Our core is the centre of our body. Our core supports our posture and balance, controls our bodily movements and physical function and directly impacts our mood and emotional stability. A weak core and pelvic area creates imbalances in the body, impacting the way we hold ourselves and our physical appearance, our freedom to move without pain or discomfort and our ability to manage stress and emotions.
Our pelvis is supported by our deep abdominal muscles and glutes. A weak core creates a forward tilt in the pelvis, which further creates imbalances through the body. One of the main effects of this is an outward ‘pouch’ in the lower tummy. Strengthening our core muscles helps to realign our pelvis and “flatten” our abdominals and lift our glutes, creating overall definition and tone across our stomach, obliques and glutes. A strong core and aligned pelvis improves our balance and stability, enhancing our everyday function and physical performance. Further to this, a strong core and pelvic floor releases pressure and tension in our hips, evoked by stress and bodily imbalances. This helps to reduce pain in our hips, hip flexors, back and knees. Beyond this, our gut-brain connection observes the physical and chemical connection between our gut and brain. Our digestion and gut is sensitive to our emotions – think feelings of butterflies when we are nervous, angry or excited. A healthy gut and strong pelvis helps to manage these ‘gut feelings’, promoting better emotional wellbeing and how we deal with feelings of stress. Our healthy gut is achieved through our diet and exercise – a combination of aerobic and strength training, with a specific focus on our core and pelvic stability.
A lot of people associate a strong core with sit-ups and crunches, but could you explain why this isn’t the case?
Effective abdominal exercises to strengthen and tone starts with your form. More often than not, a “crunch” or sit-up movement disregards your breathing, the position of your head and neck and neutral spine – essential to finding your deep abdominal connection. It is only until you find this deeper connection, think the tremor in your tummy, that you are effectively activating and strengthening your abdominals. When we disregard these cues, the focus turns to our neck, hip flexors and lower back. Not only are we not allowing our abdominals to properly engage, but we put ourselves at risk of injuries and imbalances.
What is the best way to really target your abs and create a stronger core?
The best way to engage and activate your abdominals and glutes is to begin with your form and technique. At Fluidform, I teach three essential cues to finding your deep abdominal connection.
- Breathing
- Position of the neck and head
- Maintain a neutral spine
Do we need to spend hours working our abs? Why are shorter workouts so effective?
The simple and positive answer is no! When we work our abdominals through controlled and repetitive movements, with correct form and positioning, we can achieve strength and tone in just 20 minutes a day. The key is consistency and repetition. In 20 minutes, you are able to activate your abs and fatigue the muscles to build strength. When you do this every day, you will feel your core strengthen and see the difference in tone and definition of your abdominals.
A lot of women find it hard to shift weight from their midsection/stomach. Why is it so difficult and how can we combat this?
As women, there are studies to show that as we age, we are prone to holding weight around our mid-section, which becomes difficult to shift more than any other part of the body. Why is this different for men? Our main female sex hormone, oestrogen, reduces our ability to burn energy like men do. There are many factors that help to combat or contribute to this – the key players being our diets, stress, exercise, hormones and sleep. Simple changes to support a healthy midsection are to minimise sugar and processed food intake, eat a balanced diet with regular meals, implement tools to manage stress (stress drives your cortisol which is linked to storing weight around your stomach), prioritising a good night’s sleep and exercise.
Let’s talk about exercise! You might not know this, but too much excessive exercise can place stress on your central nervous system and drive cortisol. Fluidform teaches continuous and targeted functional movement to fatigue and strengthen your muscles, without leaving you feeling depleted after every workout. When practised consistently, your core muscles will fire and support all types of movement – both on and off the mat. A combination of daily, targeted abdominal workouts with aerobic-style exercise, just 20 minutes a day, will effectively elevate your heart rate, helping you to burn energy while building core strength – creating a long, lean torso, helping you to achieve that ‘Pilates’ core.
How big of an impact does nutrition have on our core? How can we eat to support our abs?
When we speak about our ‘abs’ we are referring to our abdominal muscles, which are supported through targeted and effective exercise. The appearance of our abdomen is controlled by a combination of factors, with movement and nutrition at the core. It goes without saying, sugar and processed foods are difficult for your body to metabolise and as a result, turn to fat. Swapping these foods for natural sugars such as fruit, increasing your vegetable intake and focusing on protein and wholegrains will help you stay fuller for longer and support your body’s ability to metabolise and burn energy. In conjunction with daily exercise, you are supporting your metabolic rate and building muscle for strong, more defined abdominals. Beyond this, a healthy and balanced diet, including a combination of healthy fats, protein, carbohydrates, pre and probiotics, promotes a healthy gut, which contributes to our overall gut health and wellbeing.
How important is stretching/recovery after a core workout?
When we work our muscles consistently, our muscles naturally fatigue and tighten. Stretching is important to relieve this tightness and any imbalances, allowing our muscles to recover and work efficiently in our next workout. When we neglect these imbalances, our form and technique is compromised and therefore we are unable to achieve correct muscle recruitment and reap the benefits of ab workouts. I recommend completing each workout with 5-10 minutes of stretching. The mermaid stretch is one of my favourite stretches, to release our obliques and create length through the sides of our waist. Not only does this help to relieve tightness and tension, but actually lengthens our abdomen to appear longer, leaner and more defined. Stretching and recovery also allows our body to continue to burn energy for hours after our workouts.
What are the three biggest myths around creating stronger abs?
- Abs are built in the kitchen. While this is partially true, there are multiple factors which contribute to a strong core and toned abdominals. Our diets are an important component of this, in conjunction with daily exercise, adequate sleep and an overall, healthy lifestyle.
- Crunches and sit-ups are the secret to strong abs. To build a strong core, your abdominals and glutes should be worked through a varied range of movements. Fluidform programs to work your lower abs, upper abs, obliques and glutes, while stretching and releasing your hips.
- You need speed to burn energy. When we rush our movements, we neglect our form and breathing – essential to building strength. I would recommend pairing 10-20 minutes of cardio with 20 minutes of targeted, controlled ab workout, to reap the full benefits of both forms of exercise and help you to achieve your goals.
6-MIN AB WORKOUT
CHEST LIFT SEQUENCE (LOWER & UPPER ABS)
Set-up position: Lie back and over your small ball, positioned in between your shoulder blades. One knee is bent, with your feet grounded into the mat, the other leg extended out long. Interlace your fingers to form a hammock at the base of your head, with your elbows in your peripheral vision. Feel your neck lengthen with the weight of your head heavy in your hands. In this position, it is important to maintain a neutral spine position – your tailbone is heavy and you have a small gap in your lower back. Bring awareness to your breath. Inhale to prepare for every movement, and exhale to move.
- Single leg chest lift
Extend one leg out long. Lift your chest towards the ceiling as you lift your long leg up and in line with your bent knee. Only lift to the point where you can maintain a neutral spine and lengthened neck position. Think about lifting up and off the ball, rather than crunching over the ball. Hold at the top, before lowering back and over the ball.
Repeat 10 times, before swapping legs.
- Chest lift with rotation
Lift your face and chest towards the ceiling into a neutral position. Rotate from your shoulder towards the bent knee (opposite). Your head and neck should feel heavy in your hands, following the direction of your shoulder and chest.
Repeat 10 times, before swapping legs and the direction of your lift.
- Chest lift with rotation and long leg lift
Combine both movements by lifting your long leg as you perform a chest lift with rotation. Feel your abs and obliques connect deeper. Hold for a breath before lowering everything back down together.
Repeat 10 times, before swapping sides.
SIDE OVER SEQUENCE (OBLIQUES)
Position: Lie on your side with your ball placed underneath your side waist, between your hips and ribcage. Your bottom leg is bent, top leg long. Lay over your ball and support your head with your bottom arm, cheek resting on your forearm and hand around the base of your head. Your top hand is resting on the mat in front of you.
- Side obliques over ball
Lengthen your spine and slowly lift the head and chest, working through the top waist. Hold at the top before lengthening the spine as you lower back into the start position.
Repeat 10 times. Then hold the position and pulse your upper body for 10 repetitions.
- Side long leg lift
Lift up onto your elbow, directly beneath your shoulder. Raise your top leg to be in line with your hips. Hold at the top before lowering your leg back back. Look towards your bottom hand to release any pressure in your neck.
Repeat 10 times.
Move through the entire sequence before swapping sides.
- Side obliques with long leg lift
Lying back and over the ball with your head supported by your bottom arm, lengthen the spine and slowly lift the head and chest, simultaneously raising your top leg to be in line with your hip. Feel length and control from both ends of your body. Hold for a breath at the top, before lowering back down together.
Repeat 10 times.
Move through the entire sequence before swapping sides.
4-POINT GLUTE SEQUENCE (GLUTES & LOWER ABS)
Position: In a 4-point kneeling position, place your medium resistance band around one knee and the arch of your foot. 10 fingers are pressing into the mat, your spine is in a neutral position and your chest is open, shoulders down and away from your ears.
- 4-point kneeling leg extensions
Extend your leg with the resistance band around the arch of your foot. Feel the resistance against the band, lengthening out long and behind you. Feel your glutes and back of legs activate as you hold for a count, before returning to your start position.
Repeat 10 times.
- 4-point kneeling long leg raises
Extend the same leg out long, toes pressing into the ground. Begin to lift and lower your long leg, feeling your glutes and lower abdominals connect and activate.
Repeat 10 times, before pulsing at the top for 10 repetitions.
Move through the entire sequence before swapping legs.
PLANK SEQUENCE (UPPER & LOWER ABS)
Position: In a 4-point kneeling position, press your 10 fingers into the mat and extend each leg out into a plank position. Maintain a neutral pelvis position, shoulders down and away from your ears, chest open and eye line between your hands.
- Plank to bent knees
Push through your hands, bend your knees towards the mat and drive your hips back and over your knees, hovering just above the ground. Push back through your heels to straighten your legs, returning to a plank position. This move will challenge your shoulders and lower abdominals.
Repeat 3 sets of 10.
- Leg raises with ankle weights
Adjust your feet slightly closer together and begin to lift and lower one leg at a time, in line with your hips. Feel your glutes and lower abdominals connect. Add ankle weights for a more advanced series. Maintain a strong and active core to avoid swaying your hips.
Repeat 3 sets of 10.
WORKOUT QUESTIONS
Do we need any equipment for this workout? Could you explain why/why not?
Fluidform is designed to incorporate as little and as much equipment as you have on hand, making it accessible anywhere, and ensuring a complete workout every time. These specific exercises incorporate a small ball, ankle weights and resistance band.
The addition of the small ball beneath our shoulder blades assists the body into position – maintaining a neutral spine and long neck position. The difference between these abdominal exercises and crunches, is that the body remains in a lengthened position, which requires deep abdominal connection, rather than crunching from your neck and hips.
The addition of ankle weights challenges the body, adding weight to our long legs which requires deeper activation in our abdominals. Ankle weights are optional, and can vary from 0.5kg to 2kg to take the exercise from beginner to advanced.
The application of a resistance band (around the knee and arch of foot) or theraband (around arch of foot and held in both hands), adds resistance to the movement, which advances the exercise and challenges our balance and focus. It is important to feel in control of the band, maintaining pressure into the band for the entire movement.
What three things should we remember in order to make the most out of this workout?
- Breathing
Your breathing is essential to finding your deep abdominal connection. Follow these steps to breathe moving your ribcage up and down, rather than your tummy moving in and out.
- Place your hands onto the sides of your rib cage.
- Inhale – Breathe back and up into the rib cage – your rib cage should expand wider.
- Exhale – Draw the rib cage back together and deepen through the abdominals.
- Neck position
The placement of your hands and elbows is essential to reduce pressure on your neck and ensure you are lifting with your abdominals.
Interlace your fingers behind your head, and cradle the base of your head with your hands, thumbs running down the back of your neck and elbows within your peripheral vision.
In this position, your neck is neutral and lengthened through the back (not tipping forward or back). Maintain this neutral position as you extend back and over the ball, as well as when you lift into your chest lift. Your chin should stay lifted with your eye-line towards the ceiling.
- Neutral spine
A neutral pelvis and position of your spine is essential to finding your deep abdominal connection.
A neutral pelvis position is flat and open with a small gap in your lower back. As you move through an exercise, your pelvis should remain still and stable.
