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What is the transverse abdominis?
Ever wonder how your instagram heroes float lightly and land effortlessly?
They must have some kind of unfair advantage right?
Well, kinda.
It’s troubling that not one single yoga teacher has spilled the beans.
And kept you in the dark.
A little frustrating to say the least.
Let’s undo the confusion.
Do you know the one topic that get’s discussed ad nauseam at your local gym?
How to get a six-pack.
It’s funny, this is what I’ve observed, and maybe you’ve seen the same.
You walk into your local gym, and you see the same guy doing the following:
- He isolates the same 21 muscles doing the same boring machines.
- He runs on the same treadmill in the corner for the same boring 60 minutes daily.
- He drinks the same chocolate protein drink in his “shaker bottle” that he doesn’t really like.
- He repetitively eats the same boring salad with the same boring chicken breast on top and he calls himself healthy.
All this to get a six-pack.
You’ve seen this guy right?
And then the funny part.
He walks into the corner and glances around to make sure no one’s watching.
Then lifts up his shirt to take a “quick look” at his “abs”.
He admires them like a work of art.
This is the definition of a “Bro”. So let’s refer to him as that from now on.
Now this is the *really* funny part.
One day The Bro decides to “take a peak” at the yoga class going on similar to how he “takes a peak” at his abs in the mirror when he thinks no one is watching.
And what does he see?
A perfectly toned girl wearing the perfectly coordinated yoga outfit effortlessly lifting herself off the ground.
Elegantly hovering in some foreign-cool arm balance.
Like Crow.
And as quiet as a mouse pitter-pattering across the floor, she jumps up to handstand, repeatedly, holding it for 20 seconds at a time, effortlessly.
All this without even breaking a sweat.
And The Bro thinks to himself “Hey, I can do this, after all, I can squat 800 lbs. and I can see my six-pack”.
Then he tries.
And never mind lifting himself up, he can’t even lift a leg.
So much for that six-pack eh?
What is the Rectus Abdominis?
The Rectus Abdominis is the muscle that doesn’t matter much.
It’s not very functional.
But it looks nice.
It’s the muscle that rests on the front on your abdomen.
It does do a couple useful things like:
Help you breathe and keep the abdominal organs in place, but that’s about it.
It sure as hell isn’t the muscle that will help you float around like your heroes on Instagram.
The One that Really Matters
The Transverse Abdominis (TvA).
The transverse abdominis sits behind the six-pack muscle. It’s the highly functional muscle. This is the one that helps you float.
Your TvA runs from your Pubic Bone up to the bottom of the ribcage. It also runs between the bottom of your rib cage and your frontal hip bones.
Ok, back to the gym for a second. Have you seen the 500lb. bodybuilder walking around with a weight belt to support his (or her) lower back?
That’s the role of your TvA, it acts as a weight belt to hold you in place.
The Advice that Doesn’t Work
This is the million dollar question.
The usual advice on the topic is this:
Suck in your stomach.
Yeah, great, but it doesn’t work.
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
This is why there’s confusion around floating in the yoga community.
Let’s talk about Uddiyana Bandha. It’s taught by telling you to ‘suck in the stomach’ and this is how you do arm balances and inversions.
It’s not the whole story.
The Toothpaste Trick — This is Why it Doesn’t Work
Go grab a tube of toothpaste and squeeze the center.
All you’re doing is displacing the paste. Yes, the center where you squeeze is thinner, but the paste is still in the tube, it’s just moved.
Sucking in your stomach and pulling air up into your diaphragm or pushing air down into your pelvic floor isn’t going to do anything for you.
What is the Pelvic Floor? (This is Mula Bandha)
This is a problem I have with yoga teachers.
There’s lots of terminology thrown around for the sake of…well…throwing around terminology.
How many times have we heard something like this,
“Press your second metatarsal into the ground, squeeze the tibia in and back, and descend into the femur…and you’ll feel a stretch across your Obturator Internus.”
Silly right?
We get it, you have this cool anatomy app on your iPhone that you play with five minutes before class in order to show off.H
And you know what’s downright hilarious?
Yoga teachers joke amongst one another about “yoga teacher lingo”.
Ok, so what exactly is the Pelvic Floor?
The Pelvic Floor technically separates the pelvic cavity (above) from the perineum (below). This is useless to you, but impressive to repeat to your friends.
The muscles of the pelvic floor run from your pubic bone to your tailbone. They fill the space at the bottom of your pelvis. Hence, the “Pelvic Floor”.
These are the muscles that start everything.
They direct the muscles of the hips and TvA muscles to contract. When these muscles turn on, the other muscles turn on.
It’s worth repeating.
When the muscles of your Pelvic Floor turn on, your TvA muscles can engage properly.
This is drastically different from simply “sucking in your stomach”.
How Exactly to Engage Your TvA & Pelvic Floor — This is how you Float
Now we’re armed with the basics, let’s dovetail theory with function.
In short, the muscles of the Pelvic Floor start the engagement (contraction) of the TvA.
And listen…
You never want to isolate the TvA. It’s a waste of time and isn’t going to improve your yoga practice. Let the Pelvic Floor always drive the engagement of your TvA.
And here’s the piercing truth:
Yoga isn’t even about muscular isolation. It’s about teaching the muscles in the body to work together and this is one critical (and maybe the most complicated) relationship.
How to Engage your Pelvic Floor (for women):
This is going to sound a little weird, but this is how you have to think:
Imagine using your vagina like a straw.
Imagine sucking down a smoothie or trying to pick up a grape. It’s a gentle upward lifting action.
Note, it’s gentle, not forceful. Getting your TvA to engage properly is a combination of upward and inward drawing.
How to Engage your Pelvic Floor (for men):
I know this is going to sound cliche but it really is the best way to describe it:
Imagine yourself urinating. Then imagine stopping yourself mid-flow. Also, imagine trying to draw your testicles up.
Again, it’s a gentle upward lifting action.
Your Transverse Abdominis
Here are the key points to takeaway:
- Simply drawing your stomach in doesn’t do anything.
- Don’t waste time trying to active your Transverse Abdominis independently
- Your Transverse Abdominis and Pelvic Floor muscles activate together
- Ladies pick something up, gentlemen, stop something from flowing
- Proper engagement of your Transverse Abdominis feels like an upward *and* inward pulling
Now here is where I have to disappoint you.
You know how to engage your TvA. You’ve figured out how to do it standing or maybe even lying down.
However, in order to float around, fly and land lightly, you must be able to do this while moving.
Here’s where it gets hairy, but I’m going to guide you through it.
A Mention of “The Core”
Why have I refrained from using the “C’ word so far?
The term “core” is a fitness buzzword.
It’s unabashedly thrown around by people in the fitness world without truly understanding it’s meaning.
And it’s actual meaning can be debated to no end. How many different definitions of “the core” have you heard?
I can tell you what it’s not.
It’s not *just* the muscles in the stomach and it’s definitely not just the rectus abdominis.
The “core” consists not just of abdominal muscles, but muscles in the lower back, Pelvic Floor, and the hips. And this is still an over simplification of it.
This is why you haven’t heard me use that term in this article.
I’m not downplaying core strength.
It’s important (and I’ll have an entire post on it at some point) and it’s a lot more comprehensive.
Your Pelvic Floor muscles and TvA are a part of the core, not all of it.
Your Transverse Abdominis During and After Pregnancy (Trouble Brewing in Your Lower Back?)
Let’s start with my personal observation and a question.
Why is it that women after they’ve had kids have a harder time doing arm balances and inversions?
This is a common scenario in a yoga studio and I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes, repeatedly.
There is something that goes on during pregnancy.
Never mind the Transverse Abdominis and your Pelvic Floor muscles. Your entire Core get’s dealt a weakening blow during pregnancy. This needs to be rehabbed and for some women it never is.
Here’s what can happen:
A surefire sign of a weakened TvA is your abdominal muscles can physically split apart. Yes, your six-pack can split apart, but not completely into two.
If you’re interested, this is called “Diastasis Recti”.
Not to get to technical, but it’s useful if you understand this. While you are carrying your baby in your uterus, it literally pushes against your abs. Humans have connective tissue thats hold each of the sides of the six-pack together. This connective tissue is called linea alba and this is what get’s stretched during pregnancy.
It’s your Transverse Abdominis (along with the rest of your core muscles) that normally helps to hold all this together.
This is also the reason anyone who’s had children can suffer from extreme lower back pains. Your poor back muscles have to work overtime to compensate for the weakness in your TvA and Pelvic Floor muscles.
Another reason to acquaint yourself with your Transverse Abdominis.
Methods for Floating like Your Heroes of Instagram
Why is Engaging your TvA so difficult while inverted?
The shift of perspective.
I’m going to share some valuable insight with you.
I’ve seen plenty of students who know how to engage their Transverse Abdominis who still can’t float.
Why? Again, the shift of perspective. It’s also the context in how you do it.
Start with these.
I’m going to warn you, some of these exercises are difficult and require you to have command over the rest of your body.
1. Engage your TvA while Inverted Against a Wall
Kick yourself into a handstand up against a wall. Focus on the Pelvic Floor.
Here’s the thing, you’re used to lifting your Pelvic Floor up while standing or lying down. While on your hands, you are still lifting it up anatomically, but you’re effectively drawing it down toward the floor.
It’s a different sensation from just drawing your belly button in.
Now here’s a little secret that will speed up the process of learning handstand:
Learn what it feels like to engage your TvA properly while at the wall. This is why most students never leave the wall. They never learn to engage their TvA properly and they feel “stuck” and “dependent”.
Kinda like a horrible relationship.
It’s a helpless feeling and sucking your stomach in just doesn’t do it.
2. Engage your TvA While in a Forward Fold Standing & Sitting — This Prepares you to Land
Why work on engaging your Transverse Abdominis while folding?
Think about it.
A high percentage of the time you finishing floating you end in a forward fold of some sort.
Engaging properly while folding is critical to landing smoothly (in full control).
If you’ve ever tried to jump forward and land lightly in a Sun Salutation you’ve probably experienced this:
You’re on your way down, then boom, all of a sudden the smooth decent ends and you come crashing to the earth.
Do you know how to fix this?
Work on engaging your TvA while folding forward.
How do you know if you’re engaging correctly?
Test it in a forward fold on the floor. If your Transverse Abdominis is engaged correctly you should almost feel your hips moving back along the ground, in the opposite direction of your fold.
3. Don’t Ignore Downward Dog (and other simple poses)
Don’t ignore simple poses.
Use simple poses as a vehicle to practice more complex topics in your body. Like engaging your TvA. Do it in downward dog.
Learning to engage your TvA in these basic poses will set you apart from the rest:
For your homework, start working on these now and get back to me. I also have a custom designed sequence for TvA engaging/strengthening at the bottom of this post for you. Grab it and start working on it.
Yoga’s not about mastering movements, it’s about mastering micro-movements. Click To Tweet
4. Use a Block to Test your TvA Engagement
Grab a foam block and stick it between your legs.
Now squeeze. This will recruit the Pelvic Floor muscles and in turn engage your TvA.
Again, it’s easiest to do when standing or lying down.
Hold the block in as many different poses as possible. Try it against the wall in a handstand, while forward folding on the floor, or crow.
Learning to engage your TvA isn’t good enough for floating, you have to do it in the proper context.
Your Floating Blueprint
Learning to float forward from downward dog into a forward fold is the golden standard (like from a sun salutation). If you can nail this, you’re capable of floating into and out of all other poses and arm balances.
Here’s your mindset going forward:
Take a mental snapshot of every second of the jump forward. Take 4-5 good mental images.
Then extract those images into static standing poses.
Work on engaging your TvA in every one of those positions.
Once you’re comfortable engaging in various static position, move to engaging your TvA while in-motion. Doing this will prepare you for the float forward.
Practice engaging in these in-motion positions (these will prepare you to engage properly while jumping every time):
- Walking
- Walking backwards
- Walking in Plank
- Jumping
- Jumping 360 degrees in a circle
- Lifting and Lowering one leg at a time off the ground (move through your full range of motion)
It’s not the repetitious nature of jumping that’ll allow you to get it, it’s focusing intensely on that feeling inside you every time you jump.
Quantifying the Unquantifiable
There is you have it.
Stop looking at Instagram with a tinge of jealousy and stop telling yourself:
“I wish that was me.” or “Why can’t I do that.” or “I’m hopeless.”
Do what they do. Now you can.
You have a detailed plan for learning to float.
Take it and apply it to your practice, today.
Don’t waste time convincing yourself you can’t or it’s too complicated. Just get started.
Thanks for this post Brian! Love the detail and clarity you provide. This really is a unique way to think about floating. I’m going to give some of your exercises a try. I feel my ashtanga practice can benefit a lot from your advice.
Thanks for the kind words. Glad it was helpful! Let let me know how it goes. And for Ashtanga, are you practicing the primary series? If you can master the proper engagement in all of those forward folds, you’re setting the stage for an incredible practice.
This is an amazing and informative way of describing how to float…thank you. I practiced Ashtanga many years ago and I was much more supple then. I want to
Practice Mysore like a complete novice. I am very inflexible now and it will take time for everything to lengthen. I make a lot of noise and nothing is fluid presently after a 10 year hiatus. Practice and patience makes perfect right.
Kindest regards
Elizabeth
Thank you Elizabeth! Let me know if you have any questions. Glad to hear you started practicing Ashtanga again. Keep at it!
Brian
Thank You Brian. Love this! Now I have a sense of clarity how to float. I will use your ‘straw’ & ‘stopping the flow’ references while teaching. Humor is as important as Focus & Breathing in my sessions. Namaste, YogiDori
Glad you found it useful, Dori! And yes, humor is important, what good is something if it’s not fun? 🙂
This was just an awesome read. Extremely thorough and helpful. Thank you for the share. Each one teach one.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you!! You answered all my questions with precision and clarity. I can’t wait to incorporate this into my practice and begin floating, flying, and landing with grace!! My body and soul have been craving inversions and arm balances that I haven’t known how to proceed to. Gratitude!!!???
THE BRO strikes
Thanks so much. Really helpful.
thanks for offering your insights! Super helpful!
I got very confused reading ‘how to engage the pelvic floor’, then I realized there is a separate section for men
Let me know if you have any questions!
Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the images on this
blog loading? I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my
end or if it’s the blog. Any feed-back would be greatly appreciated.
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with some pics to drive the message home a little bit, but other than that, this is magnificent blog. A great read. I will definitely be back.
Hi Andreas,
Thanks for the comment! Yes, I am working on adding more videos and photos to all of later blog posts. Anything specific you’d like to see?
Cheers,
Brian
Thank you for this valuable information. I look forward to applying these techniques when I teach and during my own practice! Love and Light??
Greetings! Very useful advice in this particular post!
It’s the little changes that produce the greatest
changes. Many thanks for sharing!
Glad you found it useful! Let me know if you have any questions.
You are so awesome! I don’t think I’ve truly read a single thing like that before. So nice to discover somebody with unique thoughts on this topic. Seriously.. thanks for starting this up. This website is one thing that is required on the internet, someone with a bit of originality!|
Thanks! Let me know if you have any questions. 🙂
What can I do to rectify my Diastasis Recti – I gave birth to my old child at 40 and my stomach has never recovered… I do yoga at least 4 times a week but nothing seems to touch the horrible hangover of belly fat. Is there anything you can recommend to help me pleeeeeeease?
Hi Louise,
Thanks for the question! The excess belly fat is a tough one, it may not actually be fat but loose skin left over from the pregnancy. About the Diastasis Recti, have you been doing any core specific exercises to target the TVA since you’ve given birth? Sometimes doing yoga might not be enough if you aren’t actually working your core properly. Let me know!
hi, do you have a video version on this ? thank you
I’m working on creating videos for this and a full course that you’ll find super helpful. You’ll see it soon!
Brian
Thank you so much Brian!! Great explanation!!
Hi Deb,
Glad you enjoyed it!
Brian
Wow, Brian. I totally get it. I have been working on my handstand recently and I see what I’ve been missing… as well as my light land into forward fold. Your explanations are on point. So excited to read & see more. Thank you for sharing your light with us all!
Honored,
Alexis
Hi Alexis,
Thank you for your kind words. It means a lot. If you ever have any questions please let me know! Happy to help.
Brian
Hi Brian,
Your explanation really helps me to understand why i could’t float all this while. Thank you so much for sharing.
I tried to click on the ‘highly-effective 15 minute sequence ‘ but could not find the sequence. i am interested in the sequence 🙂 Where can i find the sequence? Thanks
Hi Grace,
Thank you! The link should be working. Try it again, I just tested it. 🙂
Brian
You have brought up a very wonderful details , thanks for the post.
Thank you, Tralki!
Great article! Well done for detailed explanation ! Looking forward to read more of your work! : -)
Glad you enjoyed it Olga, thank you!
Very good written information. It will be supportive to anybody who usess it, as well as yours truly :). Keep doing what you are doing – for sure i will check out more posts.
Thanks Tralki!
Yoga after pregnancy is a totally different animal. I’m still working on getting my abdomen healed and strong. This is a great description of the kind of form needed for all activities, not just yoga 🙂 I’m including the link and citing you on my blog post talking about my first week back to yoga after my C-section.
Thank you Kari! I’m glad you enjoyed it! Keep me updated on how it goes.
Brian
Just wish to say your article is as amazing. The clearness in your post is simply excellent and i could assume you are an expert on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please continue the rewarding work.
Thanks for the kind words. Sure thing! Let me know if you ever have questions!!
Excellent. I teach this to my physical therapy patients all the time but had not made the specific connection to yoga. It makes perfect sense and I will be utilizing my TvA more consciously in my yoga practice.
Thank you.
Hi Melissa, glad you found it useful! Let me know if you ever have questions. 🙂
THANK YOU!!
this was an awesome read. I love your direct approach, quick thoughts with short sentences! Your delivery makes it not only understandable for me, but interesting and enjoyable! I enjoy reading when it feels like I’m being spoken to, rather than reading a 5pg research report. I’ve recently achieved my 200RYT Certification but feel as though I need to continue learning and building my understanding of anatomy. After reading just this one article I feel like I’ve finally stumbled upon my pot of gold. I can’t wait to dive into more articles and start applying my new knowledge!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Namaste.
Hi Daniella, thank you! My theory is this: Keep things as simple as possible. Simple is implementable! 😀
Hi Brian. I really enjoyed this post and found it very informative and helpful. I clicked on the link for the sequence but it never came to my mailbox…..I’d like to try it! Thanks!
Hi Lisa, double check your inbox, it’s included in the welcome email along with 4 other sequences. If you have an android device, after you click .pdf link for the sequence check your downloads folder on your phone, it goes directly to there. Let me know if that solves the problem!
Simply brilliant! Thank you.
Daniel, glad you enjoyed it!
Brian,
Thank you for this! I have had surgery for appendix cancer and had major surgery to clear out the cancer that has spread. I need to strengthen my TvA for medical reasons and found this valuable information.
Thank you again for this published gift of advice for so many reasons besides just floating. Love and light.
Namaste
Linda
Hope you recover well, Linda. SO glad you found this article useful! 😀
Great information Brian! I love the analogies you make for proper tva engagement. I wish you would come to the UK and teach.
Glad you enjoyed the analogies Arlene. Someday! 🙂
Brian, I really loved the section on floating, it’s elegantly broken down and in way I’ve never heard it taught before, thanks so much for all you do!
Thanks Maggie, glad you enjoyed it!
this is insane! I literally just posted on IG last week an SOS, that I was helpless, stuck, and felt like i was following a bunch of show offs who never stop to share the support! Then this pops up.. It took me 11 months to figure crow out on My own. Everyone kept saying “Your balance will come”.. its not a train that Im waiting on.. It was frustrating.. and the exact thought I had when I did it finally, was I let go, gained confidence in that moment, and pulled upward. Im shaky but I held it.. and I understood exactly this article. I’ve been the one stuck against that wall.. I thought I needed to build up my arm muscles, that I was strong enough to hold my weight. I can do headstands all day long but the balance on my hands, just lost me… Im really excited now. It seems like Yoga these days is more about posting nifty pictures and seeing how many Oohs and Ahhs you can get.. Its nice to finally have someone take time to lend a hand rather than use it to push themselves up. Thank you.
Ally, unfortunately, many yoga teachers become popular based off of what I call the “Chest Thump Factor”. I’m glad you enjoyed the article, always happy to help. 🙂
Thanks for this enlightening article Brian. I’ll be working on my floating!
Andrea, glad you enjoyed it! Let me know if you have any questions! 🙂
This stuff is incredible. It is very useful to start with. I tried getting the 15 min sequence, posted at the end of this post, emailed but it didn’t work. I received no emails related to this. I do get other emails from you. Please help. Thanks so much for all your help.
Vinod, sorry for the slow reply, I’m traveling in Dubai so have been away from my main computer for awhile. Did you double check your inbox for the welcome email? The sequence along with 4 others are there. Especially if you’re a Gmail user, my first couple of emails may be in your “promotions” tab. It’s important to move my emails over to the primary folder that way you don’t miss anything. Double check and let me know!
This is a great article and incredibly helpful! One little issue is that you mentioned … “carrying a baby in [your] stomach..” The baby is carried in the uterus. Or at least, mine were 🙂
For someone with this kind of depth and breadth of scientific knowledge of musculature and anatomy, kinesiology and body awareness, this seems like something to take into consideration.
Still, a fantastic article and I look forward to more great insights!
Betsy, you’re %100 right. Sometimes when I’m writing and teaching I generalize things as much as possible to guarantee a visual understand. It’s funny that you’re the first person to point this out. It’s worth changing, now that I go back and read it a couple of times. I’ve never wanted to be known as that, boring, anatomical geek that no one pays attention too!
Great article!
I agree that there is too much emphasis on the six pack which can, in fact, cause more problems than people realize, especially if the surrounding muscles are not toned.
I find it unfortunate that you (and many others) have experienced the types of Yoga classes which you mentioned. These classes and teachers (who are more fitness teachers than Yoga teachers) are giving Yoga a bad rep. I personally don’t think these teachers and their classes are wrong or bad but I think we should start labeling them as something other than Yoga!
Thanks for sharing.
Rachel, totally agree. Not to sound like a cynic, but the overall standard of yoga teaching is quite poor.
Thanks Brian this is the most articulate article I’ve ever read about floating. I’m an Ashtangi and this is something that I’ve diligently working at daily. Can’t wait to try your sequence.
Mike, looking forward to hearing your results! 😀
Thanks for this– I’m gonna print it out and carry it around!! For the past year I’ve been working intensely with a strength coach and just recently began work with a physical therapist for pelvic floor issues. I’ve been practicing yoga for over 20 years and am stumped that I can effortlessly float up/down in headstand, but can’t in handstand. I agree 100% that my issue is an upper/lower disconnect (and am working diligently as a result), but is a float up so different for head vs handstand? Longer lever equals a need for stronger tva and pelvic floor??
Thanks!
Emma
Emma, glad you enjoyed it, let me know how the sequence works for you. Floating up to headstand is much easier than floating up to handstand. One of the main reasons is that you have the added stability of your head on the ground, it makes it easier to put your hips in the right place. You may have the core strength but if you don’t have the strength, namely in the arms and back (lat muscles primarily), to get your hips in the proper position over the shoulders, you’re gonna facing an uphill battle.
Cheers,
Brian
Thank you so much. This article is a gift and confidence booster. It is wonderfully explained.
Karen, put it to good use! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Awesome write-up Brian. I’m an Ashtanga practitioner and this is one of the best articles I’ve read about learning now to float. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Rumah, thanks! Let me know if you have any questions. Happy to help!
I gave birth 7 months ago and have a mild seperation. I practice and teach yoga, but it’s not enough. What would you suggest for specific TvA exercises to do to help heal it?
Thank you.
Brian,
What a terrific article. I have been working inversions and floating for years, and read countless articles, posts, and books, but you put it together in one of the most comprehensive and simple ways I have ever seen. Seriously, nice job!
Definitely look forward to reading more of your articles.
Adam
Adam, glad you enjoyed it! Let me know if you have any questions. 😀
Brian!
Theses are great tips, facts and sequences! I have signed up for everything! Haha
Hopefully I ‘ll be closer to nailing my handstand soon. I feel have the shoulder strength, the flexibilty, even the pelvic floor and TvA, but it’s not all integrated. Will start again from square one, following your advice. Maybe it’s fear, who knows?!
Thanks!!!
Carolyn, nice to meet you! Here to keep you on track and motivated. 🙂
Great post. Thanks Brian!!!
Thanks Danny!
Very educacional post. Just one question… I’m healing from my the birth of my son and have diastasis rectis, can I perform the moves you talk about in this post? I’ve been reading I shouldn’t do this kind of exercises while not complete healed the gap.
This is an awesome post Brian thank you!!!!
Glad you liked it! 😀
I am new at inversions and also, the girl who is stuck at the wall. My yoga teachers only say things like, “shoot straight up, or suck your stomach in and focus on your core.” I found these totally ineffective. After reading your article, I’ll give it a try because it makes more sense to engage the Pelvic Floor than only sucking your stomach in.
Thank you very much!
Cinthya, glad it was useful!! 🙂
The BRO! What a great read, thank you! I shall start practicing these and stop landing on my mat with a loud thud!
Ana, glad you enjoyed it!
I have had 3 children and some days my headstand is great and on others not – thanks for raising the trouble of inversions after pregnancy. More recently I have been expelling air noisily after inversion which makes joining classes highly embarrassing. I consulted a Physio friend who mentioned the pelvic floor yet again! Will be focussing on this with greater intent!
Lisa, glad you enjoyed the article!
Wow this article is one of the best I’ve read, due to your humour and precise way of painting the picture! I love it, thanks so much for sharing this, I will def. work with all your tips right away and with patience I will gracefully float one day.
Ikonia, glad you enjoyed it!
Wow, I am seriously humbled by this. As an “old timer”, only heard terms like ” core” and ” float” in recent years. Had no idea…( not sarcastic, but none of my teachers do either……. Since they mostly do Pilates/leg raises/sit ups……I can’t do those with weakened neck…… But can do what you described) Really pysched, thank you
Sue, glad it was helpful! Any specific questions of things you need help with? 🙂
Hi Brian
I’m still a bit confused – so will engaging the pelvic floor also engage the TvA , or is that “separate” ? Also, I’m sometimes unsure about the pelvis/pubic bone/sacrum/tailbone region i.e. which is which ? I hear the word “tailbone” so much in yoga that it makes me want to scream sometimes.
Spot on about the instruction lingo too. I bought a book about sequencing and some of the instructions to say are really nonsensical.
Neil, the simple answer is yes. Anatomically speaking, that might not be true 100% of the time, but pretty close, so a good thing to focus on. And yes, when yoga teachers reference those terms, they’re all referring to the same thing! And yes, that’s generally what you get in typical yoga sequencing an teaching books. 😀
Hi Brian,
Thanks for the pdf and all the useful tips. May I ask what’s the difference between these two:
Navasana (Lift and lower) 3 sets 10-20x
Boat Crunches to finish – 3 sets 20-40x
Cheers,
Kristine
Did you get the sequence? There’s pictures in there for you to take a look at. Short answer though is in Navasana the hands are always reaching forward with boat crunches the hands move overhead! Make sense? 🙂
Hi Brian,
In relation to the male way of engaging the PF & TA i.e. squeeze muscles to stop urinating, do I continuously need to hold this muscle? Or do I just need to squeeze this muscle which will contract the TA and then relax the PF muscle but still maintain contraction of the TA?
Hi Steve, you should keep both engaged, but not exactly like the clenched feeling when you’re going to the bathroom. A very good way to feel it is to put a block in between your legs and try and do an L-sit. That feeling you feel when you focus on pulling the hips back is what you’re going for! Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Brian
Thanks for this Brian. I want to try the float blueprint to learn to engage the core for inversions. Wanted clarity on what you meant by jumping 360 degrees.
Thanks!
Hi Beverly, basically just jumping up and trying to spin in a circle! Make sense?
Cheers,
Brian