Re-Think It: “Belly-Button to Your Spine”

Sound familiar? This is a common cue given in just about any exercise or movement class. I grew up hearing it in dance class. I hear it in fitness classes and yoga classes to this day. Let’s look at what you’re actually doing when you “draw your belly-button to your spine.”

Lay on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Place one hand above your belly-button, and one hand below. Now draw your belly-button to your spine. Notice what direction your hands travel. Do they stay where they are while your belly button moves downward? Do they move up while your belly button moves down? Maybe one hand lifts while the other travels downward.

If any of these things happen, this indicates you are isolating your mid-transverse abdominus muscle. Your transverse abdominus (TA) is your deepest abdominal muscle. It acts to stabilize your trunk and it runs from your pelvis all the way up to your sternum. (HERE is a great visual and explainer of our abdominal muscles) Over time, only isolating the middle part of your TA can create a cinching effect that may cause problems for your pelvic floor and general core strength and efficiency.

Try this instead: Take a big expansive inhale, and on your exhale engage your abdomen from the bottom up. Feel your lower hand move towards your spine, your belly-button, and finally your other hand - all moving downward towards your spine. Another way you might thing about it is “wrapping your belly in a hug from back to front. The goal is to engage the entire TA, not just the middle. This isn’t occuring in isolation. Your other abdominal muscles are also being engaged, but for this particular exercise, the focus is on .

The next time you hear “belly-button to spine” try “engage from pubic bone to sternum” and see how that feels.