Brace Yourself for This Blog Post

No, literally. Today I want to discuss core engagement and bracing. What is it, what does it feel like and why should you do it?

Your body has a system of stabilizing muscles to provide balance and support throughout. These include your local stabilizers including your transverse abs, pelvic floor muscles and diaphragm. It also includes your global stabilizers such as your obliques, psoas, glutes and adductors. (To name a few; I didn’t list all of them.) You can activate your local stabilizers by the drawing-in maneuver and your global stabilizers by bracing.

What is the “drawing-in” maneuver? In layman’s terms, that just means to suck in your stomach. Common cues include to pull your navel in towards your spine. Also, you might hear someone tell you to draw your ribcage together. But what does this commonly feel like? If you’re unsure, take a broom, mop, or large stick, hold in it front of you with both hands, and press one end into the ground. You should feel a tightening in your stomach. Congratulations! You are activating your core!

“Bracing” refers to contracting your abs, lower back and glutes simultaneously. You should feel this down through your feet. I often think about having my feet try to grip the earth, holding on for dear lift. Try it! Can you feel your muscles engage?

Proper core engagement and bracing provides stability to the whole body, and can prevent injury or pain, especially in the lower back. You can check your stability by having a friend (or enemy?) try to push you over. The better your stabilizers are engaged, the harder it will be for your frenemy to knock you over.

These methods aren’t just useful for when you’re standing around; you should be doing them whenever you are working out, as they help ensure good form (I’m looking at YOU, planks!) and make it more difficult to engage the wrong muscles during an exercise. And the best part is that you can practice them just by standing around. So get up and brace yourself!