The transverse abdominal muscles (TVA).
The TVA acts as a stabilizer for your core, spine & pelvic floor.
The deepest layer of your abdominal muscles, below your rectus abdominals and your obliques.
The TVA protects your internal organs, helps align your body & assist you when performing day-to-day activities.
Your deepest layer of abdominal muscles also has an important job of maintaining abdominal wall tension, which we want to keep healthy and functional.
When our TVA is weak it can cause low back pain and other body discomforts. And on the flip side, when we overwork our TVA or create too much pressure it will cause issues with pelvic floor and/or Diastasis Recti.
You want to establish a core connection to fire up these muscles properly. When I say activate your core in my workoit’s —-> this is the muscle I am talking about!
You want to focus on natural deep breathing to increase that TVA activation.
Inhale through your nose. Expand your ribcage in all directions. Exhale though the mouth as your engage, activate & draw in your navel
Always exhale on the effort
Never suck in your belly!! This can have an opposite effect to getting a flatter tummy!! You don’t want to be engaged all the time! This will increase your intra-abdominal pressure too much, which will have a negative effect on your outcomes.
Always maintain neural alignment through all movements.
Watch for Diastasis Recti (DR). Doming, bulge, or torpedo-like protrusion in your belly. This can be caused by pregnancy or increased intra-abdominal pressure. Which is why good form, proper breathing and neutral alignment are all very important.
For more detail on how to properly perform 360 Breathing check it out here!
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