DON'T Make This Mistake During Core Exercises (Know Your ABC's)

As a personal trainer in the early 1990's, it was pretty standard operating procedure to give people sit-ups or ab crunches as part of their routine. I don't use these exercises much anymore, but honestly if done right they do have some benefit. I would always emphasize the breathing as I showed them the exercise. Nonetheless, EVERY SINGLE PERSON would hold their breath at some point. Then I would remind them. "OK Mr. Smith. Your form looks good, but just don't forget to breathe." Of course they would start breathing again. And of course, about 3 or 4 repetitions later, they would start to hold their breath again. EVERY SINGLE PERSON!

Fast forward to today. I am still giving people "core" exercises. By my standards "the core" means any part of the torso that connects one limb to another, or a limb to the head. That covers a lot of ground. Needless to say it's not just the "abs" anymore. Nowadays I give patients exercises which they are going to do at home without me. I can't be there to say "Breathe!". So how can I ensure that they are breathing? They need to know their ABC's

Active Breathing Core (ABC) is system of exercises that I developed in which the person holds a position, and counts breaths. They do not count repetitions. But they have to be big audible breaths. Not so big that they are hyperventilating, but big enough to challenge the respirator muscles beyond the "rest phase". It's really not as complicated as it sounds. It is similar to yoga, but you just have to count your breaths.

At rest, our breath is controlled at a subsconcious level. It involves the diaphragm, the elastic recoil of the lungs, and some parts of the intercostal muscles (the muscles between the ribs). This process happens even though we are not consciously aware of it. Therefore I call it a passive breath pattern.

Active breathing occurs when our heart rate goes up and our demand for oxygen increases. Most anything beyond sitting and resting can do this. Light activities like walking, washing dishes, or cutting the grass are good examples. Our bodies need to increase the volume of air that is taken in, and begin to use different muscles to do just that. This includes muscles of the neck and shoulders (SCM, scalenes, pec minor) for the inhale, and abdominal and low back muscles for the exhale. These "active" exhaling muscles are rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique and transversus abdominis, iliocostalis and longissimus, the serratus posterior inferior and quadratus lumborum. All of those muscles are "core". Those muscles, which are activated in elevated breath patterns, are also necessary to help stabilize and support the torso during the activity. Therefore, these muscles need to be taught to be able to COORDINATE their function of breathing with their function of stabilizing!

Try this test. Stand up. Then squat down as if you are about to pick up a pencil. Then stand back up. Go ahead and do it now.
Done? Chances are you just held your breath to complete this movement. Your body should not need to shut down the breathing process in order to do such simple tasks. Now think about running. Do you think you need some core muscles during this movement? Do you think you also need to breath? Bingo!

So for simplification, I now give these positional exercises and have the person count three big audible breaths. Then come out of the position and relax for a breath or two. This is repeated at least 5 times. Coming out of position is often necessary. The longer someone holds a position, the less likely they are to hold GOOD position. So the small break helps them "reset".

Don't worry, though. You won't have to go back to school to learn your ABC's. You can see them here on Youtube.