Back to basics: How to build a good foundation for your core

I think often we skip over how to do the most basic parts of an exercise, and we are cheating ourselves out of a heap of the good stuff in doing so.  I get it, sometimes the basics are boring, seem too easy, or we just don't want to waste our precious time on exercises that feel pointless. Sometimes you just don't know what the heck you are supposed to be feeling,so you just kind of go through the motions and hope for the best. A lot of the time we want to get to the good stuff, bigger movements, feeling the burn…….. But I think that is skipping a step. Hear me out.

To me, some of these basic exercises are the foundation of so many other movements. If you don’t lay a good foundation, you may not be getting the most out of your other exercises. Or, worst case, you might injure yourself doing an exercise without the proper control or form required.

What if instead of skipping these exercises we spent just a little, teensy bit of time waking up your stabilising muscles, creating some nice awareness of your body position, and learnt how to breathe well during exercise? 

Think how much better you will move. How you might stand up a little straighter. How you might help improve your back pain. How you might prevent injuries. I think it’s worth a try.

I will start to try to break down some of my favourite (but often skipped over) core basics over the next little while, but for today we will start with 4 point or Table Top position. 

4 Point Kneeling

Works on: Core Stabilising muscles, shoulder girdle, postural muscles

Good For: Those with neck or back pain, beginners, post-partum. But only do what feels right for your body, and please consult with a health professional before commencing a new exercise program. 

If you have a mirror it would be great to pop yourself in front of it, so you can actually see what your body is doing. It will provide you with some very helpful visual feedback. Sometimes you feel like your body is in a certain position, but in actual fact it is not doing what you think!

Start off on your hands and knees. Place your hands underneath your shoulders, fingers spread wide, knees underneath your hips, feet flat or tucked your choice.

1. What is your lower back doing? Sagging? Arching? Tilting to one side? You want to try to find a “neutral spine”. I like to get people to wiggle their pelvis backwards and forwards a bit, to try and find a position that feels somewhere in the middle. What I mean by that is not really arched and not fully tucked under. If you are somewhere in the middle, it will usually be a better position for your abs and pelvic floor muscles to work. Hint: it’s usually a little more tucked under than you realise, so think of relaxing your tail bone down, and lengthening through your lower back a little. Holding this position will help your abs and spinal stabilizers engage. Got it? Ok hold that there, and keep breathing.

Keep your lower back and tail bone lengthened

2. Next check your shoulders and arms. Are you sagging? Is your chest dropping down to the floor? Are your shoulder blades sticking up? Try to push away from the floor, or push your hands into the floor to gently lift your chest away. This will help engage your shoulder girdle, abs and spinal stabilisers. Now hang on to this position too. Are you still breathing?

Try not to 'sag' into your shoulders like in this pic

3. Next is head and neck. Usually you want to look down to the floor, a little bit in front of you. Try to keep your chin tucked in slightly, and the back of your head up towards the ceiling. This should give you a nice long neck. Nice! Keep breathing.

        You do not want your head and neck looking like this

4. Now as you breath out, do a nice long exhale, and as you do, think of gently drawing in your lower abdominal area. Think of the area below your belly button, drawing in towards your spine, as you breathe out. Initially you might want to relax your abs as you breathe in, but if you can maintain that slight ab brace whilst allowing your ribs to expand then go for it. Initially it's easier to activate your abs whilst breathing out.

Keep a nice long line from the top of your head, to your tail bone, and keep breathing.

 

 5. That’s it! Try to hold your body position as you take 5 slow breaths in and out. As you do, keep going through your checklist (and use your mirror), to help make sure your alignment is still looking good. There is actually A LOT going on in this exercise, and it is hard to maintain your position, activate your abs and keep breathing. Just do your best. Take breaks when you need to. And try to do it 2-3 times a week. 

I often encourage my patients to do a bit of a warm up/ muscle activation exercise at the beginning of their workout to try and wake up those core stabilising muscles a bit.This exercise is perfect for that. I also remind them to think of these principles (body position, ab activation, breathing) and the check list as they are doing exercises like bird dogs, hydrants, leg extensions, planks, push ups……. So you can see why knowing how to hold this position properly is important. You can take the same principles and apply them to a heap of exercises, knowing you are helping to challenge your core and improve your stability. 

Give it a go and let me know what you think!

I make use of this exercise, and some of its variations, in my 5 week Beginner Core Program, that you can download here

If you want a weeks worth of Core Exercises to try, click the link here to download my FREE Beginner’s Core Challenge