3 core cues we need to stop saying
Let me be the first to say that we—the movement and fitness industry—got the “core” wrong for a long time.
We told people to pull their belly buttons to their spines.
We asked students to brace “like they’re being punched in the stomach”, even when the movements they were doing didn’t require that level of activation (or that imagery 🤦♀️).
We encouraged people to breathe into their bellies, or into their chests, or not breathe at all. Instead of helping them get stronger, we made our students more confused.
But now we have the opportunity to do better—starting today.
Here are 3 core cues we need to retire:
1. “Engage your core.”
You’ve said it. I’ve said it. Every teacher you’ve ever had has said it. Why? Because it’s easy. It requires zero nuance. "Engage your core" will make something ab-related turn-on, but the specifics get lost in translation.
For a lot of teachers, this cue is interchangeable with “draw the belly in” or “pull your navel to your spine”. When students hear that they might:
a) Suck their bellies in. This increases pressure on the pelvic floor and does nothing to enhance spinal stability.
b) Round their lower backs, thinking that spinal flexion is a necessary byproduct of abdominal activation.
c) Find TVA activation that provides the stability we’re looking for. This one is the most beneficial and the most 🦄 elusive 🦄.
Rather than asking someone to engage their core, help students control movement intentionally using external feedback.
That could look like a dead bug exercise where you emphasize keeping the back ribs heavy while reaching through the opposite arm and leg. Keeping the back ribs heavy is a tangible cue because of the feedback from the floor. To keep your back ribs down, your core will engage out of necessity—not because it was told to.
2. “Brace your abs.”
There is a time and place for bracing, but a yoga class ain’t it. Bodyweight movement benefits more from a responsive core than a braced one.
Bracing is helpful when you’re trying to move/lift considerable amounts of weight. If I was going to deadlift twice my body weight, I’d brace my core.
But on a yoga mat? Not so much. Whether we’re moving through vinyasas, doing push-ups, or trying to balance on one leg, we want the core to stay responsive, not locked down.
I’ll often explore that using positions like side-plank, triangle pose, and half moon. In each pose, we’ll harness support from the inner unit (which includes the TVA, obliques, multifidus, pelvic floor and diaphragm). At the same time, I encourage freedom and dynamic movement in the limbs. It becomes a physical expression of “proximal stability for distal mobility”.
When the core works reflexively, we leave behind the not-so-pleasant effects that a lifetime of over-bracing can have (like pelvic floor dysfunction!) and take a big step closer to having a balanced, pain-free body.
3. “Breathe deeply.”
Context here is important. There may be instances where you find it helpful to take deeper breaths. But if we’re talking about movement, remember that your breath can act as both a stabilizer and a destabilizer, depending on how you use it.
I’ll never forget when I did an Ido Portal handstand workshop. One of his protegés demonstrated a handstand in the center of the room, kicking up into a straight line and holding for an entire minute without wavering. When she came down, someone asked, “Were you even breathing?”
Her response: “When you are in a handstand, breathe as if you are hiding in a cave.”
Perhaps not the most trauma-informed response, but she got the point across: breathe as much as necessary, but as little as possible.
For instance, next time you’re doing “core” work on your back, remind yourself that you’re lying down. Yes, you may be working hard, but you’re not working so hard that you need to take giant breaths. Instead, take sips rather than big gulps. That will allow you to keep a baseline level of core activation for as long as you’re engaged in the movement or exercise.
