How To Wake Up Your Core Muscles

It's time to give your CORE muscles some love and attention.

Your CORE muscles are a complex series of muscles from arm pits to hips that help keep the spine aligned during movement.

They're involved in almost every movement you make. You need them for all your daily activities and definitely for sports.

They protect, support, and stabilize your spine helping you have better posture, power, and overall performance.

Your core muscles need to be turned on and challenged regularly so the body doesn't start to compensate with other muscle groups.

Here's a sequence that'll help you do that.

FOCUS ON FORM

During all movements, you want to:

• Engage your lower abdominals: pull your belly muscles up, in and back.  Think pubic bone to your lower back (where your belt would sit in the middle of your low back).  It’s a diagonal pull up, in and back that you are aiming for.
• Keep a neutral spine: a slight curve in your low back not too rounded or arched during the entire exercise.
• Head in line with spine, chest lifted and shoulder blades pulled down and in toward your back pockets (think arm pits to hips) and lower ribs pulled in. 
• Breathe: don’t hold your breath during the exercises.  Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.

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>>There should be no pain especially in your wrist, neck, back and knees when doing these exercises properly.  STOP if you feel pain.  You can get sore from them but sharp pain is never OK.  If you have pain, modify and look at your form.  If that helps, keep going.  If it doesn't, STOP.

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CORE MOVES:

1. TWIST & GLUT STRETCH- do on each side; if you need instructions on how to do them - go here. Hold for a few breaths each side.

2. BRIDGE- lift hips up and down while lifting your belly up and in.  Keep hips level and neck/shoulders relaxed. Have equal weight on front and back of your feet. Modify- legs together or with a ball between knees Do 8-10 reps.

3. PLANK- Hands shoulder width apart and feet hip width apart. Press your hands down into the floor, slide your shoulders down toward your hips, scoop your belly and tuck your booty. Gaze at the floor slightly in front of your hands. Modify if needed on elbows and knees. Progress to straight arms and legs. Hold 20-60 seconds.

4. DOWNWARD DOG- Move into position from the plank- press chest toward your thighs and imagine your inner thighs connecting as you reach long through your head and heels thru the floor. Hold 10-20 seconds.

5. PLANK- move back into a plank position. Hold 20-60 seconds.  Repeat Plank into Downward Dog into Plank at least 3 times
 
6. PIGEON STRETCH- when ready- end with a pigeon stretch on each leg.

​OVER TO YOU

You can use these CORE FLOW MOVES to wake/warm up your core muscles at the start of your day or before workouts for better posture, power, and overall performance.

If you've had a back injury or have really tight hips, slow down and spend more time on the Twist and Glut Stretches.  Start and end on your tight side (i.e. tightest side gets 2 stretches for every 1 stretch on the other side).

​You may also want to use the trigger point massage ball in your glut before you begin the Core Flow Moves. 
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Listen to your BODY.

​It'll tell you what it needs to feel, move, & perform better.

P.S. More Rest & Recovery Resources:

Want a 10 minute daily massage & stretch routine to help you have less pain, more energy & to get into flow each day? Check out MINI Massage Camp here.

Want more REST strategies to slow down? Grab your FREE Relaxed Body Toolkit & Daily Energy Planner here.