A Comprehensive Guide to Engaging Your Core

You’ve probably heard the phrase “engage your core” at least once in your life, even if you’ve never seen an exercise program, read a fitness magazine, or set foot in a gym. Sometimes it’s gently encouraged, while at other times it’s yelled while you’re sweating out your last repHowever, you may wonder what your core is, what it means to engage it, and how to do sYour core consists of the muscles surrounding your trunk, including your abdominals, obliques, diaphragm, pelvic floor, trunk extensors, and hip flexors.

Your core provides stability to your trunk for balance and for movements like lifting weights and standing up from a chair. It also provides mobility to allow your torso to move as needed, such as when you reach for your seatbelt or swing a golf club (1, 2Trusted Source, 3Trusted SourceFurthermore, your core muscles are involved in everyday activities such as breathing, posture control, urination, and defecation (4Trusted Source).

Every time you exhale and inhale, your diaphragm plays a large part in allowing air to flow into and out of your lungs. When you sit up straight, your core muscles contract to keep your trunk upright. When you use the bathroom, they’re there to start and stop your businesThis article discusses what the core muscles are, describes their role in trunk mobility and stability, and reviews core exercises that you can incorporate into your workout regimen.

Drazen/Getty ImagWhat are your core muscleSeveral muscle groups make up your core musclesRectus abdomiThe rectus abdominis, also known as the six-pack muscle, attaches from your lower ribs to the front of your pelvis. The primary movement it performs is flexing your spine, such as when you sit up in bed or perform a crunchThis muscle is the most superficial of all the core muscles and is therefore not as useful for spinal stability (5Trusted SInternal and external obliquThe internal and external obliques attach on the lateral sides of the trunk from your ribs to your pelvis. Statically, they provide stability to the front and sides of the trunk.

Their primary movements involve trunk rotation, such as when you swing a baseball bat, and side bending. When they work bilaterally, they also fspineTransversus abdominThe transversus abdominis originates from many points, including the back and top of the pelvis and the lower six ribs. Its fibers run horizontally around the body to the linea alba, or midline. It’s the deepest abdominal muscle, and its job is to provide support to the spineWhen the transversus abdominisengaged, it co-contracts with the multifidus muscle to provide deep, segmental stability to the lower back in partiPeople with chronic low back pain often benefit from strengthening these muscles.