Unlike your abs, the deep core muscles sit deep within your torso and work hard to create stability and reduce your injury risk. If you’re unfamiliar with the muscles that comprise your core, learning the differences between your abs versus core muscles will help you increase core strength and stability where you need it most.
Yoga teacher Issy is a powerhouse when it comes to mobility, flexibility and functional strength. She teaches a simple, beginner-friendly move you can do before any workout to help activate your deepest core muscle — the TVA, or transverse abdominis, which sits as a belt of muscle beneath the superficial abs.
Sometimes, short demonstrations like Issy’s can help you visualize which muscles are working and when, and can help improve proper movement mechanics in the future. If bulletproofing your core muscles sounds good, watch the exercise below.
Watch Issy’s deep core activation exercise
Yoga is all about the alignment, posture, breath and control. You’ll be able to tell pretty quickly if you’re relying on your abs rather than your deeper stabilizer muscles using this move.
The six-pack abs, known as the rectus abdominis muscles, are not the same as the TVA, so learning how to work both will improve the quality of your movements and help protect your body. Issy explains how to do it step-by-step.
She says: “Lie comfortably down on your back with the knees bent and the feet flat. Then wrap your hands around your waist. Take a deep breath, then exhale and pull your lower belly in and up towards your spine without tucking your tailbone in and holding the rib cage in place.”
By this, she means try to avoid flattening your lower back into the mat beneath you. It’s common practice for yoga, fitness, or Pilates instructors to tell you to tuck your pelvic bones toward you to flatten your lower back before abdominal work, but not for this exercise. Instead, keep your lower back where it is (lifted) and try to hold the position, as this will test your deeper core muscles.
You’ll be able to tell pretty quickly if you’re relying on your abs rather than your deeper stabilizer muscles using this move.
“Now lift both feet up, keep the heels in line with your knees and keep breathing,” she guides. “If your TVA is working, your belly should stay flat. But if your belly rises up like a mountain range and it gets harder, then you’re dominantly using your abs (rectus abdominis).”
The goal is to activate the TVA muscles to help stabilize your torso, including your spine and pelvis. However, if you experience back pain, stop immediately, and if your lower back drops or your belly domes, you know you're relying more on your abs. Simple!
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