This one is probably familiar if you’ve ever done pilates or physical therapy. You’re told to pull your belly button toward your spine, or to think of “hollowing” or “drawing in” your stomach muscles. In this motion, you are still allowing yourself to breathe; you’re not sucking in your stomach, but rather, tightening it with your muscles. (If you watch in the mirror, you’ll notice your waist appears smaller when you do this. Sometimes people will also do it to pose for a picture or to create a leaner look while performing as a dancer.)
Unfortunately, it turns out this move may not actually do much to protect your back after all, but it’s still popular advice. If you’re performing yoga or pilates moves this way, you’re in good company, and many physical therapists still favor this approach. But there's another way to engage your core, one that's more popular in activities like weightlifting.
Method 2: Brace before lifting something heavy
When you brace for a lift, you’ll do something much like if you were expecting to get punched in the gut. If that's not an instinctive movement to you, imagine that you're lying relaxed on a bed, and you notice your cat or toddler about to jump on your belly. Try that now: you’ll probably hold your breath, contract your abs, and feel the muscles all around your waist tighten up. Rather than sucking in your belly, it may seem like you’re pulling your ribcage down toward your pelvis. This activates your transverse abdominis along with everything else. (If it feels a little like you’re bearing down for a bowel movement, you’re on the right track.)
This process turns your torso into a solid, stable, pressurized column that can support a lot of weight (as in a squat), or hold its position steady as you apply force to it in another direction (as in a deadlift, where your torso is the link between your back, your leg muscles applying force, and your arms, which are supporting the barbell in your hands).
When you’re trying to do a heavy lift in the gym, remember the distinction between these two ways of engaging your core, and do not try to hollow your belly or pull your navel to your spine, since that will have an effect opposite of the one you want. Save that motion for pilates class; when you’re under a barbell, make sure you brace.
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