"Brace Your Core" - What Does That Even Mean?

What is your ‘core’ anyway?

Your core is not an isolated muscle or muscle group – in fact, it consists of your abdominal or ab muscles
(deep beneath your 'six-pack' zone), hip, pelvis and back muscles.

Why brace your core?

Bracing your core is essential for exercises that require stability, particularly weight training, CrossFit and
Pilates where these muscles must work in harmony.

The tension or tightening of the pelvic floor, abdominal muscles and back muscles naturally creates a
stiffer support of the spine to protect the back during lifting, maintain correct posture and balance.

How do you brace your core?

Step 1: Lift your pelvic floor (the vertical line of the T-Zone). Imagine you’re:

types of pelvic floor exercise

Kegels. Pelvic exercises can help improve the function of pelvic muscles. ...

Squeeze and release. This exercise is a rapid "squeeze and release" movement that builds the ability of
the pelvic floor muscles to respond quickly. ...

Bridge. A person should stop any exercises that cause pain or discomfort. ...

Squats.

- Pausing the flow of urine midstream by gently lifting and squeezing your pelvic floor muscles up
towards your belly button.

- Zipping up an imaginary line from your pubic bone to belly button and follow the zip upwards as you
tense the muscles.
Step 2: Activate your TVA (the horizontal line of the T-Zone). Imagine you’re:

- Squeezing the imaginary line between your hips gently inwards to do up the button on tight jeans.

- About to get punched in the guts. Sucks right? But that reaction of tensing and contracting your
abdominals engages the correct muscles.

Breathe naturally, holding the contraction for 3-5 seconds, then allow your muscles to relax a few
seconds before the next rep.

The ‘hip’ test

Hopefully you had an ‘aha!’ moment when testing out the cues above and have felt the deep, inner shift
of your pelvic floor muscles as they lift.

But as a test, position your fingertips at the inside of your hip bones and gently press in. When you’re
relaxed, this area will feel soft and spongy, but when your core is activated, it’ll feel firmer.

Overtime as you master bracing your core this difference will become more obvious.

Sure you’re not just sucking in your gut?

Don't worry, we have a tip for that too. To identify the difference between sucking in your gut and
bracing your core, it helps to stand side on in front of a mirror with just a sports bra or topless to observe
your body.
When you’re bracing your core, only your lower abdominals should be in play – you’ll notice improved
posture as well as a slight flattening and tightening of the area, but the change is subtle in comparison to
the 'suck'.

Should you brace your core for every workout?

Sorry to burst your bubble but no, now that you have the knack of it, it doesn’t mean you should brace
your core non-stop or for every workout.

Core training can improve your running form, but consciously tensing your core while running can
impede the elasticity of your muscles and make you feel stiff like a robot - so it's best to let your core do
its thing instinctively.

Feel free to practice core bracing when standing in line at the cupcake store or during a Netflix binge, but
be aware like any muscle your abdominals and pelvic floor need to relax and recover to prevent
weakening and becoming overworked.