The Core is an important part of the Pilates fundamentals. Your Instructor might ask you to activate or engage your core, or abdominals, or scoop your abdominals.
And Instructors might also use colourful imagery to convey the concept, such as, 'naval to spine', 'zipping up tight jeans' or, my favourite, 'tightening a corset'.
But what does it mean?? Suck your belly in? And why is it so important anyway?
Like so many Pilates exercises, 'activating your core', or 'engaging your abdominals' is deceptively easily sounding but can take a little time to master. It is not only fundamental to the Pilates method (and progression of your exercises), but also a fundamental awareness for every day life, for example, sitting at your desk, and all types of sport and activities.
The core provides stability to the trunk for balance, posture and movement. It maintains your upright posture when you sit, allowing your diaphragm to move while you breathe (but the diaphragm and its importance to movement is a whole another fascinating story....for another time).
Engaging the core also protects you from injury while you exercise. The muscles of the core are a "ring" of muscles in your trunk [#], not just your belly, that form a protective layer around your spine and its vertebrae, stopping it from extending or flexing too far or moving too far either side, just like a corset [1].
It's no good though, to be able to engage your core and protect your spine, if you cannot breathe while you do that. So the ultimate goal is that we can engage our core and breathe, moving our rib cage in and out as we breathe, without letting go of our core.
Try it for yourself. I have listed a couple of ways for you to try it:
1. On all fours with a straight back
Being on your hands and knees - your wrists* under your shoulder, and your knees under your hips, your back straight/no arching - let your tummy and organs relax and be drawn towards the ground by gravity. Now take a slow audible exhale and at the same time draw you belly and organs in and up towards the spine. Keep them up and practise breathing in and out while keeping your belly and organs up and in towards your spine.
* if this is uncomfortable for your wrists you can go onto your forearms
2. Lying flat on the ground with your knees bent
Lying down on the floor/on a mat with your knees bent. Take a slow audible exhale and at the same time draw your core muscles in. You should feel a tightening sensation around your abdomen and sides. Think your skin moving away from your t-shirt and waist band; or imagine there is a string attached to the inside of your belly button, pulling it towards your spine. Or the corset tightening around you. When you have the sensation, try and hold it and breathe into your ribcage while maintaining the core engaged.
3. Exhale until you have no breath left
Sit or stand and exhale until you have no breath left. Try to get the last bit of air out of your lungs. You should feel how your core muscles tighten up around you (accessories to forced exhalation) just monitor your tummy muscles to make sure they don't bulge out but draw in and up as you squeeze the last bit of breath out.
Original art by H. Brunsdon for illustration only not anatomically correct
So, scoop that belly :)
[#] for all those who like anatomy, the main muscles we talk about when we talk core are:
Rectus abdominus (your top layer, the six pack)
Internal and external obliques (muscles on the sides from the ribs to your hips)
Transverse abdominus (deepest abdominal muscle, underneath the internal obliques)
Multifidus (short triangular muscles along the spine, supporting spine and allowing each vertebra to work efficiently)
Pelvic floor (group of muscles that support the bladder, bowl and in women the uterus)
The diaphragm, hip extensors and additional back extensors also play a role.
[1] “Core stability is a primary component of functional movement, essential in daily living and athletic activities." (Huxel Bliven KC, Anderson BE. Core stability training for injury prevention. Sports Health. 2013)
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