Our latest Mobility Coach Plus guest presentation is A Deep Dive Into Intra-Abdominal Pressure With Erin McGuire.
Erin is the creator of the Core360 Belt and DNS Instructor.
What is Intra-Abdominal Pressure?
Intra-abdominal pressure is defined as the steady-state pressure concealed within the abdominal cavity and resulting from the interaction between the abdominal wall and viscera; IAP oscillates according to respiratory phase and abdominal wall resistance.
When your core is engaged correctly, your back is supported and a solid base is created giving you the stability needed for optimal movement to occur.
The key to building a strong core is doing it right. Many of us are NOT doing it right and most of us, at the very least, can be using our core better.
360 Degree Breathing- What It Look Like?
People often talk about 360 degrees of expansion but rarely display it.
The ability to control intra-abdominal pressure within our core is huge. It all starts with optimizing breathing mechanics.
Why And How We Train Core
Do you train your core? Does it look like this when you do it?
Maintaining outward pressure is not easy and rarely understood. Our foundation starts in the middle. We need a stable base.
The connection between your ribcage and pelvis is going to have a huge impact on all movement endeavors. Even more dynamic movements like sprinting that do not require bracing or anti-rotation will improve by optimizing this relationship.
Think of it as changing the start position so every direction you go after has a higher chance of success.
Stop Using Pull Your Belly Button In As A Cue
Stop doing this! Here is why:
The idea of core stability and optimal breathing are two of the most misunderstood concepts in training.
Like anything nuance is necessary with the context being the first thing to consider.
In other words, how you run and how you back squat a barbell are completely different tasks that require different demands. Add another layer to it by considering the demand for standing and sitting.
Hopefully, you are getting the point that we need options yet again so we can be successful in multiple contexts. This means while pallof presses might not be great for sprinting they are probably great for someone who is a wet noodle and can’t resist force at all.
For the powerlifter who is only resisting force and staying “tight” then they might want to consider more dynamic stuff like Medball tosses and other rotational movements. With all that said we want to secure the basics and progress from there.
It doesn’t get more basic than breathing.
Even a sprinter sets up in a static position before the start of the race. That starting position will have a huge effect on how dynamic that ribcage can be.
Now even more specific to the video…. I believe the lungs expand and compress in a 360-degree manner with a slight emphasis on bottom-up on the inhale and top-down on the exhales.
By pulling your belly button in you are just squeezing the lower front versus getting air out of the lunges. This is not dynamic.
When you enroll in Mobility Coach Plus, you get access to all of our guest presenters. You also get live access to the presentation when they happen and are free to ask questions at the end of the presentation.
If you would like to train one-on-one with Ian, learn more here.
