What Is Abdominal Bracing? How To Do Abdominal Bracing Exercises Correctly

Core Abdominal Muscles

The term ‘core’ is often used to refer only to the ‘abdominal’ muscles. Similarly, ‘core exercises’ is misused, referring to ‘abdominal exercises’.

The abdominal muscles form part of the core musculature. 

Your core is your trunk and your core muscles are all the muscles supporting your trunk, including your abdominal muscles.

Your core muscles include your:

• Abdominal muscles at the front and wrapping around your trunk like a corset 
• Spinal muscles at the back of your body between your shoulder blades and your hips
• Pelvic floor muscles at the base of your trunk sling from your tailbone to your pubic bone 
• Diaphragm muscle forms the top of this cylinder beneath your lungs.

The core muscles are designed to work together to stabilise and firm your trunk.

When core muscles work well, together they form a natural girdle of support that firms your spine, pelvic floor, abdomen (belly) and supports breathing. The muscle corset also controls and maintains pressure within your trunk.

Correct abdominal bracing protects and supports your spine, pelvic floor and good breathing patterns.

If the pressure within your trunk is too great, this can overload a weak pelvic floor causing or worsening pelvic floor problems including prolapse or incontinence. If your spine is vulnerable to injury too much pressure within the trunk can cause lower back disc injury. 

This is why correct abdominal bracing technique is important for protecting the spine and the pelvic floor.

What Causes Abdominal Muscles to Stop Working?

The abdominal muscles can stop working well with:

• Overstretching e.g. pregnancy or being overweight
• Abdominal surgery
• Slumped forwards posture
• Lower back pain
• Lack of exercise
• Incorrect abdominal exercises
• Intense upper abdominal exercises at the expense of the deep inner core muscles (e.g. abdominal curl exercises).

Unsafe Abdominal Bracing Technique to Avoid

Bracing the abdominal muscles incorrectly can cause back and pelvic floor problems.

Abdominal bracing is not the same as intense abdominal hollowing that is sometimes taught in Pilates.

Contracting the abdominal muscles too strongly with abdominal hollowing can cause 2 problems:

1. The lower back can flatten out or become rounded. This poor posture increases the risk of lower back injuries.
2. If your pelvic floor is weak, intense abdominal contraction can force your pelvic floor downwards causing it to stretch and weaken increasing the risk of prolapse worsening, incontinence and/or pelvic pain problems.

Safe Abdominal Bracing Technique

Bracing the abdominal muscles correctly can encourage the spinal and pelvic floor muscles to work well too.

This video teaches you how to correctly brace your deep abdominal core muscles

To correctly brace your abdominal muscles:

1. Keep the inward curve in your lower back (avoid rounding your lower back)
2. Breathe normally throughout
3. Lift and squeeze your pelvic floor muscles
4. Very gently contract or tense your abdominal wall (the area below your briefs)
5. Try to keep your pelvic floor and lower abdominal muscles contracted together
6. Relax your abdominal muscles after maintaining your abdominal contraction for 12-15 seconds at a time.

Note: Correct abdominal bracing is never an outward bulging action of the abdomen. Rather, it’s a subtle in draw of the lower abdomen.

When To Use Abdominal Bracing

Use the correct abdominal bracing technique to protect your spine and pelvic floor during loading activity.

Typically you would use the technique described above immediately before and during lifting and/or bending forwards. For example safe lifting the washing basket, getting the shopping out of the car, lifting the pram or moving pot plants.

It’s not practical or appropriate to keep these muscles contracted all the time such as when you walk. Use your protective corset muscles (i.e. abdominal and pelvic floor muscles) when you need to protect your spine, then allow them to relax and recover.

Abdominal bracing exercises will help you strengthen your core muscles and improve control for when you do need to use them.

Abdominal Bracing Exercises to do at Home

There are a number of exercises you can practice at home to train your core muscles used for abdominal bracing.

These core exercises include:

• Pelvic floor exercises
• Alternate arm and leg raise exercise (i.e. Superman exercise)
• Heel slide exercises
• Side plank
• Forward plank – modify this exercise to reduce the load on your pelvic floor by doing this exercise kneeling rather than on your toes. This also a nice way to modify this exercise when first starting out, especially if you’ve experienced lower back pain.

For more information on these core exercises you can refer to the  videos and information below.

Further Information & Videos

» How to Modify Plank Exercise for Safer Core Strengthening

» Core Strengthening Exercises for Beginners

» Daily Pelvic Floor Exercises for Women Download Guide

» Beginners Back Exercises Routine for Safe Back Strengthening