Our core muscles around our spine and pelvis are the structures that stabilize and protect our skeleton. With these in place and hugging our spine, we can let the more superficial muscles of our torso bring us into movement. We can also use the synergy of the abdominal muscles to create a corset and keep our spine and pelvis stable so that we can move freely through the arms and legs.

In the abdominal area, our transverse abdominals are our deepest abdominal muscles above the belly button. Below the belly button or arcuate line, the rectus abdominis becomes the deepest abdominal muscle. This happens because all the fascial layers of the abdominals run anterior to the rectus abdominis below the acurate line, and there is no posterior sheath. This creates more support in the lower abdominals where the pressure of the viscera (called intra-abdominal pressure) increases. These two deep structures help to secure our skeleton so that the more superficial abdominal muscles can move us.

The abdominals that lie superficial to the transverse are the internal obliques, the external obliques, and the rectus abdominis. All of the abdominal muscles have different fiber directions: transverse (horizontal), internal obliques (diagonal and back), external obliques (diagonal and up), and the rectus (vertical). These fiber directions, one on top of the other, have been compared to the British flag.

Learning to fire the abdominal structures—proximal (core) to distal (global)—is very important for creating a strong torso and keeping the spine feeling good and injury free. Strong, coordinated, and integrated abdominal muscles are also essential in creating strength and power in many athletic adventures.

The best and most focused ways to start experiencing this coordination of the abdominal muscles are exercises where the torso is stable and we are moving only the arms or the legs. This skill can be realized in seemingly simple exercises like supine knee drops, or in a more athletic feat like long stretch on the reformer. Both require the same skills, but in different relationships to gravity. It is very important for us to experience these types of exercises in a number of different body positions to challenge these stability muscles. We must start off with lots of tactile feedback (of the floor, the wall, foam roller, etc.) to find our anchors and how they all coordinate together to hold us in position. These skills will not only lead to stronger, more balanced abdominals, but to better joint movement in our arm and hip socket. If we are able to feel a secure home space in our lumbo pelvic hip area, then we are much better equipped to find movement of the femur head in the socket, and can differentiate between the pelvis and the leg bone. But that’s another article!

In the session video, we added a big challenge to the stabilizer muscles by adding the wobbly under the pelvis. You can simplify this by taking that away and doing the exercise supine with the head propped on a pillow. Be sure your client has found neutral in the spine and pelvis, and that they can maintain this neutral/home position as they move. To maintain this alignment as you move through the leg and/or arm, you must have the right amount of work in each of the abdominal muscles. If one overpowers (likely the rectus), it will tighten and shorten the posture. If one is asleep (likely the transverse abs), then we spill and open in places, and are once more out of balance.

Exercises like the above seem like no big deal, but there is a lot to cue and notice inside a stability exercise such as this one. Make sure to communicate with your client so you can get a really good idea of what they are experiencing, and your cues can then follow their cues.