City Celebrates International Woman’s Day

Today, The City Of Cornwall we recognize the contributions and struggles of women in our community. Here are just a few of the many amazing and hardworking women that make our City the wonderful place that it is! #IWD2023 Submitted photo

The term “core” was coined after the deep inner abdominal muscle transverse abdominis, which wraps all the way around the body and expands from your rib cage to your pelvis.

When you contract this abdominal muscle (not your “washboard abs” - they’re different), a corset action happens where the muscle draws everything in from all angles. It draws the sides of the body in, the front and back of the body in, and pulls the rib cage in so it sits comfortably over the pelvis (an ideal postural position). So if you think about it, if you are training this muscle properly, it will improve your posture and improve lower back spinal stability - this will reduce lower back and hip pain. Now adding onto this, if you contract this muscle in combination with the pelvic floor (the muscles on the inside of the pelvis) and the diaphragm (our muscle of respiration), it will also improve bladder and bowel function. So it can be said that a weakness in your deep inner core muscle can lead to things like low back and hip pain, but also can lead to urine leakage, urine urgency, urine frequency, fecal leakage, constipation and even pelvic organ prolapse. Here’s how to activate these muscles to avoid the mentioned issues.

Activating your deep inner core + diaphragm:

- Lie on your back with your knees bent

- Inhale air while expanding your belly and rib cage

- Exhale air with pursed lips and draw your belly button in towards your spine as you exhale fully.

- Inhale and let your belly expand again. Exhale and draw in. Repeat for 30 breaths. Do not hold your breath. Avoid the temptation to draw this muscle in on your inhale.

As a progression to this exercise, try to keep your deep core activated while continuing to belly breathe. You will notice your breaths will not be as deep, however be sure to continue to breathe into your belly. Take a break with a few normal breaths, then repeat.

Your pelvic floor muscles can be found by visualizing yourself lifting up your perineum, or by visualizing and squeezing to “stop the flow of urine”. This requires practice and should be performed after you can easily do the previous exercise. Let’s add these muscles to the mix:

- On your exhale, while you draw your belly button in, try to squeeze your pelvic muscles at the same time.

- Try holding your inner core muscle in with your pelvic floor, while continuing to breathe into your belly for a few breaths. Take a break and breathe normally, then repeat again. Perform this sequence for 2 minutes.

- Progress by doing this in different positions (sitting, standing, on all fours). This combination exercise requires focus and takes some time to coordinate, but once you get it, it can be your saving grace. If you have questions about this or require any additional support, please know that the team @ Move Therapeutics is always here to help you (343-885-1240, info@movetherapeutics.ca for more information).