Amy Schemper breaks down EMZB, a four-part core engagement system: Elevator (pelvic floor), Magnets (hip bones), Zipper (abdomen), and Button (rib cage). Stacking these cues together aligns your spine and activates deep core muscles without holding your breath.
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Last week I was working out with my friend Jacqueline, who many of you know from my videos. She's also a mom of 4, including twins. So we were working on a lot of deep core engagement, something I just talked about in the video Stacked versus Snatch. We came up with a little acronym to help you remember your different things to do to get in that good core engagement position. EMZB— MZB. Elevator, magnets, zipper, and button. Let's talk through that. Your elevator is lifting of that pelvic floor, so that lift like you're going up the elevator. That's an exercise in itself that we do. Your magnets are bringing your hip bones together like magnets are drawing them in, not with your knees, but imagining those bones coming together. Your zipper is zipping all the way up like a high-waisted pair of jeans. And then your button is your rib cage, buttoning up that rib cage. So when we do all of those things stacking our rib cage over our pelvis. You're going to be in that good alignment. You're going to feel that engagement. You will feel all those muscles turn on. We want to make sure that we're not holding our breath, not sucking in, but this can be a great way to set up any and all of your exercises for that good core engagement.