When people think about pelvic-floor or deep-core training, they often think about squeezing the pelvic floor, pulling the belly button in and trying to keep the stomach tight.
But these cues don’t always lead to effective core engagement.
The pelvic floor doesn’t work on its own. It coordinates with the diaphragm, abdominal muscles and the muscles around the spine as we breathe and move (Hodges et al., 2007; Neumann & Gill, 2002).
This is why, when I’m working with someone who struggles with core control, back discomfort or certain strength exercises, I’m rarely interested in simply making them “brace harder”. I want to see how the whole system is working together.
Much of the way I approach this has been influenced by Dr Meghan Sac-Ocbina’s work on breathing, ribcage movement and pressure management (Sac-Ocbina, n.d.).
Your core is more than your transversus abdominis
The term deep core gets thrown around a lot in fitness, and it is often reduced to simply “switching on” the transversus abdominis. In reality, your core works much more like a coordinated system. The diaphragm, pelvic floor, abdominal muscles and muscles surrounding the spine all contribute to managing pressure, creating core stability and supporting movement (Sapsford et al., 2001).
For this reason, I find it much more useful to think about how the ribcage, abdominal wall and pelvis work together, rather than trying to isolate one particular muscle. A position I often come back to is having the ribcage sitting reasonably well over the pelvis, allowing these muscles to work together more effectively.
Sac-Ocbina describes this as a type of “home base”, rather than a posture we should rigidly hold throughout the day (Sac-Ocbina, n.d.). The goal isn’t to constantly brace your stomach or consciously correct your posture. Instead, by strengthening the muscles that support the trunk and improving how they coordinate during movement, your body becomes better able to find and maintain a supported position naturally, without you having to think about it all the time.
Good breathing isn’t just pushing your belly out
Another thing I often see is people who have been taught that diaphragmatic breathing means taking a huge breath into the stomach.
The stomach moving isn’t necessarily wrong, but ideally the ribcage should have the ability to expand in different directions. When you inhale, there should be some movement through the front, sides and back of the ribcage, rather than everything being pushed forwards.
Sac-Ocbina refers to this as access to 360-degree expansion (Sac-Ocbina, n.d.).
This matters because breathing and pressure management are closely linked. During inhalation, the diaphragm descends and the pelvic floor generally moves with the change in pressure. During exhalation, the diaphragm recoils upwards and the abdominal wall can contribute more to compression and support (Hodges et al., 2007).
That doesn’t mean there is one “perfect” way to breathe. What I’m looking for is options.
Can you expand the back of your ribs? Can you breathe into the sides? Can you exhale properly? Can you maintain some abdominal tension and still take a breath?
These things become particularly useful when we start adding movement and load, and when learning how to engage your core and breathe during strength training.
A simple drill to try
One simple exercise I often use is Posterior Expansion Breathing (At Home with Pillow).
Sit back into a comfortable child’s pose with your knees either narrow or wide, and place a pillow on your lap for support. Add extra pillows under your knees or hips if you need them. You can also do this in a chair if the floor is not currently accessible to you.
From here:
- Inhale, focusing on expanding the back and sides of your ribcage. The breath should be directed into these areas consciously, and you should see movement through the “bra strap line” if this area is moving well.
- Exhale slowly and fully until you naturally feel your deep abdominal muscles begin to engage towards the end of the breath.
- This should feel like a gentle “cinching”, like a corset around your torso.
- Once you have found this sensation, softly maintain it while you continue the breathing practice.
- Repeat for around 4–6 relaxed breaths.
The aim is simply to encourage more movement through the back and sides of the ribcage and help you feel how your breathing and abdominal muscles work together.
Breathing drills are a useful tool for improving awareness and coordination, which you can then carry into your strength training.
They also aren’t a substitute for specific pelvic-floor muscle training when that is genuinely required. Evidence still supports targeted pelvic-floor muscle training for conditions such as urinary incontinence (Bø et al., 2023), and any pelvic-floor-related condition should be investigated by a GP and/or physiotherapist before you start exercising.
The goal is better movement, not better breathing drills
For me, the real value of this work is what happens afterwards.
If we can improve someone’s awareness of their ribs, pelvis and abdominal wall, we can then start asking that system to work more effectively during squats, hinges, presses, rows and eventually heavier lifting.
That is where things become useful.
Recently, one of my female clients significantly improved her front squat technique simply by changing how she was breathing and using her deep core during the movement. I’ve also noticed a visible change in how she holds her torso, with more natural support through her waist and abdominal wall, an area she had been wanting to improve for quite some time. The same breathing and awareness cues have helped her feel more supported not only during strength training, but throughout her workday as well.
In Part B, I’ll explain how I take these breathing and core strategies off the floor and turn them into meaningful strength training.
I offer individualised personal training at Goodlife Health Clubs Wynnum and from my private home gym in Hemmant, working with people across Wynnum and Brisbane Bayside who want to become stronger but need a little more consideration around movement restrictions, previous injuries or persistent niggles.
References
Bø, K., Driusso, P., & Homsi Jorge, C. (2023). Can you breathe yourself to a better pelvic floor? A systematic review. Neurourology and Urodynamics, 42(6), 1261–1279.
Hodges, P. W., Sapsford, R., & Pengel, L. H. M. (2007). Postural and respiratory functions of the pelvic floor muscles. Neurourology and Urodynamics, 26(3), 362–371.
Neumann, P., & Gill, V. (2002). Pelvic floor and abdominal muscle interaction: EMG activity and intra-abdominal pressure. International Urogynecology Journal, 13(2), 125–132.
Sac-Ocbina, M. (n.d.). The rib cage, breathing & pressure [Educational PDF].
Sapsford, R. R., Hodges, P. W., Richardson, C. A., Cooper, D. H., Markwell, S. J., & Jull, G. A. (2001). Co-activation of the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles during voluntary exercises. Neurourology and Urodynamics, 20(1), 31–42.