What Does it Mean to Draw Your Navel to Your Spine?

The instruction to draw your navel toward your spine started with Pilates but is now commonly used for all ab and core work. Of course, while it's easy to say, it's hard to do, especially when you don't know exactly what the instruction means or what the purpose is. Learning proper execution of this particular move is guaranteed to improve the effectiveness of your ab workout.

  1. Significance

    • Ab exercises, such as simple hollowing, crunches, curls, the jackknife and reverse crunches, work your rectus abdominis, or the long washboard muscle that runs down your middle. Exercises like crunch twists work your obliques on the sides of your torso. However, when you concentrate on drawing your navel toward your spine, you also work the deeper transverse abdominis. This muscle is like an inner corset that wraps horizontally around your midsection from your ribs to your pelvis. Health-wise, it is responsible for a lot of things you don't think about, like protecting your internal organs, expulsion of air and elimination. Appearance-wise, it can make the difference between your strong abs being round or flat.

    Execution

    • Before you try another ab exercise, lie on your back on a mat with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. While pushing your back into the mat, take a deep breath, but instead of expanding your chest, let the air inflate your stomach. Next, exhale slowly by contracting your ab muscles, essentially deflating your stomach to flat. Then, continue to contract your muscles until you feel as though you have a wide belt cinched around your middle. If you can do this lying sideways to a mirror and pull your t-shirt tight, you'll see that your abdominal area actually appears to be sunk or caved in. Sometimes called "abdominal vacuum," you can also do it while standing or sitting on your haunches, but lying flat to begin with will help keep your back aligned.This move is what is meant by drawing your navel to your spine. Of course, it's not literal; it's a way to help you envision the contraction.

    Putting It Into Effect

    • Once you know what it feels like to isolate your deeper ab muscles, try the hollowing exercise. Lie on your back on the mat and repeat the inhale into your stomach, but this time as you exhale, contract your abs to lift your shoulders and pelvis simultaneously while keeping your arms at your sides and sliding your hands along the mat. If you think hollowing sounds easier than the fifty fast crunches you're currently doing, then you haven't tried it yet. Done properly, that is, trying to pull your navel to your spine, you should feel that same cinch in your middle and may find that you can do far fewer simple hollowing moves using your transverse abdominis than you can standard crunches using only your rectus abdominis.

    Incorporating the Move

    • Once you've perfected the move of drawing your navel to your spine, you can incorporate it into your crunches, planks and, in particular, the jackknife. Since the muscle wraps your midsection, you can also work it with twist crunches for your obliques. Stability ball work is a particularly good for working the transverse abdominis as you can roll your hips forward or to either side when doing crunches. For more challenge, hold dumbbells or a medicine ball and thrust your arms out in front of you at the top of your crunch.