To develop a strong core, you need to engage all the muscles that run throughout your abdomen. Unfortunately, many abs exercises neglect transversus abdominis which runs horizontally along your abdominal wall under obliques and diaphragm.
By activating and strengthening this muscle, you can improve core stability by shifting movements away from the back to your hips, decreasing risk of injury.
Dead Bug Exercise
Dead bug exercises are an excellent way to build core strength and stability, yet can be challenging to perform correctly. When executed incorrectly, they can lead to overarching of the spine and can even contribute to back injuries such as strains, sprains or herniations. One common misstep with dead bugs is failing to engage the core muscles throughout each movement – this results in weaker core muscles which decrease stability over time.
Performing the dead bug correctly requires slow movements with complete control over arms and legs. This exercise is particularly important for people suffering from lower back injuries or weakness; however, its practice can be more challenging for newcomers or those without strong core engagement while moving arms and legs.
The dead bug exercise is a basic bodyweight exercise designed to work the transversus abdominis muscle, also known as deep abdominal muscles, in your core, including lower back, pelvis and spine. This exercise also serves to stabilize your lumbar spine – making it a fantastic alternative to crunches or sit ups which put stress on lower back by rounding upper back in spinal flexion or crunching down into crunches and sitting ups which round upper back into spinal flexion and put strain on lower back muscles.
Start off by lying face up on an exercise mat, engaging your core and pressing it against the mat to maintain neutral spine position. Extend both arms straight above your chest before slowly lowering one arm toward the floor while simultaneously extending an opposite leg towards it – repeat this cycle until desired repetitions have been reached.
Add more resistance and challenge this exercise by placing a weighted ball or kettlebell between your feet and hands, increasing stability while further strengthening core muscles and improving balance. Or increase its difficulty by adding weights in each hand – this forces more force upon arm movement as well as leg movements.
Hollow Body Hold
Hollow body holds may appear straightforward, but they’re actually an intricate isometric exercise designed to engage multiple core muscles simultaneously. While transverse abdominis is the most obvious target, hollow holds also involve engaging rectus abdominis, obliques and hip flexors in this isometric routine. When doing the hollow hold you must lift shoulders, legs and arms off of the ground until only lower back and butt touch floor – these muscles work hard keeping torso off floor against gravity which quickly exhausts them resulting in quick fatigue.
This exercise is most suitable for intermediate to advanced exercisers, since its repetitive nature requires high levels of core strength and stamina to sustain contraction over a sustained period. Beginners can still utilize this movement to strengthen core stability and learn proper spinal bracing, but should start slowly or with lower sets to avoid injury.
Hollow body holds can help you build stronger core muscles more quickly than crunches, making movement simpler and improving form when performing other exercises. They may even strengthen enough to support full-body coordinated activities like martial arts or trail running.
Correct hollow body holds should cause you to experience a strong burn in your abdominal and obliques muscles, and not simply an impassible stretch in the lower back or shallow or held breathing. If this is happening for you, consult a certified personal trainer or physical therapist for guidance in doing the hold successfully.
This exercise can be an ideal choice for people suffering from shoulder or low back pain, as its modifications can target core muscles more effectively. To start out slowly and reduce tension on your spine, begin with lower numbers or shorter durations and gradually build your repetitions or tension time under tension over time.
Plank With Leg Lift
This modified plank can target both transverse abdominis and obliques simultaneously. Begin by resting on either your elbows or forearms (whichever is less painful) in a modified plank position; palms of hands into floor while maintaining body erectness should drive palms of hands into floor while lifting feet off ground without straining back muscles.
Engage your core muscles to maintain a neutral spine position, then extend your right leg in line with your hip for 30 to 1 minute before slowly lowering it back down onto the floor. Repeat this sequence 10 times on either side.
Plank and hollow body hold exercises share one core goal: drawing your belly button closer to your spine (known as “abdominal bracing”). Both exercises aim to activate deep abdominal muscles that cover and support internal organs while providing core stability.
Planks and hollow holds can both be highly effective forms of core exercise, but according to an Australian research team’s study, hollow body holds appear more efficient for activating transverse abdominis muscles than standard planks due to engaging them from both an upwards and downward direction, thus leading to greater contraction of these and its surrounding muscles.
Both the plank and hollow body hold work on strengthening both transverse abdominis as well as the obliques, which run along both sides of your abdomen and help stabilize pelvis. You probably contract your obliques automatically whenever you move arms or legs and may use them to engage core strength during weightlifting movements such as the squat or deadlift.
These exercises are intended to strengthen the transverse abdominis muscle and can be performed daily. No equipment is required; however if any discomfort arises on hands, forearms, or elbows a mat or cushioned floor may help provide comfort. A stopwatch or timer might also come in handy to keep track of how long each exercise lasts.
Plank With Leg Tap
Although many train their abs for vanity reasons (hello, six-pack), having a strong core is crucial to good posture, speedy workouts and preventing injuries like lower-back pain. One exercise which can build core strength effectively is the plank with leg tap variation – this variation involves moving only your legs for added challenge to engage the transverse abdominis muscle more effectively and strengthen all abdominal muscles at the same time!
Start in a plank position with forearms on the floor and elbows directly under your shoulders, creating an inverted V. Tuck your tailbone and activate core, butt, and quad muscles to prevent your body from sagging or arching. Lower one leg out to the side keeping it straight while tapping it on the mat with your foot before returning it back into its starting position. Complete 20-30 reps by switching legs.
As with the hollow body hold and bird-dog exercises, this exercise requires significant stabilization from your deep core muscles. As your core becomes stronger and harder to move around, defining your core can become increasingly apparent – helping you attain more defined abs.
Planking with leg tap isn’t only great for beginners – it can also serve as a challenging workout! For an even tougher version of this exercise, add leg lifts into the mix for even greater difficulty and maintain proper posture throughout. This variation requires two legs being lifted simultaneously – yet another challenge!
Leg lifts can add another dimension of difficulty and engagement with any plank or hollow body hold, but are particularly effective at strengthening transverse abdominis muscles. To start doing a plank with leg raises, begin in a standard push-up position with forearms firmly against the floor while lifting your torso off of it – keeping head and shoulders aligned with hands for as long as possible before maintaining plank pose with leg raises for as long as possible (keep forearms firmly against ground while lifting off of it all the time). You could add bird-dog exercises to further target transverse abdominis muscles – or combine this exercise with bird-dog exercises aimed at strengthening them further!
