In this 90‑minute workshop, Kelly Alhooie leads a mixed group of clinicians and fitness professionals through a hands‑on abdominal core training session. The video alternates between live instruction of core exercises (crunch variations, hands‑and‑knees transverse abdominis (TA) activation, side‑planks, leg lifts, and dynamic arm‑leg extensions) and real‑time evaluation of participants (Julia, Jensen, Meg, Jen, etc.). Kelly demonstrates precise cueing strategies—breath‑linked belly draws, “punch‑in‑the‑belly” cue, rib‑cage hand placement, and concise verbal prompts—to activate the transverse abdominis and correct common compensations such as hip‑bone pressure, rib flaring, and vacuuming. She adapts exercises on the fly, offering modified versions (knees‑bent side‑plank, standing TA contraction) and progressive challenges, while emphasizing the importance of feeling the muscle work, maintaining neutral pelvis, and using tactile feedback. The session also showcases group dynamics: motivation through clapping, energy management, and peer‑to‑peer sharing of higher‑level variations. Throughout, Kelly models clinical reasoning by observing movement patterns, selecting individualized cues, and documenting findings for home‑exercise prescription. The workshop serves both as a practical training tool for clinicians and a showcase of Kelly’s instructional style—concise, energetic, and focused on functional core activation.
Chapters
Okay, um, maybe I'll stand up here so you can see me for a second. Okay, so from here I'm gonna try. Lie on your hip here, and I need you guys to crunch up, up. If that's too challenging, bend the knees and then crunch. I'm on my hard hip bone. So you're not gonna lie on your hip bone. Roll back on the glute part right here. Okay, not on the hip. Roll. This is where you're Yes, Jen, that's perfect. Look at Jen. Yep, and then sit up. Exhale, come on, sit up. Yes, that's it. Come on, there you go. Good. Come on, exhale up, inhale down. Exhale. And by the way, you're gonna come up. Look at Jen. Jen's perfect. Look, see how she comes up on her arm? Yes. Okay, come on.
Every way, Jen.
Okay, come on. Yes, 5 more. 5. 4, you're crushing it, Meg. 3, and Jensen, you're doing great. 2, come on, 1 more. Other side. Okay, so again, remember you're not on your hip bone, you're on the meatier part of your butt. Come on. Okay, so from here, legs straight or knees bent, you're going to exhale as you come up, inhale back. Exhale as you come up. Inhale back. Exhale up. Good job. Inhale back. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Good. Come on, 5 more. You guys got it. 5. Don't give up. 4. 3. 2. 1 more. Good. Onto your hands and knees for me. From here, we're just going to go right into that TA on our hands and knees. So you're in this position, you're going to pull your lower belly in and then just relax. Knees stay on the mat for the moment. So it's just an exhale, pull belly in, inhale, let belly go. Exhale, pull belly in, inhale, let belly go. Exhale, pull.
Can you get the gimbal focused?
Inhale, let's go.
For this?
Exhale, and then inhale. Exhale, inhale. Exhale, inhale. Last one. Exhale, inhale. Now tuck your toes under. From here, before you lift your knees up off the mat, you're going to exhale and pull your belly in. Go ahead and lift your knees, and we're going to hold this for 20 seconds. Come on, hold it right there. Keep pulling the lower belly in. I'm coming and touching their lower belly.
I'm coming and touching their lower belly.
I'm looking at their back. Keep holding. You have to put it— you have to put it in your quads. You should feel this in your abs. Keep holding. Yep, 10 seconds. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Come back down. From here, you're going to go right into opposite arm, opposite leg. Just straight out for me. Now we're all going to have to do this together so that we don't hit each other. Wait, just hold it, guys. Sorry, hold it. So let's go right arm, left leg. Sorry. Right arm, left leg. Okay, now from here, right arm goes out to the side, left leg goes out to the side. Yep, this is going to work your obliques, and then come back to center. Right arm and leg out to the side at the same time, and then come back to center. Now here's the breath. Inhale, and then exhale center. Inhale.
Yeah, but—
Exhale center.
The thing is you put it in—
Come on, all at the same time.
No, no, no, it's on the app.
Mm-hmm, you got it. 5 more. 5.
Well, you could try and see what happens.
4. 3, 2, 1 more. Switch sides. So left arm, left arm, right leg. Here we go, right into it. Come on. So inhale, come out. Exhale, back to center. Inhale, come out. Exhale, back to center. Inhale, out. Exhale, back to center. 3, 2, 1. Come on, let's just keep it up. See how you have to motivate them? Okay, I'm coming right by them. I might be touching them. Yeah, 5 more. Come on, 5. I might be correcting their pelvis. 4, 3, 2, 1 more. Good, take a break for a second. Okay, from here, I want you just to do a side plank for me. So just go on either side, side plank. Yep, we can go left arm. Yep. Okay, now from here, if you want, because you will work your oblique more if you bend your knees and do the modified version where you're on your knees and knees bent. Okay, come up onto your actual arm. Yep. From here, drop your hip down, drive your hip up. So drop and then drive up. Good. Inhale, drop. Exhale, drive. And then when you drive, guys, squeeze from the bottom. So I'm coming here and coming to Jenny and poking up through here so that she— and then Jen. Yep, good. Keeping hips still, but just really kind of driving. And working that oblique, that bottom oblique. Inhale, drop. Exhale, lift. Inhale, drop. Exhale, lift. Good. 5 more. 4, 3, 2, 1 more. Awesome job. Switch sides. Did you guys feel that? Oh yeah. Okay, good. Other side. So here we go, knees bent. Okay, again, you're gonna drop the hips, lift the hips. Good. Drop and lift. Awesome. Inhale, exhale, squeeze. Remember to squeeze from the bottom. Inhale, exhale, squeeze. Okay. Mm-hmm. Yep, come on, you got it, keep it up. When the energy goes low, guys, this is when you gotta clap and you gotta get kind of close to them and let's freaking go. Okay, yep, and the alarm's running off, but it's fine. Keep going, 5 more. 5, uh-huh, 4, squeeze through the bottom, 3, yes, 2, come on, 1 more. Actually, hold that. Why not? Hold it. Let's get Top knee. Lift the knee. Hold it. Keep squeezing from the bottom. Don't let those hips drop. Keep squeezing. Good. Now little pulses and circles right here. Let's do circles. Circles of the top leg. Circle. Good. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and relax. Good. Back on your back for me. Okay, legs straight up towards the ceiling. Okay, from here you're just going to lower your legs down to a 45-degree angle. Now this is very important because you've got to make sure that you are pushing your back into the actual— yeah, into the actual towel. Okay, right there, hold that. Okay, now from here, keep pressing it in, keep pulling it in. Come on, if you're unsure, you can put your hand right on top of your belly. If you feel like it's poking out, pull it back in. Hold it there. Okay, now we're going to lower a little bit. Exhale, pull up. Inhale, drop just a little bit. Exhale. Now y'all's pelvis should be staying neutral. Go very slow here. Inhale, drop. Exhale, pull up. Good. Nice and slow. Inhale, drop. Exhale, pull. Inhale, drop. Exhale, pull. Mm-hmm. Come on, keep pulling that belly in towards the actual mat. Yep, 5 more. So 5, yes, 4, 3, 2, 1 more. Hold it, hold it, don't stop. Come on, come on, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it. Head lifted, head lifted. Okay, arms straight up. No, Jenny, we're not quitting. Come on, we're not quitting. Stay in bed, you're good. Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on. Come on, arms ready? Here we go. And pump and pump and here we go. And 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Relax.
You're working that baby to death.
If your patients aren't doing this and saying that after the workout, you're not crushing them enough. You're not crushing them enough. That's what they want. That's too much. That's what they want.
Most people do— can like— this is like a level like after they're done because— or like towards the end because a lot of people cannot do this.
9 to 12.
Okay. Yeah.
Yeah. And this is how, when you guys are like, well, Kelly, they feel like they answered— I've solved their problem. This is how you get— this is how they stay. Because you just worked the shit out of them. And don't you guys feel your abs now? Yeah. Do you feel like they turned on? Yeah. Great! That's how you want them to feel. Okay? Like, that's how they gotta feel. If anyone wants to add anything, like, please add if you have a higher level exercise. Does anyone want to come up and add? I'd be happy to get on the mat and do whatever. No?
Like, so what does Anna do for Saturday's email for this client here? Not this.
For
like, she's bringing her husband and kid, she wants abs, she already had a personal trainer and didn't work.
Yeah, because a personal trainer doesn't provide cues like you do. So I've got to remember that.
Right now, they're at my level and they're like, oh my God, you're great.
I wouldn't do the whole thing.
Yeah.
No. You would not do the whole thing? No. So she's asking though, because you guys just did this, she's wondering about that.
Okay, so you give them— you, you take her to the level. That's a really good point. Okay, so when I'm evaluating someone, Jensen, I have them lie down on the mat. Julian, come on. Okay, so Julian's my patient. Okay, she's in for my eval. Okay, so I'm gonna take someone through an eval. Oh, so sorry. I don't want to kill you anymore. Okay, so I'm gonna come close to you. Okay, so from here, she's my eval. I'm like, okay, Julia, let's see what you can do. You know what, can you pull these down a little bit?
I can't do much, guys.
She says my muscles are for show, they don't work.
They are for show.
Okay, so here we go. So Julia, uh, let's go ahead and see what you can do. So bring both legs into tabletop, um, act like a non-compliant patient, like let your belly go. There we go.
She knew right away what to do.
Yeah, exactly. Okay, so from here, Jensen, I'm already seeing this, right, in the evaluation. So what I'm going to say is, okay, Julia, I want to see if you can press into my hand, squish me. Okay, but you see still what's happening? Okay, so now I can see that this is not even— she cannot even do this. Okay, which is fine, but now I'm going to get that pillow or put her by the wall Right, so now maybe she would use the wall, or we would even tuck her even more because now— and then I'm going to cue her here. Julia, pull from here. Where is the pillow? See how she sucked? Under my butt. She sucked in. So instead— and this is why I have to evaluate patterns— so Julia's tendency was to lift up and in here.
Instead, I need her to drive from here. So I'm going to give her a different cue. Julia, act like I'm going to punch you in the belly. Yeah, still a little bit up. Okay, like a vacuum, but try less. Okay, better. Wasn't at— so see how her ribs just kind of gently dropped down? The other cue I can give is put my hands on her rib cage and her hip bones and say, connect the dots. Ah, better. You guys see how she engaged? So then that's her cue. So on evaluation— okay, come on, you got it. There you go. Now I need her to breathe. Inhale and exhale. While pulling this in. Just this alone is a whole thing. So can you keep this right here? Keep breathing. Inhale, exhale while keeping this engaged. That's what I'm giving her for her home exercise, just trying to hold this. Okay. Okay, does that make sense? Right. Because different things that I saw.
Okay.
Depending on this.
So we walk in, we do this objective, and immediately this is what we do?
Yeah, you can go right into it. Let's see, because that's what she wants. Sorry, you can relax.
I'm sorry.
Okay, so, so now, so yeah, so then, okay, great. Um, and then from here, okay, now can we just do a basic TA? So even before, I just take her to the extreme. I want to see what she can do. And then I also, again, just like on the, um, workshops, okay, legs both up, Julia. Okay, now hold, bring your legs down a little bit. Hold that right there for me. And I want to see how long we can hold this. And I'm making notes. So point out that she has a problem Take her to like the most, the hardest exercise. Lift your head up now for us. Hold that right there for me. Yep, keep holding.
I'm a coner, guys.
Huh?
Yeah, I see that you are a coner.
Yeah,
yeah, they don't work. They don't work.
Yep, so keep holding, keep holding. Okay, now can you breathe? And I'm gonna point out that she can't breathe. Okay, she can't breathe. Okay, good, relax. And so then I'm gonna say, okay, so now the modification is let your Just lift one leg. Hold that right there. Try to connect here, there, and lift your head just slightly right there. Now inhale, exhale. Good. We can do this. So I'm gonna hold this for her, and this is what I'm gonna give her for home because this looks good. Okay?
Okay.
And we'll hold that, and then I might give her one more, like 3 things to massively just focus on at home, and maybe that's with her hands and knees, It's a different position because abs will activate differently depending on what position. If I had her stand up, actually try that, go ahead and stand up. We're going to do a TA contraction standing. You'll see her abs will probably work differently than they do on here. So now, can you pull this out a little bit? Okay, so now from here, she knows what to do, but okay, from now, from here, let your belly go. Okay, now let it go. Uh-huh. Now from here, pull this belly in. Pull your belly in. What happens, guys? The ribs flare out. Yes, and she did the same thing actually here, so she's— interesting, right? So she's still vacuuming, but the same pattern is occurring. A lot of times a different pattern will occur because the length tension of the muscles, but she is still vacuuming and trying to pull from here. So now we have to, you know, let this go, let this out a little bit. And now I'm gonna give her a different cue. Julia, act like you're gonna squeeze my fingers together here. So, ish. She didn't go up as much. Okay, now I'm gonna let your belly go. Julia, act like I'm going to punch you in the lower belly. Didn't go up that time, you see? So it's just in more. Okay, so that was better. So I'm analyzing Jensen too, like, what cue am I gonna give her versus which one that doesn't work. So if I just say, pull your belly in, she vacuumed. That didn't work. So it's the cueing, it's my hand placement, and if they're okay with touch, and then it's also, um, conciseness. I'm not saying, Julia, take your pelvis, tuck it under, do this, squeeze. It's too many, too many words, right? It's very concise. You see how I talk? Very concise, right? Did you— would you have done it publicly? If I don't know, does she want? Is she just for abs
and low back and linkage?
Oh, okay then. Yeah, yeah. What is it for pelvic exam? I
mean, for low back with abs, I would have her do the full squat and see like if her back arches.
Yeah, I mean, you can have Julia squat.
Oh, it's not very good either. Mobility. You're going down that way. Yeah, I know. We've gone over my hip situation. Yeah. All messed up. I know. That's all right. Still small. How do you get? How do you get muscles that are just for show then? You know, I don't know.
Yeah, tell us the trick on that.
Yeah, I have a question on that.
Please tell us.
Yeah. You know, I will say I don't do compound movements, so that's why it never comes out. I do lots of isolations. Bodybuilders do lots of isolations. Yeah, that's fair.
Yeah. Okay. Um, yeah, and then maybe I do her on her hands and knees. So now hands and knees. So again, different position. So you can see Jensen how like. Works differently. Okay, now from here, Julia, act like I'm gonna punch you in the belly. And you guys see— I don't know if you can see underneath what's happening. Is she vacuuming or is she not? No, she wasn't. She wasn't? Yeah, you see? Okay, now relax your belly. Okay, now pull the belly back in. Better? Yeah. See? So then this to me would be her move that I need her to start in. You guys gotta just quickly explain, hey, look, we're gonna actually I'm going to start you here because what's happening is your ribs are not doing this. And by the way, this is my talking points, okay? Your ribs aren't doing this where you're sucking in. We actually are using your muscle in this position more. So we're going to start you here. And then from there, okay, great. She likes this position. Come back down. Can I get her to lift her knees now off with keeping this? Okay, now go ahead and lift.
It's harder to hold it.
What happened?
It's harder. It was harder for her to keep it there.
Harder to keep it in. Okay, so then come back down to it. Let's reactivate. Keep it in first. Did you do it? Yeah. Okay, now hold that and slowly lift your knees from the mat.
