Discovering Core Engagement: Master the Essential Fitness Move

Consult Your Doctor Before Starting a new Workout Program

Editor’s note: Before you kickstart your new fitness regime, it’s important to have a conversation with your doctor. If you feel any discomfort or pain during the workout, stop immediately.

Start Your Fitness Journey with Core Training

When New Year rolls around, the resolution to exercise more frequently is common. You might feel overwhelmed about where to start. Choices include joining a fitness class, drawing up a plan with a personal trainer, or working out from home. Whichever path you opt for, you’ll likely encounter the direction to ‘engage your core’ during your training.

Importance of Core Training

Engaging or tightening your core is crucial for accomplishing any fitness goal. A robust core generates the strength to improve physical fitness, run better, or enhance sports performance, according to Jahkeen Washington, a strength coach and owner of Harlem Kettlebell Club in New York.

Training the core has benefits beyond the gym. It enhances stability and mitigates the risk of future fall-related injuries.

Activating Core Muscles for Effective Workouts

Whether you’re a regular gym attendee or someone planning to get back in shape, activating your core muscles is crucial for virtually all workouts. But how do you know what this involves? Fitness experts explain which muscles to engage, how to ascertain if you’re doing it correctly, and exercises to develop core strength.

First Step to Activating Your Core

The initial step to activate your core correctly is understanding which muscles are targeted. Many individuals visualize a six-pack when discussing a strong core, says Ashley Vielma, also known as Coach A.V., a Pilates instructor at Club Pilates Richmond in Texas.

While your abdominal muscles are part of the core strength, they’re not the sole consideration.

“Some people may have visible abs but not necessarily a strong core,” Washington noted. “You can also have someone with no visible abs and a tight core based on how they trained the abdominal muscles.”

In addition to abs, a person’s core involves muscles in the back and pelvic floor. All these muscles assist with everyday movements — like sitting, walking, and bending forward — by supporting the spine and stabilizing the trunk area. Strong core muscles confer the ability to rotate and twist the torso, says Vielma.

Properly Engaging Your Core

When it comes to engaging your core, people often misconstrue it with sucking in the belly. Contrarily, sucking in the gut can actually weaken the core. Vielma clarified that this action puts pressure on the back and neck as it causes the shoulders to lift and the neck to sink. This could lead to chronic pain from the constriction and compression over time. Moreover, the unnecessary tension hampers normal breathing and weakens other core muscles.

“Sucking in is considered the opposite activation for proper core engagement,” Vielma said. Regular breathing practices can teach the subtle differences between a relaxed and tense stomach. When exhaling, Washington explains that the stomach pulls back in, and that’s where you’ll get the bracing action one should feel when activating the core.

Building Core Strength

Since core muscles are used every day, Vielma suggests making core work a priority in every workout. For beginners, this would start off with breathwork exercises to become more familiar with core engagement.

Visualization is another method to learn how to activate the core. Picture being a boxer about to get punched in the stomach, advises Washington. The next move is to prevent as much damage as possible. Absorbing the blow to the gut would mean keeping the body stiff and abdominal muscles tense.

Core Strength-Building Exercises

Planks top the list for core strength-building, particularly since they require people to draw their belly buttons in to maintain proper form. Planks involve holding your body in a straight line, a stance akin to a push-up, for as long as you can. Research has found that maintaining a plank pose is more effective at activating the core muscles than crunches.

To perform a plank, ensure your shoulders are away from the ears, wrists are directly in line with the shoulders and the spine is neutral to avoid arching or sinking into the mat. A neutral spine would have the three natural curves in the neck, upper back, and lower back aligned together.

Washington recommends starting small, such as a 10-second hold for two sets, and building your way up to 20- or 30-second holds or side planks.

“If a 30-second plank is all you have right now, do not fight for two minutes, because that’s where you can strain your core from the high demand,” Washington warned. Instead, it’s better to gradually increase the time spent holding and incrementally work up to greater intensity over several sessions as you gain strength.

Pilates for Core Strength

Vielma recommends a core-blasting Pilates exercise called the hundred. In this exercise, lift the neck and chest with shoulders off the mat and arms extended in front about an inch or two above the hips. The legs are lifted an inch or two off the ground (extended or bent like sitting in a chair), where they crunch up while simultaneously pumping the arms.

One set of 100 reps is the usual recommendation for this workout. People inhale for five seconds while pulsing their arms five times. There are then five seconds of exhalation with another five beats of the arms. In total, there should be 10 combined inhales and exhales, equaling 100 arm beats.

“The hundred is one of the most effective exercises for building core strength, and it’s also a full-body workout, so you can think of it as a plank in a sense,” Vielma said.

Consistency is Key in Core Training

As with any workout, results will be more apparent for those who train consistently. Washington advised incorporating one to two core moves in every workout. Even if you can only work out once a week, incorporating core work in that session helps build up strength, says Marisa Fuller, owner of Studio Pilates International in Brooklyn, New York. With consistent training, people may start to see results in as little as eight weeks.

For best results, Fuller recommended practicing core exercises at least three times a week.