12d • Injury Prevention
The Least Sexy Core Exercise That Works
In my previous post, I talked about the importance of breathing—specifically diaphragmatic breathing. In this post, I want to show you how to actually practice it on your own and how to integrate it into your at-home workouts.
The first goal when working on breathing is to remove as many variables as possible. From a science standpoint, this lets us isolate one thing at a time. From a biomechanics and rehab standpoint, that means starting lying flat on your back. When you’re on your back, your body no longer has to fight gravity to keep you upright, which makes it much easier to feel what’s actually happening with your breath.
Once you’re lying down, we shift our focus to the breath itself. Take a slow breath in through your nose, then exhale through your mouth like you’re blowing up a balloon. As you do this, pay attention to what’s moving the most when you inhale and exhale.
If you’re using your diaphragm properly, it should move downward as you inhale. This pushes gently against your internal organs and increases pressure around the low back. If the diaphragm isn’t doing its job, the body often compensates by breathing upward into the chest and shoulders—what we call a compensatory breathing pattern.
Once you can feel your diaphragm working, the next step is using it to create intra-abdominal pressure (IAP). IAP gives your deep core muscles something solid to brace against, which is what actually creates a strong, stable core. When this system isn’t working well, the body relies on secondary stabilizers instead. Over time, those muscles tend to become tight, overworked, fatigued, and sore.
A simple way to know you’re creating good IAP is this: when you inhale, your abdomen should expand 360 degrees—front, sides, and back—not just forward.
Now we need to use that pressure to brace the core effectively. Take a deep breath in, then gently engage your core as if someone is about to punch you in the stomach—but not so hard that you risk ripping a fart in a situation you’d rather not. From there, slowly let your breath out. As the diaphragm rises, continue to tighten the core just enough to maintain pressure through the entire exhale.
If you can do all of that—congrats. You’ve just learned how to properly use intra-abdominal pressure.
The next step is repetition. Slow, controlled breath in. Feel the breath expand all the way down toward the pelvic floor. Brace the core. Slowly exhale while maintaining pressure. Repeat.
Some of you will pick this up quickly. For others, it may take more time. Both are completely normal. Spend as much time here as you need. Once this feels comfortable, we start progressing the position: hands and knees, sitting, standing with support (like against a wall), and eventually standing unsupported.
From there, the final step is integration. Use this during real movement. Running? Take smaller belly breaths and maintain light core tension. Overhead pressing? Take a full breath in and brace so you’re not arching through the low back or flaring the rib cage.
When applied correctly, this sets the foundation for proper core bracing and low back stability. That said, this is not a magic fix or a silver bullet for low back pain. If you’re dealing with ongoing pain, it’s important to have it assessed by a professional to determine the root cause. From there, breathing and bracing become the base layer we build strength on top of—so the issue doesn’t keep coming back.
Check out the video below where I walk through this drill together! ⬇️
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The Least Sexy Core Exercise That Works
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