How to brace your core for workouts

14 Jul 2024 · 1 min

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In this instructional video, the presenter explains the correct method for bracing the core during exercise, warning against the common but harmful practice of sucking the stomach in, which can strain the lower back. Instead, he advises athletes to bear down and push the abdomen outward. He offers three vivid cues to help learners engage the core properly: imagine pushing to sit on a toilet, picture being punched hard in the stomach, and place fingers on the abdomen while coughing to feel the natural tightening. These cues aim to create a solid, protective core brace that supports the spine during lifts and other movements.

Chapters

If you're somebody who's trying to brace your core during your workout, then let me teach you the correct way you should be doing that. You may have heard before, you should be sucking your stomach in to brace your core. Please do not do that. This is how you end up hurting your lower back. Instead, you should be trying to bear down and actually push your stomach out. 3 main cues I like to think about when doing this are, think about if you were about to sit down on the toilet and you really had to push one out. That's how you should be bracing your core. Number 2, think about if somebody was going to punch you as hard as they could in the stomach. This guy has no stomach, but you know what I mean? And number 3, put your fingers on your stomach. Yes, even if you have body fat there. And then I want you to cough. Do you feel how when you cough, your stomach kind of hardens up? That's how your stomach should be feeling when you try to brace your core.