THE SIX “NO-RISK ABS” PRINCIPLES
Keep the Ribs Open No Matter How You’re Breathing
Coordinate the Abs with the Perineum
Coordinate the Rectus Abdominis with the Transversus Abdominis
Coordinate the Obliques with the Transversus Abdominis
On the following pages you will find a series of abdominal exercises that make up a part of the complete No-Risk Abs series. These exercises reflect the observations made in the preceding pages of this book.
These exercises are presented not as therapy, but as a means to improve body awareness and enhance training. They do not take pathologies into account. They can, however, be included in a therapy program and modified by a qualified professional to accommodate individual pathologies.
Any reader wishing to perform the exercises contained in these pages must be medically fit to participate in an exercise program. Some of these exercises may not be suitable for everyone; caution should be taken and modifications made for those suffering from diseases of the spine, rheumatological diseases, cancers, cardiovascular disease, or neurological or psychiatric disorders. In all of these cases the reader should seek the advice of the treating physician before beginning the exercises.
These also are not the only abdominal exercises that you can do. However, these exercises allow for a coordination of the breath that may be quite different from what you are used to when working the abdominals. The types of breathing proposed here, in particular the rib cage breathing, are meant to be done when performing the abdominal exercises. The reader should not infer that these types of breathing should be used all of the time. On the contrary, it is healthy to vary the way that you breathe when you exercise, as well as in daily life.*4
Important Note
If you are not accustomed to exercising or are not a physical therapist or a teacher of a movement technique, it is indispensable to learn this series of exercises from a teacher trained in the No-Risk Abs technique.
Keep the Ribs Open No Matter How You’re Breathing
The first thing to remember is that there are many methods of breathing*5 and a number of ways that we can inhale and exhale. When doing abdominal exercises, we tend to do them in a way that causes our ribs to close. As a consequence, we breathe with the movement that closes the ribs, rather than consciously exercising the abdominals on an inhalation or exhalation.
We tend to inhale diaphragmatically, so that the diaphragm lowers and pushes the belly out. On the exhalation, we tend to close our ribs. In both cases, the consequences are the same: the belly expands, but there is a lot of downward pressure on the perineum—something it’s best to avoid.
This is why, in many of the following exercises, the preferred breath is an inhalation to open the ribs at the moment that the abdominals tend to “close” the bones (at the moment that their action is in the “skeletal” mode). This opening of the ribs is easy to find on the inhalation, but difficult to find and maintain on the exhalation. We’ll leave that to the experts. When you’re doing the exercises, we propose that you open the ribs on the inhalation, when the abdominals are in “visceral” mode, and simply try to keep the ribs open on the exhalation, when you draw the belly in.
While doing abdominal exercises, we tend to repeatedly close the ribs. Before starting an exercise it’s helpful to anticipate this closure of the ribs and try to work with them more open.
See preparatory exercises 1, “Mobilize the ribs”, and 2, “tone the Muscles that Open the ribs”.
The preference is to breathe with the ribs open when the abdominals are the most active, whether on the inhalation (easier) or the exhalation (harder).
Coordinate the Abs and the Perineum
The abdominals directly influence the state of the perineum. Working the abdominals in a less than ideal way can damage the perineum. Conversely, coordinating the work of the abs and perineum can have a beneficial effect on the latter.
How can the abdominals damage the perineum?
- Dropping and closing the ribs pushes the organs downward toward the pelvis and generates pressure in the lower abdominal cavity.
- Flexing the spine from the head to the tailbone also pushes the organs downward toward the pelvis. This too creates pressure in the perineum, albeit less than closing the ribs creates.
- When the contraction of the abdominals themselves in the “visceral” mode pushes the organs downward, they are directly responsible for pressure on the perineum. Sometimes this is intentional, as during defecation, urination, and childbirth. But outside of these situations, this pushing is most often undesirable.
How do we protect the perineum when doing abdominal exercises?
- Give the perineum a “wake-up call” by doing a few perineum exercises before each session of abs work.
- Contract the perineum every time a movement pushes the organs downward. In other words, when the abdominals are working in “skeletal” mode, contract the perineum to help it withstand the pressure.
- Reduce the pressure on the perineum by keeping the ribs open whenever the abdominal mass is being pushed toward the pelvis.
It is imperative to protect the perineum when doing abdominal exercises.
See preparatory exercise 3, “Coordinate the Abs and the Perineum”.
Coordinate the Rectus Abdominis and Transversus Abdominis
We’ve seen how the transversus abdominis, the dominant muscle of the waist, wraps around the midsection to give us that “hourglass” shape. To more completely pull in the belly, we need to coordinate the action of the transversus abdominis with the action of the other abdominal muscles. Let’s look first at the rectus abdominis.
If we don’t want to send the contents of the abdominal cavity heading southward, we must support the lower belly by activating the lowest part of the rectus abdominis. In the exercises that follow, it is this action of the rectus abdominis that we’re looking for each time we do an abdominal contraction in the “visceral” mode.
Why coordinate the action of the transversus abdominis and the rectus abdominis?
The lower fibers of the rectus abdominis are the only ones in the front of the abdomen that lift the contents of the abdominal cavity away from the perineum. In addition, the rectus is the only abdominal muscle that doesn’t work in a way that separates the linea alba.
See preparatory exercise 4, “Coordinate the Rectus Abdominis with the Transversus Abdominis”.
Coordinate the Obliques and Transversus Abdominis
We now know how the transversus abdominis dominates and encircles the waist like a corset. But it can’t pull in the belly completely by itself. For this we need to solicit the other abdominal muscles as well. Let’s look now at the obliques.
If we want to contract the transversus abdominis without pushing the contents of the abdominal cavity toward the lower belly, we need to counteract the downward push by contracting the lower fibers of the obliques. In the exercises that follow, we’ll look to find this co-contraction whenever we contract the abdominals in “visceral” mode.
Like the rectus abdominis, the lower fibers of the obliques lift the contents of the abdomen away from the perineum, but in a more lateral manner. For this reason it’s important to coordinate the obliques with the transversus abdominis.
See preparatory exercise 5, “Coordinate the Obliques with the Transversus Abdominis”.
For Abs/Glute Work, Open the Front of the Hips
Certain exercises are designed to work the abs and the glutes at the same time. Both of these muscle groups place the pelvis in retroversion—a tuck. Therefore, these exercises strongly retrovert the pelvis.
The hip joint is not always ready for the pelvis to retrovert. Often the muscles and ligaments in the front of the hip are tight, which places the joint in a bit of flexion. Sitting for long periods of time is often the cause of this tightness. Strengthening the glutes in this situation compresses the hip joint and puts the cartilage there under tension as well. For this reason, we must open the front of the hip before doing abdominal or glute work.
Similarly, if the front of the hip is in a bit of flexion, when we stand up, we find that our pelvis is pulled into anteversion, creating excessive curve in the lower back. Here too, we need to free up what are essentially “brakes” in the front of the hip before we reinforce the abs and glutes, which pull the pelvis into retroversion.
Before working the abs and the glutes, it’s important to relax the ligaments and muscles at the front of the hip.
See preparatory exercise 6, “Open the Front of the Hips”.
Coordinate the Abdominal and Back Muscles
The abdominals tuck (retrovert) the pelvis and take the natural lordotic curve out of the spine. Though you might look to do this deliberately, to elongate the spine, it is not the normal position of the spine.
This is why you should keep a small curve in the lumbar region when you contract the abs. To keep this position, the back muscles must contract concurrently. The abdominal and back muscles work in opposition on the lumbar spine, thereby maintaining equilibrium and keeping the lower back in a position that is neither excessively arched nor tucked.
When doing abdominal exercises it is important to keep the pelvis and back in balance, maintaining the natural lordotic curve of the spine. This action requires not just the abdominals but other muscles as well, and in particular the muscles at the back of the pelvis and the spine.
See preparatory exercise 7, “coordinate the abdominal and Back Muscles”.