Do your upper abdominals and glutes feel grippy during core work? Or maybe you’ve tried tons of crunches and you’re not seeing any progress?

Early postpartum after both babies I remember feeling completely disconnected to my abdominals. In an effort to reconnect I did my google research, only to find the best ways to “get my abs back” were around “tightening” and “shortening.” But, these movements didn’t feel as great in my body.

What Most Core Programs are Missing

Many abdominal exercises focus on the concentric phase of the movement. Your abdominals are just like any other muscle. We want to train them both ways, and adding some eccentric work to your routine is pure fire.

**Note: a concentric contraction is when a muscle creates tension while it shortens and eccentric activation occurs when a muscle creates tension when lengthened.

When would eccentric abdominal work come in handy?

Think about reaching high overhead, hanging in a pull up position, breathing in a plank position, hollow holds, or just holding your baby overhead while you lay on your back. These types of movements require a lot of control, pressure management, and coordination to perform.

Check out the plank walk out example below.

I love incorporating “reverse breathing” with abdominal work, or even something like a cat/cow. Not only do we exhale and feel the abdominals in a more lengthened position (which keeps the rectus from taking over), we also drive some posterior expansion into the back on the inhale. Win win!

Instructions: Inhale to round to drive posterior expansion on the back of the rib cage (watch for arching like an angry cat and dropping the chest) and exhale to come forward. In this position you’ll feel your deep abs in a more lengthened position, the anterior pelvic floor, and it’s a bit harder to clench on your glutes.

Upper abdominal gripping, Pressure Management, and Rib Flare

Training the abdominals eccentrically can be a huge piece to down regulating bossy upper abdominals / rectus abdominis dominance. We are essentially deleveraging the rectus in these positions. If you tend to be more rectus dominant and notice upper abdominal gripping or doming through your core, this may be a strategy to add to your core routine.

Consider your position: If we have a really tight chest wall and the shoulders are pulled forward (maybe more so on one side), your head may come along for the ride with a sternum being pulled down. Sometimes this happens due to time at a desk, holding baby, increase in breast tissue size, etc. Our bodies and lives are very “forward” in nature. In this position I may also get a lot more upper abs / rectus dominance. Check out this post where I talk more about this and some chest wall expansion.

Rib Flare: Exhaling in a more extended position may also be helpful for managing a rib flare and controlling your overall position. Only go to a range you can control without flaring the rib cage and losing contact with the ground. You can switch up movements to regress by cutting your range of motion, keeping one foot grounded, reaching (serratus), and propping your head up to keep the neck muscles calm and passively get you in a more ribs down position.

Pressure Management: If you are struggling to manage pressure, consider adding eccentric work as well. When we exhale to “tighten” or “shorten,” this can lead to pressure down on the pelvic floor.

There are many pieces to addressing pressure, rib cage position, and upper abdominal gripping (often with a lower belly pooch)

• Learn to expand ribcage 360 degrees (especially into the side and back ribs)

• Learn to engage your core from the bottom up vs “pulling” down with the rib cage / upper abdominals.

• Progressive exercise to challenge core control rather than using a strategy of overusing upper abdominals and back muscles and forcing the ribs down for stability and control

• Address posterior pelvic floor tightness / glute gripping

THEN we can move on to exercises like a crunch!

Deadbug Example

A deadbug is a great example of working the abdominals in an eccentric position. Typical cueing is inhale to extend, exhale to bring the leg back. But, try exhaling as you extend (exhaling in a lengthened position). You can inhale to return or exhale through the full range of motion.

I’ve included a few dead bug variations below.

A recent one I learned is a modified (one foot on the floor) dead bug with crossbody reach.

• Grab a light dumbbell and reach towards the ceiling to help bring the rib cage back. Inhale in this position as you reach your shoulder blades off the ground. Keep sternum lifted.

• Exhale from the bottom up as you reach your arms overhead at a diagonal and reach your opposite leg away from midline. Watch for flaring through the ribcage and work on maintaining your stacked body position.

• Take a long exhale. Maybe even hold this position and pause.

When we move with intention and go SLOW we can really connect to our abdominals in any position. Everything becomes a core exercise when you can breathe well here too!

You’ll often see me program dead bug variations in programming because there is so much we can do and they are a great way to train the abdominals in a stacked position with the ground as a reference.

As you progress you can also play with eccentric control in more advanced positions like planks, hangs, pike ups, and more!

Give it a shot and see how it feels. There is no ONE way to breathe, but experimenting with different strategies can help you better sense your body in space, control the grippiness, feel your low abs, and manage a rib flare. Don’t be afraid to mix it up.

Curious to learn more about core training? Check out my BUILDCore Program or let’s chat about 1:1 training! I offer virtual training and in person Pre & Postnatal Training in San Diego.

Early Postpartum? Check out my FREE Guide

Feel good mama <3

xoxo,

Erica