The Secret Sauce to Improving Strength and Overall Fitness

Andrea is giving you a very special tip to significantly enhance full-body strength and efficiency in workouts and daily activities. She shares a personal anecdote to illustrate how correct breathing techniques can be a game-changer in building strength, particularly through engaging the deep core. Andrea offers insights into how these methods can lead to improved performance in exercises and better posture in everyday tasks, and assures you that incorporating these tips can lead to noticeable improvements in their fitness journey, irrespective of your goals.



Make it Simple is sponsored by Goord
Visit  goodr.com/SIMPLE  for free shipping on your next pair of sunglasses

Download Andrea's Make Fit Simple APP for a 14 day free trial
https://www.deliciouslyfitnhealthy.com/app-sales-page-1


Follow the Make it Simple Podcast
@make.it.simple.podcast
Have a suggestion for a topic click HERE
Have a suggestion for a guest click HERE

Follow Andrea on Instagram
@deliciouslyfitnhealthy
@dfh.training.pics

Training & Coaching
https://www.deliciouslyfitnhealthy.com/links

Visit Andrea's Website
www.deliciouslyfitnhealthy.com

Produced by Light On Creative Productions

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome back today. I'm going to be giving you a, it's not a secret tip, but I would say sometimes an unknown tip and a really, really effective and crucial tip for making your whole body stronger, making your workouts more effective, making your core workouts more effective, making your daily activities more effective.

Like we are winning across the board when we do all of those.

I'm going to tell you a quick little story about an interaction I had this weekend when I was out and about and I'm going to explain why this little tip which is truly learning to use your breath correctly during movements is a game changer for building full body strength. 

And before we get started, who is excited for that time of year where we are about to start going outside more, the sun's coming out, we're hitting spring, we're going to hit summer, we're going to be on vacations, we're going to be doing more workouts outside, it's just such a great time of year. And you know what else comes out?[00:01:00] 

Sunglasses. I don't know about you, but I lose my sunglasses All the time. So I don't like to spend a ton of money on them, but I still like them to be pretty awesome, really good looking and still really effective. This is one of the reasons why I love Goodr. That's G O O D R. They don't bounce when you work out in them because that's my pet peeve.

If the sun's out, I got to have glasses on and I don't like them bouncing around my face. They don't slip. And Every pair is 100 percent polarized and they're only 25 a pair. They have a five star review of 50, 000 reviews and a one year warranty. And I love them because I hate when you buy something and then you're like, this actually isn't a fit for me.

And they're like, you had a 13 minute refund policy. Nope. Of course, Goodr has a 30 day free returns.

I promise you're going to love them. They have such cute styles,

And because they're totally affordable, you can get a couple of pairs. I really like their new Pop G style, but I also really like their [00:02:00] OG, their BFG. Literally, they have so many different kinds. Like, I love when you click on their site, it says styles, and you can literally see the cut of each sunglass.

And then click on it and pick the ones that you want. Makes it so easy. And you can get a couple pairs because they are affordable, as I mentioned.

 If you want to support the show and try a killer pair of sunglasses, Goodr is giving Make It Simple listeners free shipping. So you can go to Goodr, G O O D R dot com slash simple and use the code simple S I M P L E just simple for the podcast for free shipping. Again, that's Goodr dot com slash simple.

And I will also add that in the show notes as well. So you can get a direct link to it. I promise you won't regret getting a pair or a couple of pairs.

 [00:03:00] I wanted to discuss this topic because of an interaction I had this weekend. So typically, as you know, I do work out from home probably 80 to 90 percent of the time. It's just easy for me. I can do it while my kids are home. I can do it anytime of the day. I don't have to wear shoes. Sometimes I look very, very Homeless and all sorts of things, but it just doesn't matter to me.

I can work out from home every once in a while. And typically I would say more so on Saturdays, [00:04:00] I like to get out and about. So I will go sometimes to our local gym. A couple of weeks ago, I ran into someone who had recently found me on Instagram. My Instagram handle is deliciously fit and healthy. And she had seen a video about the core I did and how I had said that it does make you stronger when you're able to use your breath support for your deep core.

And she was like, that just really caught me off guard. I thought there's no way, but the way you were breathing during the movement really caught my eye. So we chatted back and forth and she had been at the gym trying to learn to lift heavy. She was there with trainer and she's been trying to lift heavier and we were chatting and she said, you know, I want to get your diastasis recti guide so I could learn this.

And I said, there's also a free course that I'm trying to teach and I will also put that link for that free guide in the show notes, obviously. I do a video series where I explain it and she said, okay, that's great. And I explained to her, you know, when you're able to engage your deep core and use your breast support properly, I [00:05:00] promise the amount you are able to lift and the muscle you will be able to build and the changes you will be able to see in your body are Amazing.

And it all comes from this base layer of using our core and using our breath properly. And I'm sure she's like, okay, okay, that's great. You shared a couple videos and yada, yada, yada. Anyway, it's been, I don't know, a couple weeks, maybe a little over a month or two, and I went back to the gym this Saturday, and she ran up to me and said, Oh my gosh, Andrea, you are not kidding.

I am using my core correctly and I am lifting so much more weight than I used to after doing your method and following your Dice Tastes Direct Eye Guide. And I was like, yes, of course I hug her. I'm like, I told you it's a game changer. I'm serious. When I teach this sometimes when I'm online, I'm like, am I wasting my time?

Is anyone listening? Like, you know, you don't really see people in person. So you're like, you who, anyone out there just comments, you know? So having interactions like this in real life are very enjoyable for me. And [00:06:00] I was like, yes, it makes such a difference. And she's like, telling me like I bumped my squat up like all the way to this amount and I'm dead lifting this amount now and the biggest change she made was learning to use her deep core better which is helping her overall muscle engagement and she's like I'm starting to even see more muscle because I'm able to lift more weights.

So, Let's talk this out and why this is a thing, because I don't think this always connects in people's mind. I think sometimes we think, Oh, the core struggles, you know, if you have diastasis recti, you have to learn to breathe properly. But the truth is, if you are trying to improve your functionality in fitness, knowing how to use your deep core and your breathing, Is a game changer.

It allows you to have so much more freedom and do so much more work when your deep core is not engaging. When you are lifting weights, that means that your spine and your pelvis are not stabilized. So when you hear someone online and they say, brace the core, brace the core, brace, the core simply means that you're stabilizing [00:07:00] your spine and pelvis during work so that they can it.

Honestly, brace the core so that when limbs and body parts are fighting resistance or pushing against weights that your core, your body is stable in the middle. Think about your body. The core is basically the center part of your body. It's the middle of your body. It's the center. And we also will say things like core values, which is what we use to describe really important things that people feel really strongly about. And it's really important to have really important and like trustworthy core values.

And that kind of affects how you act as a person. If you don't believe in being mean, and one of your core values is like, I'm going to be nice to everybody. That's going to affect your behavior with everybody. So those core values really matter. It is the same thing with our core. When we have weak cores, it affects the rest of our body.

If someone has no core values, it's going to [00:08:00] affect things they really believe in or their morals or how they treat people or whatever it is, whatever for each person, but your body's the same way. Weak core means weak. Weak body means you can't build the strength that you really want because the center of your body isn't very strong.

And literally, I mean the center of your body, like above your hips, your pelvic floor, your transverse abs. You know, obviously that all connects into your diaphragm because your core is your pelvic floor. All of your ab muscles and your diaphragm and even some muscles around the backside. So there's a lot going on there, but it's literally the center of your body.

Now, with that said, if your core is weak and you're trying to get in shape or you're just simply trying to get stronger, it will be hard because the core's job is to brace your body as your limbs move away from it, as they're fighting gravity, as they push or pull against resistance. By pushing or pulling against resistance, I want you to imagine [00:09:00] Maybe doing a chest press you're pushing that weight away.

That's the work portion or a Front raise for the shoulders. You're lifting that weight up away from the body. So your limbs are moving away from your body Another one might be a squat. From the bottom of the squat, you're pushing against that weight to stand up. So that's what I'm referring to when I say pushing or pulling against resistance.

It's basically the motion of where you are moving weight towards or away from your body, depending on what muscle you are working.

Now, if your core is weak, obviously your body has a hard time stabilizing under these movements, but also it's going to often be connected with leakage and back pain. There are different reasons why you can have leakage and back pain, so I'm not going to go into all of them, but one of them can be a weak core.

And that can be because when you are trying to lift weights, you could be bearing down. So now let's talk about what bearing down means. As I mentioned, I do have a free breathing core series that kind of explains [00:10:00] all this. If you are a visual learner, I know I'm a visual learner, so I will add that in the show notes.

It is totally free. It's a handful of videos where I break this down speaking and visually and giving you examples and it's totally free. So download that. The link is in the show notes, but I'm going to describe this to you.

So I want you to imagine sitting on a yoga block or truthfully, instead of imagining it, I want you to do it. I want you to grab a yoga block. I want you to straddle the yoga block. If you don't have a yoga block, I want you to sit on a large exercise ball kind of in a wide position so your pelvic floor is on the exercise ball.

If you don't have an exercise ball, roll up a towel really, really tight so it's kind of firm and straddle that towel.

Now, when I say bearing down or bulging down, what I'm referring to is when there is intraabdominal pressure that your core is not able to control. So let's say you're pushing a weight and your core is not braced. We know that means your spine and pelvis are having a little [00:11:00] bit of a hard time. Let's say you're holding your breath.

What's going to happen is all that intraabdominal pressure is going to push down. on your pelvic floor and can sometimes bulge it out and can sometimes just create leakage because instead of the core wrapping in and bracing, all of that pressure is going down. So as you sit on a yoga block, I want you to imagine kind of like this.

Pushing out a baby and this is not something I want you to do on a regular basis, obviously, this is just to understand what I'm saying by like pushing down bulging down. Imagine like pushing out a baby or almost like you're going to, um, use the bathroom. Um, sometimes people do this when they like power pee, like they try to push their pee out and you'll kind of feel a bulge of your pelvic floor down on that block.

That's actually not great. We want to learn to contract and relax our pelvic floor, but we never want to really bulge it down in our normal activities. But sometimes when people are [00:12:00] strength training, they can either just be creating that pressure down, which is creating leakage, or they could even be literally bulging down because there's so much pressure and the core is not bracing properly. Now, if that's the case, it is going to increase that back pain. It is going to increase your leakage. And even those two things aside, if you aren't able to brace the core as well, you're not going to be able to lift as many weights because the center of your body isn't basically, I'm going to say like firm and it's foundation of the movement.

Like if my core is not set and ready to. Pump that weight up and I'm going into a shoulder press. My back's going to arch. My ribs are going to flare. My belly's going to push out and then I'm not going to have good form and I'm not going to be able to push as much weight in that shoulder press. So I'm going to give you a couple of really quick tips today on learning to really connect that deep core.

And be like my dear friend at the gym, who's like, Holy crap. I am able to lift so much more weights because I'm [00:13:00] engaging my deep core and what I've learned from you. I'm going to give you these tips. Again, I have that free series and my diastasis recti guide goes in full detail about this, obviously educational modules, and then all of the workouts.

But you have some options. Yeah. In the stream of things between totally free series and a full blown course.

So let's now talk about some quick tips to really help you connect to your deep core so that you can build full body strength. And the thing that I do want to point out about this is sometimes people will say to me, Well, I'm not trying to build muscle. I'm trying to lose fat. I promise you, they go hand in hand. Whether you are trying to get stronger or you are trying to lose fat, the more weights you are able to push, the harder your muscles are going to work, the more calories you're going to burn, they're going to be broken down, they have to rebuild, it makes your metabolism faster, which makes it easier for you to lose fat and build more definition because The shape of the muscle and the strength of the muscle often gives the [00:14:00] muscle shape.

So it's that combination of that with a well balanced diet, not about starving, not about just cutting out full food groups, but really pushing your body, challenging it, increasing strength and a balanced diet. So either goal, being able to do this is really, really important. No matter what.

So the first thing you need to learn to do is 360 breathing. A big mistake people make is they learn to shallow breathe. I know I've talked about this before, but that is where they are breathing and mainly their chest and shoulders are rising, but they're actually diaphragm, their belly, their back, their entire core is not invited to the party.

The way the body works is the core is like a canister. So there's the top, which is the diaphragm. There's the bottom, which is the pelvic floor. And the sides of that canister are the ab muscles. So when we are breathing with our core, they all work together as the diaphragm expands and contracts the pelvic floor fluidly moves with it.

So the very base [00:15:00] layer is literally making sure that you are not shallow breathing into your chest because when we do that, we turn off our core muscles on a regular basis and we turn off our pelvic floor on a regular basis. So when they are put under pressure, like trying to do a squat, You're going to have all sorts of issues, feeling weak, back pain, leakage, and just not being able to lift a ton of weight.

Or let's say you are trying to pick a kid up off the ground or push a heavy stroller. You're going to have issues with that. So the very base layer is learning to breathe, being able to put your hands on your ribs. So I typically tell people put three fingers on your ribs. Your pinky on your belly and your thumb on your back and making sure that when you inhale, you feel all three of those areas expand.

If you're not feeling back expansion, there could be, some issues with the rib flare. Sometimes people can have ab gripping issues as well. I am going to suggest you listen to,

Episode 133. It came out May 10, 2023. It's titled Does Your Bra Feel Tighter Around Your Ribs After Kids? Let's talk about rib [00:16:00] flare. That's going to be an excellent episode. And then also episode 124. It's titled A Deep Dive Into Your Core. Those are going to be very helpful, but learning just to simply breathe.

I suggest laying on your back, put your feet up on the couch, even lay on the ground and just bend your knees, putting your feet flat on the ground. Or laying on your side, like side laying with a pillow under your head and use your hands for feedback to make sure you're really getting down into those Rips because the truth is in order to brace our core, we have to make sure that that air is going down into our core so that when we exhale and brace everything, it's coming up out of our core so that we can really brace the core and not create intra abdominal pressure that is pushing out.

On a weak tummy creating diastasis recti or I should say and or down on a pelvic floor, which could be tight or weak. If you're not sure if your pelvic floor is tight or weak, I'd listen to episode 117.

It's from [00:17:00] January 18th, 2023. It's titled, Understanding Your Pelvic Floor to Reduce Leakage, Back Pain, Hip Pain, and More. I really like to make sure you understand what's going on because it's only going to make it more effective for you.

But we don't want that pressure down on that pelvic floor. We want it to be braced and our core to be connected. So that's the first tip.

The second tip is you do need to find and connect to your pelvic floor muscles. Again, that's why I do suggest listening to that episode about 117 because you do want to know if your pelvic floor is Tight or also known as hypertonic and by tight, I don't mean like, Ooh, my crotch is tight. I'm not, I'm not talking about that.

I'm literally saying like imagine a sore muscle in your neck. That's what I'm talking about tight. Like it's tense. It's tense. Not good. Or it could be weak, which is also referred to as a hypotonic pelvic floor. But in general, you want to learn to connect to that pelvic floor. And I want you to realize that there are three different [00:18:00] muscles within the pelvic floor.

There's three slings in there of muscles. So we want to learn to be able to close, lift the pelvic floor, and then also fully relax the pelvic floor. I often like to refer and give imagery to people when they're trying to learn this. Imagine like a. claw, you know, like one of those big trucks where they like the claw opens up and picks up dirt and moves it.

Imagine one of those. It opens at the bottom, it closes, picks something up, and then it comes back down and spreads back out. You can also imagine how a jellyfish moves, how it kind of opens and then closes and then opens. But each time that it closes, it actually moves up and then slightly down as it opens back up.

Another imagery I really like is the milkshake. The milkshake, you know? It's a good one. We love milkshakes. So I want you to imagine sucking a thick milkshake. Your lady regent. It kind of helps you realize you're going to close and lift, like you're drinking out of that straw. And when you're done [00:19:00] drinking out of that straw, you lower and relax the pelvic floor.

So that's number two because then we can connect regular breathing with the pelvic floor and then we turn on the transverse abs. The transverse abs are the deepest layer in your core. All of the other muscles sit on top of the transverse abs. The transverse abs are also known as your inner corset. They literally link almost all the way around from your spine to the other side, and then the obliques, the six pack, all of that sits on top of that.

So it's really important that transverse abs are trained.

 One way I like to tell people to connect to their transverse abs is I want you to lay on the ground and Take you know a couple of fingers and feel your hip bones where they are and then go in just a couple of inches So you're like below obviously a lot below your belly button but not totally down where your vagina is but kind of right in that middle area I want you to lift that pelvic floor and you'll feel instantly your transverse [00:20:00] abdominals will feel tense. They're engaging. The beautiful thing is when you can use your pelvic floor, It automatically ignites your transverse abs. So if you can put your hands a couple inches in, and I understand for some people, they may feel like, well, I can't feel there because there's, you know, some extra fat or some things.

I want you to really push deep, push deep in and lift your pelvic floor and see. If you feel like, almost like tension, like it gets tense, that's your transverse abs. That's them turning on, which is great. So when we brace our core, we want to lift and close that pelvic floor, which is going to help turn on our transverse abs.

And at the same time, we're going to exhale because as our transverse abs turn on. We want our core to kind of wrap in. As I mentioned, it's like a corset. So we want to imagine zipping up a tight jacket to brace our core. Or rolling out all that air from the exhale from the pelvic floor. You know, big exhale, the pelvic floor closes and lifts.

And all the air rolls out of [00:21:00] our belly. You might also want to imagine knitting or sewing up your core, like it's getting all nice and tight to brace your body for a movement. And another pretty good visual sign is sometimes your belly button will visually scoop in and up when it engages. Again, if you're a visual learner, click on the free series in the show notes.

I show you everything visually, so it might help. I shouldn't say it might help. It will definitely help if you're a visual learner. So that is how we engage our body. Deep core and how we brace the core.

next I want to explain a little bit of detail of how that affects our core movements, our strength training and our daily activity, because that's the key of my cute friend. I'm going to keep her name a secret, but because I didn't ask her if I could share the story, but her running up and saying, Oh my gosh, I can lift more weights because she learned this method and then she integrated it into her life.

So that's what we're going to talk about next.

When our deep core is braced, you can work against gravity, fight [00:22:00] resistance, stabilize the body when it's unbalanced, and In a better, stronger way, no matter what you are doing.

 So for example, let's say we are doing a deep core work and we have your feet moving away from your body. Let's say in a dead bug or even a bird dog. When that limb moves away, we need to stabilize the center of your body. We got to brace the center of your body. So as that limb moves away, you're going to exhale, lift the pelvic floor, wrap or draw your transverse abdominals in and feel that core stabilize as that limb moves away.

When it comes back in and you are no longer under tension, then you can fully inhale and relax the pelvic floor. There obviously are other deep core movements where the spine is loaded and we are under tension throughout the range of motion. An example of that is a plank. In a plank, there's not really a break while you're in the position.

When you are in a bird dog, a bird dog is when you're in all four position and you lift one leg and one arm, [00:23:00] the opposite arm and opposite leg. When your limbs come back down, you're obviously not under tension anymore. But in a plank, the entire range of motion, you know, holding that plank, There's no break from needing to brace your core.

So that is another really good thing for you to know is, in certain movements, when do I brace the core and when do I not? If the spine is loaded, if throughout the range of motion, there is never a break from the core or a break between the reps, then typically you're going to hold that deep core engagement like in a plank.

Now, the misunderstanding is when you are in a plank where your spine is loaded, you are not holding your breath. You are holding the deep core connection. I often see people, especially when I taught classes, we'd be in a plank and they would go into the plank and they'd be like, Ah! And I literally was like, Stop holding your breath!

Stop holding your breath! And, and I would see them and then they, and then they would hold it for a little while and then they'd be like, Ah! And do it again because they're thinking I'm engaging my core, but really they're [00:24:00] just kind of sucking in and that inter abdominal pressure is going crazy in their core and probably pushing down and causing all sorts of problems.

 So, in those style of movements where we are holding it, time under tension, we do want to be able to engage our deep core. Obviously, as I mentioned, lift pelvic floor, wrap transverse abdominals in with a big exhale. And we still want to be able to. Breathe we want to keep that core tension, but not hold our breath So if you're doing something like shoulder taps, I do tiny exhales each time I come up and tap my shoulder if you're doing a side plank even You're still kind of under tension I will do a tiny exhale while keeping core engagement as I lift my knee if I'm doing Side plank knee lifts.

So that's something to be aware of as you work on bracing your deep core. Are you under tension the whole time? Or is there a break between in a rep where you're no longer under tension where you can take a nice inhale and relax the core and the pelvic floor naturally.

So number one core movements. Now, it's not just [00:25:00] about core movements, you know, there's so much more to it. Obviously that's helpful and that's going to make our core stronger, but it's also about. Lifting weights. So I'm going to give you an example with a squat. There's two different ways that you can brace your deep core during a squat, and you might need to practice this for a little while and kind of figure out what's right for you and pay attention to what weights you're using and when you can actually feel that deep core connection. So typically in a squat, as you know, when we lower with the weight, we are obviously moving with the weight.

So like we're not working quote unquote, we're lowering our body. When the work sets in, that's the concentric motion of this, where we start to push against the weight. Basically you are quote unquote overpowering the weight. So you're pushing up from a squat or you're curling up with a bicep curl. A motion like that.

Or you're pushing the weight in a chest press. You're extending it. Or for a back one, maybe you're pulling the weight towards you. It depends on the [00:26:00] body positioning, but it's when you're basically overcoming the weight. You're overpowering whatever weight you're using.

You can choose, we're going to go back to the squat after those examples, but you can choose to inhale from the bottom of that movement. So let's say you're coming down into a squat. Your glutes are shooting nice and diagonally back. You're in the bottom of that where your knees are bent. Your glutes are back.

You can exhale at that point, lift the pelvic floor, wrap your transverse abdominals in, and then push through your feet to stand. That's a great way to do it. Now, for some people, when they're using really, really heavy weights, they will need to brace their core throughout the entire range of motion. So especially for like power lifters, or even if you're doing pretty heavy in a lower rep range where you're doing less reps, a couple of sets, you might want to brace the core before you start the movement.

And typically when people do that, and this is when I probably do more when I'm lifting heavy for my legs, is I will exhale, you know, lift pelvic [00:27:00] floor, wrap transverse abdominals in. I'm not holding my breath. I start to lower my body so my core is braced as I lower my body. My glutes come down and back.

My knees are bent. From the bottom of that movement, I'm still having that deep core engaged, but I am starting audibly exhale and push through my feet to rise. As you work again against the resistance, as you overcome the resistance of the weight to stand up for the squat. So those are kind of the two different ways you can do it between reps.

You know, as I just described, or as you're about to push through the weight, but either way, for both of them, you do want to use that powerful exhale to push against it. Even if the deep core is braced during both motions, if that felt confusing, I want you to re listen to this section and literally do a squat at the same time.

And practice and, and see the difference and see what's of it for you. As I mentioned, if you're using a ton of weight, it's probably best to brace the core before you start, [00:28:00] because if you've got, you know, 185 pounds on your back, if you're doing a barbell squat, you are gonna want that core braced as you lower your body.

'cause that's tough. So just kind of knowing what's right for you, for where you are. Second, as you do learn this, you might have to decrease your weights to start. And that's where some people get confused because they're like, well, I had to decrease my weights when you were teaching me this. And I'm like, I know, but it's like a slingshot.

It's like a rubber band. I'm going to pull you back and it is going to propel you forward. So you may have to decrease your weights as you're learning to really brace a deep core. But I promise. I can promise you, if you learn this. You will be able to use heavier weights than you ever have before. I promise.

From the bottom of my heart. You will.

So be patient as you learn it because it will literally just make you stronger. More powerful, more functional, stronger, even help with fat loss goals because muscle always helps with fat loss goals. Whatever your goals are, it's gonna be your friend. The last thing I want to go over is [00:29:00] using your breathing and daily activities because I think sometimes we're really careful about what we do during our core work and then we can be sloppy while we're lifting and then sometimes people are careful in core work and while they're lifting and then we're unaware during our daily activities.

Activities that we might be causing issues and hindering our abilities from getting stronger or feeling good. So during daily activities, you use this same method to feel strong and good in your body. Let's say you are pushing a heavy stroller. Maybe you've got two kids, a, a big toddler and a baby, and a stroller, and they each have.

Water bottles galore, and you've got snacks, and you've got all the things, and people have got extra shoes because they're fighting over shoes. And like, listen, I've been there. I've been there where I'm pretty sure I could live out of my stroller for like five days, okay? I know they get heavy. In those situations, are you like holding your breath?

Are you arching your neck? Are you, you know, is your shoulders tense? Is your butt tucked as you push that stroller? And are you chest breathing? No, no, [00:30:00] no. We don't want to do any of those things. I want you to do this same method. I want you to relax your shoulders, I want you to use your diaphragm, I want you to make sure you have like a good neutral glutes so they're not tucked under or your lower back's not arched out.

And each time that you step, and you pull through that heel to push that stroller forward, You can do a little tiny exhale, and that's really going to just ignite that pelvic floor and turn on your transverse abs. Tiny exhale, kind of brace that deep core, step into it, and then you know a gentle inhale and do it with the other one.

Obviously As you do this with time and as you're moving you might think like this seems like a lot of work It's not it becomes very Natural I promise it becomes very natural and it becomes Second nature where you just will kind of exhale as you push against that weight to turn on that deep core It's the same thing if you're lifting.

Let's say a box or a child off the floor Obviously, you want to make sure that you're not just arching your back and rolling forward, but if you're getting in a good position to pick up [00:31:00] that child, your glutes are back or maybe you're in a tripod positioning, lowering your body to the ground to pick up the child, it's the same thing to brace your core.

you're exhaling, you're lifting that pelvic floor, the transverse abdominals are turning on to brace the core, and everything just feels nice and tight as you pick that child up, then you just inhale and relax everything as you stand up, and you're done.

So it's really important to also remember to brace our core during these normal things that we do every day, even pulling something off a shelf at a weird angle. If it's a little bit heavy, even just a little bit, if it's an awkward angle, you need to brace your balance to like keep that deep core engaged.

I promise if you can learn to connect to your deep core and you can learn to Breathe with your diaphragm turn on your pelvic floor use your transverse abdominals that you will feel stronger more functional More sturdy in your body and be better adapt to reach any of your goals whether you're honestly running a [00:32:00] marathon Or you're trying to power lift or you're just trying to feel good while you play with your kids or whatever it is It's going to make your body stronger because when your core is a powerhouse Your limbs follow suit.

It's that simple. I'm going to say it again because I feel it from the bottom of my heart. When your core is a powerhouse, your limbs will follow suit. The whole body benefits from it. I promise.

So stop sucking in. Stop thinking your core is ruined after kids. Stop thinking. that it's all about doing more cardio or starving or anything and learn to breathe and learn to use your deep core and use the resources in the show notes and check out all of my instagram posts because i only post deep core work and i cue i cue deep core work in every single one of my full body workouts so that you know when it comes to the party literally when your deep core comes it makes no matter what your journey is better stronger And more [00:33:00] efficient.

All right, that's it for today. As always, you are doing so much better than you think you are. We'll chat next week.