Good desk fitness (and good fitness in general) begins with a stable core. You hear from many sources nowadays about “core conditioning” and “core awareness.” Here are some practical steps from an experienced personal trainer that you can do right now, at your desk, to develop your core awareness.
Your “core” is a group of muscles that, when properly engaged, stabilize your lower torso. When you engage these muscles you move more confidently and freely and with less risk of injury.
Here’s how to begin to develop your core awareness and strength. The key to each of these movements is gentle engagement of the muscles. You’re not straining and grunting, just easily and naturally engaging these muscles.
It’s best to do this standing up, with your feet about hip width apart, but you can try it sitting down, too.
- Engage your transverus abdominus muscle. This is the deepest of your abdominal muscles. Engage it by gently pulling your belly button toward your spine. The key is to be gentle and easy in your engagement. You’re not trying to make your stomach rock-hard, just to feel a deep, easy stability in your abdomen.
- Engage your pelvic floor muscles. Most women and many men have done Kegel exercises, and we all know to control the flow of urine. These are the best visualizations to use to gently engage the pelvic floor. When these muscles are engaged you’ll feel a sense of stability and relaxed tautness at the very bottom of your pelvis (anatomically, this is the group of muscles between the coccyx and the pubis).
- Engage your multifidus muscles. These are deep muscles in the low back along either side of the spine. To engage these muscles, first tilt your pelvis forward and backward. Picture your hips moving independently of your back and legs, rocking forward and backward. Once you have a feel for this sensation, try doing both motions at once, equally engaging the forward and backward tilt (in physiology, this is called an isometric muscle contraction – you engage the muscle but don’t actually it move).
Practice each of these separately, and then try to keep all three sets of muscles engaged at the same time. Repeat often throughout the day.
This is a fairly complex set of movements, so don’t be frustrated if you don’t “get it” right away. But do keep at it. And consider working with a personal trainer, physical therapist, or other movement professional to develop a core conditioning program tailored to your unique needs.
About Today’s Tipster
I interviewed Seattle personal trainer and exercise physiologist Eric Wilson. Eric does one-on-one training and teaches fitness and conditioning classes in Seattle. He has an MS in Exercise Physiology from The American University and over 16 years of professional training experience. Eric is the creator of the Comprehensive Lifestyle Plan (CLP). CLP integrates exercise, nutrition, stress management, body awareness, and balance. The plan is guided by one simple principle: “If you move your body…your body will continue to move you.”