Exercise 9 - Abdominal activation (Transversus abdominus)

  • This exercise focuses on activation of the abdominal muscles
  • It is very specific and needs to be done with great concentration

 

Exercise - abdominal activation

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Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet shoulder width apart placed on the floor. You can also do this exercise lying on your side

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Press your finger tips into the lower abdomen at your stomach just inside your “hip bones”.

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Draw in the lower abdomen as if to pull your lower tummy away from the zip of your trousers.

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Now release the abdomen in a FLOP outwards.

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Practice this 10 repetitions at a time until you feel you have mastered the technique. Take your time and do not rush. DO NOT BRACE, activation should be slow and you should not feel that the muscles pop out into your fingers tips as you contract, this would be a brace (also what it feels like if you cough). All you feel is that the muscle pulls away from your finger tips. The slower the better, quickly usually brings on a brace.

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Tips: 
  1. The biggest mistake is to pull in the abdomen too hard which will be felt through the finger tips as a bracing, the stomach feels hard and the pelvic floor will be braced. This is similar to the bracing you feel when you cough. Try coughing and feel your stomach to understand this feeling and help you avoid it in this exercise
  2. At this stage don't worry about your breathing pattern. We will talk about breathing in later exercises