The 3 Biggest Mistakes Women make when Exercising their Core
Part One: The 3 Biggest Mistakes Women Make When Exercising Their Core
Part Two: Are Yoga and Pilates Safe for Your Core?
Part Three: Safe Exercises for a Weak Core and Pelvic Floor
Part Four: Safe Strength Training for Women at Any Age
Your belly still pooches out during exercise. You’re leaking when you jump or run. You feel pelvic heaviness or pain after exercise. Somehow your bloating gets worse after exercise. As a pelvic floor physical therapist, I see the same patterns over and over. Women come to me frustrated because they've been working out consistently, doing countless crunches and planks, yet their core still feels weak.
The problem isn't that they're not working hard enough. The problem is that they're making fundamental mistakes that actually cause core muscle dysfunction and push their organs down. Today I'm breaking down the three biggest mistakes I see women make when exercising their core, and what you should do instead.
Mistake #1: Poor Breathing
Most women belly breathe during exercise. Especially during high intensity exercise- they are belly breathing. This means that when they breath in, their rib cage is not expanding, and instead their belly is expanding. This is highly harmful to your pelvic organs, pelvic floor, spine and abdominal muscles. It leads to stretching and weakening of the core fascia, lowering of the organs, compression of the spine and low belly pooch central.
You might be making this mistake if you find yourself clenching your core during exercise, holding your breath during planks, exhaling forcefully during crunches, or breathing only into your belly during workouts.
Here's what's actually happening: your diaphragm and pelvic floor work together with every breath. When you hold your breath or belly breathe, you're missing out on the natural core strengthening that happens with proper breathing. Even worse, improper breathing can increase pressure in your abdomen in a way that pushes your organs down and out, worsening low belly pooch, leaking, back pain, prolapse and diastasis.
Another breathing pattern I see most often is what I call "restricted rib breathing"- this is where your shoulder blades are constantly squeezing, and the back of the rib cage is unable to expand with breathing because the spine is over extended and the shoulder blades are restricting rib movement. This type of breathing creates low belly pooch like crazy because if the back of the rib cage cant expand with breathing, the belly will so that the body can oxygenate. If the belly has to expand with every single breath, the abdominal and pelvic fascia will stretch and weaken over time... leading to the stubborn low belly pooch.
Mistake #2: Poor Spinal Posture
Poor posture during exercise doesn't just affect your form - it fundamentally changes how your core muscles can function. If you're exercising with squeezed shoulder blades, a flattened low back, or a tucked pelvis- your core muscles can't coordinate properly, no matter how hard you're working.
I see this constantly with women who spend their days hunched over computers or carrying kids on one hip. They bring this same posture into their workouts, then wonder why they still have a low belly pooch. When your back is flattened, your shoulders are squeezing, or your pelvis is tucked, your diaphragm and pelvic floor can't work together effectively. The exercise becomes counterproductive and will worsen core and pelvic floor dysfunction.
Poor Spinal Posture will actually inhibit the very muscles you want to work- your core. A flattened lower back or a tucked pelvis will actually turn OFF 80% of your core muscle fibers- the involuntary ones that are responsible for waist circumference, organ position, and blood flow. So no matter how many reps you do- the goal of the exercise is never achieved because the very muscles you need to target are inhibited.
Mistake #3: Doing too Much too Soon
This is the biggest mistake I see, and it's often overlooked. Many women jump into high-intensity workouts, running, or challenging core exercises when their core and pelvic floor muscles aren't ready. This is especially common with postpartum moms. If you're dealing with leaking, doming of your abs during exercise, back pain, or pelvic pressure, your core isn't functioning properly yet to be able to properly support you during such high intensity and challenging exercise.
Exercising with a dysfunctional core is like trying to build a house on a cracked foundation. Every burpee, every jump, every intense (or little) movement is putting pressure on muscles that can't handle it yet. So instead that force is generate through the fascia and organs- weakening and lowering them. Instead of getting stronger, you're making the core muscle dysfunction worse.
I see women doing hundreds of Kegels and crunches, thinking they're strengthening their core, but these exercises often make issues like diastasis, leaking, bloating and back pain worse and actually over-tighten an already dysfunctional pelvic floor. Meanwhile, the real issue - poor coordination between core muscles - goes unaddressed.
What to do Instead: The Core Recovery Method®
Instead of working harder with exercises that aren't serving you, you need to retrain your core muscles to do what they were meant to do- support your organs and spine with every breath you take, automatically! This is exactly what The Core Recovery Method® does.
The program starts with breathing and postural retraining because these are the foundation of core function. You'll learn specific spinal positions and breathing techniques that automatically engage your deep core muscles with every breath. When your breathing is correct, your core strengthens and heals itself throughout the day, not just during exercise.
Combine this proper breathing with optimal postural alignment, and your core muscles now can function optimally during movement, and support your organs and spine in the way they were meant to.
Finally, you'll build true core strength using techniques like hypopressive training and glute strengthening. Exercise flows that are centered around lifting your organs, flattening your belly, reducing pressure and reflexively activating your deep core muscles. These exercises work with your body's natural pressure systems and reflexes- instead of against them.
The result? You can return to the exercises you love - running, jumping, lifting - without leaking, pain, or that frustrating belly pooch.
If you're tired of doing core exercises that aren't working, or if you're dealing with symptoms like leaking and pain during exercise, it's time to address the foundation. The Core Recovery Method® teaches you exactly how to retrain your core muscles so that every exercise you do builds real, functional strength.
