The Missing Exercise for Improving Your Core

I took a deep dive into the transversus abdominis (TVA) recently, and I was a little shocked and concerned because when I look at the content we have around activating these muscles, pretty much all of the information is on concentric activation of the muscles. However, eccentric activation is really important for the TVA and especially for breathing, but none of the exercises I’ve seen talk about this - the missing exercise for improving your core.

Where are the exercises for eccentric activation of the Transversus Abdominis?

• To put this in simple terms, concentric activation is the shortening and bulking of the muscle fibers while eccentric activation is the lengthening of the muscles fibers.

• To have a strong and adaptable system you really need to be training both types of activation.

Most core exercises activate the TVA muscles concentrically by queing you to pull the belly in and then stretch them out by extending and lowering the legs in some fashion (like dead bugs). But that is not eccentric activation of those muscles - that’s just pulling on a concentrically tightened muscle.

The layers abdominal muscles via PhysioNetwork

To give you a little more clarity here, the rectus abdominal muscles, the muscles we usually think of as the six-pack abs, those muscle fibers vertically in our body, Top to bottom. When we are doing an exercise like a dead bug or anything that extends the legs out, that is lengthening those muscle fibers. 

The transversus abdominis muscle fibers, however, run horizontally through our body. So when we are contracting them for a dead bug, we're pulling them in concentrically and then pulling downs on those fibers, but we're not actually lengthening the fibers. 

One example is if I do a bicep curl and I start pulling my arm down, I'm still in that concentric activation.  Whereas if I'm holding a weight and slowly lowering the arm back down to full extension, that is the eccentric activation of that muscle... And this is a very important difference. 

We are not eccentrically activating the transversus abdominis in a dead bug - we are not lenghtening them, we are simply pulling on the tightened muscles. 

The final piece here is that if you are a breather, which applies to pretty much every person on this planet - particularly singers or if you depend upon breathing in a skilled way - you need the eccentric activation of the transversus abdominis in order to breathe well, in order for your diaphragm to move fully so that your lungs can fully inflate. 

It’s wild to me to think that if physical therapists, if anatomists, if specialists in breathing don't understand the eccentric activation of the transversus abdominis, they’re not able to teach their clients how to breathe well.

The simple truth is you're not able to support your breathing or your singing well without this kind of movement…and you're not going to be able to live well!

When these muscles aren't being worked through both phases of activation you lose out on the stability and strength of your core as a whole. That's why I see so many people with chronic abdominal bracing, lower back pain, high breathing patterns and a whole slew of other symptoms that all lead to this one point. And while concentrically activating the TVA can provide more stability, it's not nearly as structurally or functionally useful as when you can get the full function of these muscles.

Intead of tightening your core or even pushing in out, it's imagining this muscle to expand and wrap around you - from back to front. This is the crucial piece of information missing exercise for improving your core. When you use these muscles correctly you can instantly feel an increase your core strength, improved posture, reduced back pain and more stability and confidence in your body without tons of extra effort.  

I was working with a group of pregnant clients recently and after doing a few exercises she explained: “My back didn’t hurt when I bent down!  I thought because I was pregnant that it was going to hurt for the rest of my pregnancy, but that was so easy!”

And that is what makes this approach so worth it to me!  Instead of muscling and efforting your way through life, you start working with how your body is intended to function - and things get so much easier.

I’m launching on a new program that uses this missing exercise to transform how you move and feel in your body. Breathe Your Blueprint is a short-form online course to help you ease pain, improve posture and build strength from the inside out. Details coming soon and pre-register here to get early access!