What if core work and nervous system regulation had a baby?

I have a dirty secret to share: I really like core work.

I always have. It’s complicated, though — years of my own eating disorders (not recommended), pregnancy and parenthood, not to mention my own clinical training as a pelvic floor therapist have made the concept of loving “core work” muddy.

When I was in graduate school, core work was a hot topic in pelvic health. It still is. (More on that here and here.) The tl;dr is that a concentric (shortening) contraction of the main six pack muscle, the rectus abdominis — a crunch — creates increased intra-abdominal pressure that can lead to progressively not so great effects on the pelvic floor.

This is true, but with nuance. For example, going up a flight of stairs also can place a relatively high amount of intra-abdominal pressure on the pelvic floor (depending on the person), and I’d never tell anyone to avoid stairs.

Professionally, I generally tend to recommend more full body strength-based movements that recruit the deep core and transverse abdominis, and are either isometric or eccentric. This means that the muscles of the abdomen either stay the same length or elongate under tension, making it less likely for the pelvic floor to spasm or grip.

An example of this concept would be a deadlift, a plank, many lunge, squat, and bridge variations with creative arm placement and loading.

But personally? I fucking love old school, pilates-ish style core work.

And better yet — I really like pairing movement to breath, crossing the body’s midlines, and rolling around, so that my nervous system feels calm AF.

So this is my little Thursday gift to you, friends. Do this with weights or without, in just under 10 minutes, and have a good time. If you’d like more of this content, let me know, or you can explore my whole library here.