Core Strengthening in Yoga: Part 1
It is true that when we refer to the “core” musculature this means pretty much all the muscles that connect to the pelvis and spine. However, often the core is defined (as it is by the American Council on Exercise) as the muscles which most directly enable the spine to extend, flex, bend laterally, and rotate, and these muscles are primarily abdominal and back muscles. So why then when we talk about ‘core cultivation’ exercises in yoga, are we usually focusing on abs? The answer if twofold: 1. abdominal strength is fundamental in that it also supports back strength 2. as aging occurs, and without direct exercise, abdominal muscles weaken to the point that they fail to engage in daily activities.
*Abdominal strength supports back strength*
Ever had an episode of back pain? If so, you know that certain movements and positions were extremely painful during the episode. You probably also noticed that you avoided moving in certain ways that would trigger more pain. What you may or may not have been aware of at the time, is that your self-limited movements (as a result of pain) resulted in atrophy and weakening of the back muscles. So in other words, each episode of back pain has the potential to weaken the back muscles, and thus make you more susceptible to another episode of back pain!
Sounds awful- and it is!- but what does all this have to do with abdominal strength? The reason is because the abdominal muscles and the back muscles are supposed to work in cooperation to support both proper curvature of the spine and proper alignment of the pelvis. If the abdominals are weak and failing to do their part of the job, two things happen: 1. the back muscles become chronically tight from over activity 2. the spine and pelvis move out of optimal alignment.
As we see in the picture above, when the abdominals are weak, the consequent disruption in alignment, causes the lower back muscles to shorten and tighten even more. This can cause painful back spasms, as well as injury to the spinal discs over time, which can cause even more debilitating back pain.
*The “Natural” weakening of the abdominal muscles with age*
As we move through life, we tend to fall into patterns, in which the more we perform a certain action (or thought), the easier it becomes for us to perform that action. At the same time, when we no longer do something, we begin to lose our ability to do it. This is efficiency. However, the problem with efficiency, is that most of us become increasingly “specialized” in our movements: our daily activities are mostly limited to standing, sitting, walking and running forward, and a number of basic activities performed in the standing or seated position. Contrast this with how we moved as children: squatting, crawling, hopping, climbing, balancing, and experimenting with our bodies.
In our adult life of more limited movements, the muscles we use regularly remain strong, and those we seldom use weaken and atrophy. One of the muscle groups that commonly weaken and atrophy are our abdominals. The funny thing about abdominals is that they were meant to be used in pretty much everything, including sitting, and yet it is entirely possible in the average adult day to barely use them at all!
*Short Term Efficiency = Long Term Inefficiency *
When you first started practicing yoga, you may have heard a yoga teacher say that “all standing poses are core poses”. Of course, he or she was speaking in terms of ideal…we should be toning and activating our abdominals in all standing asana. And yet… so what if our bellies are slack in the warrior poses? Our strong legs will hold us up! Our bodies are very good at doing what we ask of them- even if it is none too graceful 🙂 – and we DO have over 600 muscles in our body, so if one or more is not working properly, there are a whole lot more we can call in. No problem, right? The problem is that in order to keep the joints and skeleton healthy, we need to move in a certain way, which requires certain muscles to do a given job. So while it is easy to get a job done- such as step from downward dog to warrior 1 and back again- it is not so easy to get a job done right if some of our key muscles are asleep or too weak to perform. So the loss of the muscles which are seldom used is originally an adaptation of efficiency (since muscles are energetically “expensive”) and yet over time, it becomes an adaptation of inefficiency as our ability to move, and even hold ourselves in space, healthfully is impaired.
So how do we start re-engaging and strengthening our abdominals? First, some quick anatomy: the abdominal muscles are comprised of from most superficial to deepest: rectus abdominus, external obliques, internal obliques, and transverse abdominis. All of these muscles are important for stablizing the spine, but the sole function of the transverse abdominis is stability; it acts as a corset of muscle to hold in our internal organs and support our spine.
*Step 1: The Transverse Abdomninis…and the pelvic floor!*
So the first step, before we utilize other abdominal muscles to initiate movement, is to engage the transverse abdominis. From the corset-like arrangement of the muscle, we might think that simply sucking our stomach in-like the oft-repeated yoga command “draw your navel in and up” is sufficient to properly engage it. Ok so try it now: draw that navel in and up TIGHTLY. How easy is it to breathe?? Since breathing is pretty important, try this instead: try to draw the belly in as tightly as you can while breathing fully. Now perhaps you notice a lot of pressure in your groin/pelvic floor region? Over time that method of abdominal engagement can lead to organ prolapse- DEFINITELY not something anyone is hoping to gain through their practice!
Obviously we yoga teachers need to get a lot better with our understanding of anatomy and in cuing poses and transitions properly. First rule of functional anatomy: nothing works in isolation. This is the entire reason I am going to be spending several posts talking about the abdomen when what I’m really talking about is keeping your back healthy! So back to the transverse abdominis- in order to engage this muscle properly, one must understand it works with the pelvic floor musculature. It is the muscles of the pelvic floor which provide the ‘up’ to the ‘in and up’. So step one of engaging the transverse abdominis, is first engaging the pelvic floor muscles i.e. drawing the muscles of the perineum in and up. Because the goal of yoga practice is muscles which are both strong and supple, it is best to use the breath to our advantage: on the exhale draw the pelvic floor in and up (women imagine sucking something up into your vagina; men imagine drawing your testicles up into your body) and on the inhale allow it to relax. So to add the transverse abdominis action to the pelvic floor lift: exhale, lift the pelvic floor and simultaneously draw the belly back toward the spine. Now you see why in class we initiate jumps, lifts, and core contraction movements on the exhale, because that is when we are engaging the core starting with the pelvic floor!
Enough info for now… Part 2 will discuss the other 3 main abdominal muscles and how we can put them together to get stuff done safely and effectively!
