heard and read quite a few articles now about the downside of crunches. I try to incorporate “crunchless” core work whenever I can just like the exercises you describe. I especially like the revolved abdominal pose that works the obliques, TA, iliopsoas, quadratus lumborum, and spinal erectors.