This series of movements was inspired by my friend, mentor and creator of the Pelvicore Pro. Fortunately I have the privilege of being able to learn from the absolute top minds in the field of movement science, soft tissue work and women’s health. Through these connections I have been able to carve a purposeful path towards healing, recovery and reintegration.
Most people think the best abdominal exercises are crunches, sits ups and pilates style training. And while these might do some good and even improve your abdominal strength, they are not what “core strength” really is. And they definitely do not improve reflex stability or how you move. The best type of abdominal training you can do, is by using exercises utilizing what is known as the slings of the body.
These are completed in a standing position that integrate arms and legs together in one simultaneous action. This is where stabilizers and movement based muscles work together in a sequence to produce optimal movement. And the first time you ever learned how to do this was when you were a baby. Before you had strength in your arms and legs to get around you were able to wiggle, roll and crawl which all came from your trunk, or what most people refer to as the core
There is great power of using infant development exercises and it can be extremely effective for an adult to learn how to stabilize themselves correctly before trying more advanced strength movements. Lack of strength is not the problem, it is the lack of coordination, timing, and stability across the entire body. Many mistakes will be made when attempting this and the child must go through the struggle to work it out. The mistakes and reflex stability the child learns are great lessons in what the body needs in order to provide good stiffness. Notice I said reflex stability which is how stabilizers function. Their role is to fire first to align the body perfectly for movement. They only work on a reflex level, which is why you don’t see kids doing planks to learn how to stand up. They don’t build their core from doing planks or crunches. Also you cannot assist them in this stage, or you risk disrupting the stability process of the body. The same thing is true for adults who experience shoulder pain, back pain, hip pain and basically any joint pain. Their biggest problem is a lack of stability at many of the key joints. The big difference between the child and an adult is the child still has adequate mobility, whereas the adult has usually lost this. The stiffness in their joints will cause tremendous difficulty in even getting in position to move let alone executing efficient movement. But this is where the real beauty of these exercises are!
Ok, onto the exercises:
👶 This series of movements is all about reconnecting the developmental sequence!
🤔I have noticed some poor recruitment strategies and movement inefficiency lately!
🧠 Time to reboot!!
📅 At 4.5 months post abdominoplasty the tissue strength is strong enough to tolerate greater load but my structure must have the efficiency to handle it and…I don’t!
🤗This rolling sequence to side lying with a hand and eye driver demands two different movement strategies!
💪🏽I have to dig myself out of the preferred pattern by presenting new movement opportunities!
♥️Enjoy 6–10 reps per side!
💥 Adding another input into my healing abdominal wall…impact!
🤗Thank you to my mentor Christina Christie, creator of Pelvicore Pro for the suggestion on the progression within a week of regression. .
💨 Give this rockstar move a try with the breathing exerciser for an added challenge with resisted breathing!
Try this challenge:
✅Vary hand position
✅Change your body angle
✅Exhale upon landing
✅Progress to the ground from standing when able!
❤️ Enjoy a timed set or count your reps up to your threshold.
🚶♀️ Walking is my favorite! It’s my form of active meditation! In order to maximize the experience and let the walking feed my pelvic floor and core…I need to have good hip motion!
🚶♀️This is my back leg gait pattern, I am looking for extension, abduction and relative internal rotation on the trail leg!
🤗Using the 3ACT Mini Slide and my environment, a weighted and unweighted hand driver and an eye driver creates both a bottom up and top down reaction.
The kneeling position really helps me facilitate the relative internal rotation. This is so key to pelvic floor health!!
The slippery surface of the slide provides resistance throughout the entire movement!
❤️Enjoy 3-50 rounds per side!
🌏 Exploring how great I can make my global function depends a lot on the health of my hips and may ability to “load and explode”!
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Here I am going plane by plane through the Gray Institute 3D MAPS. .
The developmental sequences shown earlier this week are the roots to the success of this sequence!
I still have work to do but each step forward gets me closer to my goal!!
If you are frustrated or in doubt of progress, go back to the basics and consistently build!
🤗Enjoy 3-10 reps per side per plane of motion!!
Oh this pattern felt so good to my hips!
The ViPR Pro an Pelvicore Pro go together so well.
Here I have take out the feet and built off of an earlier kneeling progression with a hand and eye diver by adding ViPR Pro and elevated to a box.
This was borderline on my threshold of ability at this stage but I felt controlled and had no ill effects after so it’s a keeper!
The goal is to further challenge the tissues of my abdominal wall through the loaded reaches and and input variable lines of stress.
😊Enjoy 3-5 reaches per plane per knee position!
I have four drivers:
✅pelvis
✅hands
✅eyes
✅breath
Pelvis follows hands except for in the frontal plane where it is opposite. Breath follows the pattern, inhale into the load exhale explode out.
The moving platform of the Core-Tex creates an overload directly via the thoracic spine that my core has to control and react to!
I am isometrically loading my hips with the @pelvicore_pro into first internal rotation and then external rotation while moving through extension!
This is a Big Bang exercise!!
Enjoy 4-20 reps per position
The consistency and patience of today brings huge rewards down the road from now!
This means pulling the reins on myself when it comes to patterns that I can do but should not do right now!
At 4.5 months post abdominal wall deconstruction I am still rebuilding the integrity of the connective tissue!
Here I am holding a full toes and hands support:
🌍 Gravity
🤗 Pelvicore Pro
💨 Breath
🖐🏿 Hand driver
👁 Eye driver
All of these inputs work to bring strength and resilience to the tissues of my core!
😃Enjoy 4-20 taps per foot position, changing breath pattern and hand position!
Don’t be afraid to pause and reset
I hope these patterns inspire you to pause, reset and evaluate your movement. Strength is one thing, holding a plank for 3 minutes is quite a feat! But if you can’t integrate it and sequence movement properly, eventually something will break down somewhere in your body.