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What's the Deal With: Diastasis
It should come as no surprise that pregnancy can pull quite a number on a woman’s body. The weight gain, the hormonal changes, the carrying a nine pound bowling ball in your belly – these things all add up and can change a few things anatomically. One very common after effect of pregnancy is diastasis when the top layer of abdominals, the rectus abdominis, separate by pulling away from the center line of the body known as the linea alba.
Finding Your Deep Abs!
Finding your deep abs is essential to training your core and for just about every Pilates exercise in the book. Accessing them, however, can be difficult. Here is the easiest path to discover your transverse abdominus (TVA for short), the deepest of all the abdominals.
The Skinny On: Neutral Spine
We all want to have some neutral shoes and neutral pants in our wardrobes. But what about a neutral spine? If you have heard an instructor use the term neutral spine in a fitness class, but didn't have a chance to clarify its meaning - I'm here to give you the skinny on it.
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The Skinny On: Deep Abs
Did you know that the Transversus Abdominis (don’t be intimidated by the religious sounding Latin) is the most important muscle for stabilizing when lifting, walking, or just being you? Unfortunately, it also tends to be super weak. So if you rarely exercise, sit for prolonged periods of time, have poor posture, have low back pain or all of the above, you need to strengthen your deep abs.
Core Concepts: Running
Whether running for fun, fitness, or to be fast, efficiency is key. Having a strong core plays an important part in translating the power of the legs to propelling the entire body forward through space. The deep abs, made up of the transversus abdominis (TVA) and internal obliques, are the keystone for core stabilization.
Abdominal Bracing vs. Pulling Abs in Pilates Style
I need to talk a bit about the contradictory opinions about how to use your abs when doing an exercise that is not ab specific, like crunches. Some fitness trainers promote abdominal bracing to work your core and protect your back when doing things like lifting weights. Bracing is explained how you would hold your abs if you were "bracing" for a punch to your gut.
Deep Abs and Running: Gotta Get to Your Core
We all want to be efficient, right? Especially when we exercise. Well, according to Michael Fredericson, Ph.D., a running bio-mechanics expert at Stanford University, 90 percent of runners waste energy with stride errors and faulty gait.
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