Q & A: I keep seeing videos about deep core exercises and working your deep core. What is your “deep core” and what are some good exercises for my deep core?
A: The best ways to work your “deep core” muscles will be picking up heavy things, and locomotion (walking, skipping, jogging); and not the floor bridges or bugs-that-died-of-boredom* exercises that are so trendy right now.
*Clients: we do exercises that we call “deadbugs” because we weren’t creative enough to come up with other names… long story short is that an orthodox deadbug is a really boring exercise where you develop and reinforce anxiety about movement.
Are you saying bridges are “bad” exercises?
Not at all. Bridge-type exercises do next to nothing for your “deep core.” However, a challenging enough version of a bridge is great for you glutes (butt) and hamstrings (back of leg). They’re a great exercises for a different purpose.
What is your “deep core”?
The “deep core” consists of 4 muscles – transverse abdominus (TVA), pelvic floor (which is really 4 muscles), diaphragm and your multifidi. Here’s a quick breakdown of what those muscles do.
TVA: It’s kind of like a corset. It creates and maintains pressure through your midsection. This pressure provides support for your hips and spine, and helps transfer energy from your upper body to lower body and/or from side to side. When laying down the TVA isn’t doing much because the floor provides support. It’s far more active when you are picking up heavy stuff, carrying heavy stuff, twisting, etc… basically, if you were in a farting contest (no personal experience) it’s one of the muscles you would contract to push one out.
Pelvic floor: speaking of farts, many of the muscles that comprise your pelvic floor would be the ones that hold in farts. Similar to the TVA, your pelvic floor does very little when you are lying down because the pelvic floor resists gravity’s downward pull on your insides. So, upright (especially rhythmic) activities stimulate and strengthen your pelvic floor. Upright rhythmic activities would start at slow walking, and increase in challenge with speed and impact (faster walking, skipping, etc.).
Diaphragm: you’ve almost certainly heard of this muscle and recall that it’s your primary breathing muscle. Anything that gets you out of breath will help to improve your diaphragmatic fitness. Exercises laying on your back are less challenging on your cardiovascular system (not as much huffing and puffing) because the floor is doing a lot of the work to support your body. Your diaphragm also works with the pelvic floor and TVA (and the rest of your abdomen) in creating and maintaining pressure which is why being upright, picking up and/or carrying heavy things are great for your diaphragmatic fitness.
Multifidi: this muscle runs up and down your spine from your tailbone to your skull, but you can’t see it because there are 2 layers of muscle on top of it (and one more under it). It helps to stabilize the spine, so laying down allows your multifidi to rest because the floor does most of the stabilizing. The multifidi also helps to extend (bend backwards) and rotate the spine, and when you are laying on the floor these movements are blocked by the floor, preventing fitness opportunities for the multifidi. However, being upright, locomotion, picking up things, carrying things, etc. all require your mutifidi to do a lot of work, which is how muscles get fit (and vice versa).
Bottom Line for Deep Core Exercises
There’s nothing wrong with doing exercises on your back. We do lots of them. No exercises or position addresses everything, and exercises on your back (despite social media popularity) do very little for your deep core.
Bottom line: the boring traditional deadbugs (at T180 our bugs are alive and suffering), and other exercises laying on your back don’t do much for your so-called deep core… doesn’t mean never do exercises on your back
3 Great Deep Core Exercises (and many other things) that you’re probably not doing.
Benefits for these exercises will be centered on “deep core” because that’s what the article is about, but rest assured there are more:-). Video here.
1. Single arm racked forward box “run”.
Benefit: pelvic floor, diaphragm and multifidus.
PF because of the rhythmic upright motion, and because the intraabdominal abdominal pressure from holding the DB and stabilizing stimulates those muscles.
Diaphragm because of the need for intrabdominal pressure and because it consumes a lot of oxygen- you breath hard. The hard breathing also helps stimulate pelvic floor as they work together.
Multifidus because you have to stabilize your spine against a load in just one side (that’s above center of gravity too).
Start: get a 4-6” step, or a stair (bottom stars only) and a dumbbell.
Hold the DB on your R shoulder and lead with your R foot. Keep a steady pace for 45 seconds and take a 15 second break, then do the L side. if you’re not winded it’s too easy.
2. Low to high chop.
Benefit: pelvic floor, diaphragm and multifidus.
PF because of the rhythmic upright motion, and because the intraabdominal abdominal pressure from moving against resistance.
Diaphragm because of the need for intrabdominal pressure to move the resistance and provide stiffness for your legs to move energy up your body into your hands (and vice versa).
Multifidus because you have to rotate, extend and stabilize your spine against the resistance.
Start: set up a cable or a band about knee height. Grand handle with 2 hands. Start from inside of the inside thigh and drive up and across your body, trying your best to get your hands past (and above) the outside of your outside shoulder. Keep your arms as long as possible, and don’t forget to use your legs.
3. Kneeling suspension fall in.
Benefit: diaphragm (secondary benefit to pelvic floor) and multifidus.
Diaphragm because when you push down into your hands your core (and therefore diaphragm) engage by reflex. The diaphragm is crucial for maintaining the intraabdominal pressure to do the exercise. When there is intraabdominal pressure helps engage and stimulate/strengthen your pelvic floor.
Multifidus because you have to extend and stabilize your spine against the weight of your upper body over changing angles.
Start: lengthen a suspension trainer (this one is a TRX) as low as it can go. Start with knees ~2 feet back from where the straps hang, grab the handles with straight arms, and “fall” into where it was hanging. Go as far forward as you can and come all the way back to the start. If it’s too easy, move your starting position back, and if it’s too hard do the opposite.
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