The role of breath + deep core activation for improving movement mechanics and overall physical performance

It all comes back to proximal stability for distal mobility - this is going to apply to postpartum, as well as to everyday life for all humans, from those who don’t do any purposeful exercise, to weekend warriors, to super elite athletes.

Proximal stability for distal mobility means you have to be stable proximally, through your trunk, in order to be able to move freely distally, at the limbs. Our center of gravity lives in our abdomen which wouldn’t you know, is the same region our deep core is housed.

In a nut shell, our deep core is our diaphragm, our pelvic floor, our transverse abdominis and our multifidi. Number one, our diaphragm, is an integral part of our deep core AND it’s our primary muscle of respiration. So, breath is directly linked to deep core function. We need a good 360 degree breath, meaning our lower ribcage expands in 360 degrees on our inhale and then recoils back on our exhale.

When I evaluate someone’s ability to perform a 360 breath, I want to see the movement start at the lower ribcage because that’s where the diaphragm lives. Our diaphragm is like a big, thin parachute that attaches all around the inside of our ribcage. It essentially has 360 degrees of attachment. So, let’s utilize it.

But getting that diaphragm working properly, utilizing the entire diaphragm, through its full range of motion doesn’t just affect the deep core, it affects posture, as well. The crura (aka the legs) of the diaphragm actually attach over the first three lumbar vertebrae and discs and cross over the psoas muscle (which most people refer to as their hip flexors). So it has a direct link to our low back and hip function and can really help pull us out of that rib flared, arched low back, open-scissor position. When we aren’t stuck in an extended spinal position, you’ll probably notice that we have better spinal mobility.

Then we have the pelvic floor which is like a sling at the bottom of your pelvic bowl that supports your pelvic organs and controls your pelvic sphincters and moves in tandem with the diaphragm. When we take a breath in, the diaphragm drops down and the pelvic floor does, too. When we exhale, the diaphragm moves back up and the pelvic floor does, too. So we want to maintain this natural harmony of them working together.

What happens if you push your belly out on an exhale? If you do it now you’ll probably feel like you pressurized your abdomen and maybe that feels like stability to you. But, if you tune in a little more closely you’ll probably also feel pressure down on your pelvic floor. And I see this a lot with people who are lifting and have never been taught how their deep core works. Pressure down on that pelvic floor over and over, especially under higher loads, is eventually going to lead to something failing - could be the pelvic floor, could be a hernia, a diastasis, a disc, no one knows for sure exactly what but something eventually will go.

What we want to see with a deep core activation is everything lifting in and up. That is literally how I cue it once people feel what we’re after. I’ll say, “engage in and up” meaning we want the diaphragm and pelvic floor moving up while the transverse abdominis moves in, like a corset. And when we’re training this we want that happening on an exhale.

Some people refer to this as “blow before you go” or “exhale, engage, exert”. But essentially, you’re utilizing your deep core properly which allows you to manage your IAP properly (remember IAP Is intra-abdominal pressure) which means you’re at a significantly lower risk of pelvic floor injury, hernia, diastasis, disc injuries, etc.  And if your IAP is managed properly, then you’re stable from your deepest layers of your core. Meaning your lower spine is stabilized and your nervous system likely feels safe and will allow your limbs to move freely.

I will say that if you’re performing at or very near your one rep max, you may utilize the strategy of pressurizing outwards through your abdomen in 360 degrees and that’s okay. We just don’t want that to be our dominant strategy or to be utilizing that unnecessarily, ie when working at lower or moderate loads.

So, if we incorporate the above strategies, we are stabilizing the low back from the front (from the deep core muscles). Ideally, this activity is in balance with the small spinal muscles called multifidi on the back (though not dominantly driven by these muscles).

These four muscle groups (the diaphragm, pelvic floor, transverse abdominis and multifidi) are the stabilizers that should automatically activate prior to purposeful movement, such as walking and coughing. For instance, if you are going to flex your hip (bend your leg such that your knee comes up towards your chest), these four muscles have to pre-activate to provide stability to the spine and pelvis so that the muscles that do hip flexion (ie iliopsoas, rectus femoris and sartorius) can do their job properly and without interference, imbalance or compensation.

If you can cultivate awareness, connection, control, strength and endurance through your deep core muscles, you will be operating on a very solid foundation by which your performance goals will come much more easily and also you will likely feel a lot less imbalance during your day to day (although there are many other factors for the latter). Establishing a deep core that functions properly and optimally is the foundation for successful and optimal physical performance throughout the entire body.

Whether postpartum (days, weeks or years) or a competitive athlete (on any level), don’t skip or skimp on this part of your training.