The advice is common - and vague. Here’s how to do it properly. When I began weightlifting in my late 30s, my coaches often gave me a somewhat baffling cue.
“Engage your core,” they’d tell me as I stepped out of the squat rack with a loaded barbell on my back. Did that mean I should suck in my gut? Hold my breath? Or maybe both at the same time? Not exactly. Activating your core means creating “a brace, by drawing your belly button into your spine, as if you’re about to get punched in the stomach”, said Anatolia Vick, assistant director of fitness and wellness at Rice University.
.
