I still See Fitness Experts Making This Mistake (pssst They Cone)
If there is anything that I still see the most, it's when fitness experts or instructors give advice on abdominal work.
The reason being is that one of the big things I see being done incorrectly is their midsection is coning. Now it's not their fault... they may not know about the pelvic floor and core to this extent.
So today, I want to share about coning so you can hear how you can do core work a tad bit better.
We are going to just dive right into the facts here so I hope you're ready to know all about coning/doming.
What is coning?
Coning is when the internal pressure within the abdominopelvic cavity essentially has no where to go but to push outward on the linea alba (a connective tissue in the midline of the abdominal region).
Why does this happen?
The reason for this to happen is due to poor pressure management in the abdominopelvoc cavity. It either means that awareness is not there and you are doing movements or activities that are putting a lot of strain on that region; or it's not properly engaging your deep transverse abdominis.
It can also be that you are doing an activity or movement that is requiring a lot of muscular recruitment and effort to perform. It's requiring you to distribute the pressure outward as a bracing method to perform the lift/movement. Think like you're lifting something up really heavy, you gather all your might and you may bare down with pressure. This is a counter pressure to try to give you an "umph" to lift the heavy object.
How do I know if I am coning?
You will typically see a bulge or a ridge in the midline of your abdominals between the two sides of the rectus abdominis. Look for a line that essentially runs through your belly button. It will look like a small mound.
You can often see it in babies or toddlers who's tissue has not yet adjusted to intrabdominal pressure. They actually ate a great reference to view if you're having difficulty determining if you cone.
One of the easiest ways to tell is to lie on your back and lift your head up then your shoulders off of the ground. Look at your belly button region as you are doing this.
Why is Coning bad?
The act of coning itself is not inherently bad. It happens. And in a responsive moments that require you to move quickly you will probably have coning occur. If your baby is all of the sudden screaming in the middle of the night you aren't going to think about whether or not you are coning. Therefore I don't want you to worry about the fact that it occurred.
However, when coning occurs repetitively, this poor pressure management can lead to worsened diastasis recti or pelvic floor symptoms.
Overall, we want to have good pressure management of our tissues and abdominopelvic region (the belly and pelvis region) the majority of the time.
So how do you fix it?
Manage the pressure within your abdominopelvic cavity.
Engage your deep core muscles (transversus abdominis) with core activation and diaphragmatic breathing
Reduce activities that produce coning until proper pressure management occurs.
Just a quick Reminder!
Your body is resilient, if you previously have been coning do not beat yourself up! With continuing forward, be more mindful in managing your abdominal pressure.
Did you find this helpful? Have any further questions? Be sure to share with a friend who needs to hear this!
If you need more help with coning, pressure management and starting to heal your pelvic floor then head over here to get my FREE Guide!
Love,
your pre/postnatal strength coach
Dani Jones
