A Comprehensive Guide to Engaging Your Core

You’ve probably heard the phrase “engage your core” at least once in your life, even if you’ve never seen an exercise program, read a fitness magazine, or set foot in a gym. Sometimes it’s gently encouraged, while at other times it’s yelled while you’re sweating out your last rep. However, you may wonder what your core is, what it means to engage it, and how to do so.

Your core consists of the muscles surrounding your trunk, including your abdominals, obliques, diaphragm, pelvic floor, trunk extensors, and hip flexors.

Your core provides stability to your trunk for balance and for movements like lifting weights and standing up from a chair. It also provides mobility to allow your torso to move as needed, such as when you reach for your seatbelt or swing a golf club.

Furthermore, your core muscles are involved in everyday activities such as breathing, posture control, urination, and defecation .

Every time you exhale and inhale, your diaphragm plays a large part in allowing air to flow into and out of your lungs. When you sit up straight, your core muscles contract to keep your trunk upright. When you use the bathroom, they’re there to start and stop your business.

This article discusses what the core muscles are, describes their role in trunk mobility and stability, and reviews core exercises that you can incorporate into your workout regimen.
What are your core muscles?
Several muscle groups make up your core muscles.

Rectus abdominis
The rectus abdominis, also known as the six-pack muscle, attaches from your lower ribs to the front of your pelvis. The primary movement it performs is flexing your spine, such as when you sit up in bed or perform a crunch.

This muscle is the most superficial of all the core muscles and is therefore not as useful for spinal stability .

Internal and external obliques
The internal and external obliques attach on the lateral sides of the trunk from your ribs to your pelvis. Statically, they provide stability to the front and sides of the trunk.

Their primary movements involve trunk rotation, such as when you swing a baseball bat, and side bending. When they work bilaterally, they also flex the spine.

Transversus abdominis
The transversus abdominis originates from many points, including the back and top of the pelvis and the lower six ribs. Its fibers run horizontally around the body to the linea alba, or midline. It’s the deepest abdominal muscle, and its job is to provide support to the spine.

When the transversus abdominis is engaged, it co-contracts with the multifidus muscle to provide deep, segmental stability to the lower back in particular (6).

People with chronic low back pain often benefit from strengthening these muscles.

Pelvic floor
The pelvic floor muscles are located on the underside of the pelvis and act similarly to a hammock or sling. When engaged, they lift upward toward the stomach.

These muscles start and stop the flow of urine and feces but also act as deep stabilizers of the spine and pelvis (7, 8).

Diaphragm
The diaphragm attaches to the underside of your lower ribs.

It’s the primary muscle responsible for breathing in and out, but recent research suggests it also plays an important role in cardiac function, lymphatic return, regulating emotional states, swallowing and vomiting, lumbar stabilization, and pain tolerance (9Trusted Source).

Back extensors
Your back extensors are multilayered muscles that include the erector spinae muscles, quadratus lumborum, and multifidus. In general, they attach the spine to the pelvis or an individual vertebra to the vertebrae above and below.

Their primary functions are spinal extension (bending backward), postural support, and supporting the spine when you’re bending forward and lifting loads, such as during squats or biceps curls.

Iliopsoas
The iliacus and psoas major are two hip flexors that converge into one muscle belly, which is why they’re often called the iliopsoas. They originate from the thoracic and lumbar spine (psoas) and the iliac crest of the pelvis (ilacus) and insert on the femur, or upper leg bone

Source: healthline