Core exercises

 

 

You core is essentially the middle of your body. The core consists of your transversus abdominus, internal and external oblique’s, pelvic floor muscles, diaphragm and multifidus. Imagine these muscles act as a box and when lifting any sort of weight you are meant to brace – above, below, in front, behind and either side. For example take the bridge - it is designed to provide a solid platform to transfer force from the Uuper body to the lower. As such it doesn’t need to be static or fixed. These muscle work together to provide a stable bridge. It is not a problem if the bridge moves but it is if this movement is out of control or excessive.

A common problem regarding bracing the core is breathe holding. This can be especially problematic with people with high blood pressure. I nice little trick to get people to stop holding their breath is to make them talk while doing the exercises (this is good for static exercises such as the plank). For exercises, which require a movement – generally an effort phase and a non-effort phase - exhale during the effort, inhale during the ‘rest’ part of the move.  If breathing is under control, then breath holding is fine during the “sticking point” of an exercise (the hardest part where the movement can stop).

Although I can see that this approach is simple and easy to follow, it might be nice to introduce a bridge type design in that it is designed to provide a solid platform to transfer force from the Upper body from the lower, As such it doesn’t need to be static or fixed. These muscle work together to provide a stable bridge. It is not a problem if the bridge moves but it is if this movement is out of control or excessive.