Want Better Core Muscles? Ditch the Crunches & Swap Out Your Office Chair Instead

I had an interesting conversation with a client recently. She asked, "Does the chair I'm sitting in at work all day affect my core muscles?" The short answer is "Yes." What you sit on and how much you sit on it will impact your deep core muscles, breathing, posture, and pelvic organ function. Here's why.

What exactly is your core?

I'm a little embarrassed to tell you that I found out about the importance of the deep core muscles far too late in my life and career. It took moving halfway around the globe for me to learn what should have been a key element of my education throughout my undergrad and graduate studies.

Fortunately, I connected with an amazing group of women at a training in Melbourne, Australia in 2016, led by Michelle Wright and Thea Baker. We laughed, ate fresh lemons from Mish's backyard lemon tree, and learned about the complexities of the core. Hopefully you know more than I did at that time, but in case this is new to you, too, here it is in a nutshell.

Many people only think of the rectus abdominis muscles (abs) when I say "core," but the core is actually made up of a symphony of deep muscles that all work together in concert to protect and support your body. Even though the abs are the most well known, there are far more important muscles to focus on when it comes to strengthening the core. Some of those are the diaphragm, the transverse abdominis, and the pelvic floor. In fact, I often tell my clients to ditch the crunches. Since the primary function of the abs is forward flexion, working them too much can cause excess intra-abdominal pressure and do more harm than good.

What does your core do for you?

There are several ways that stronger core muscles can impact your body. To help you understand how they function, think of your core as if it was a canister with a top, bottom, and sides. Each muscle forms a part of the canister.

Breathing. The diaphragm is a powerful muscle located under your ribcage forming the top of your core and is the main muscle for breathing. Using this muscle to breath is sometimes called "belly breathing" which is more efficient at delivering oxygen to the body than "chest breathing" (using the smaller chest and shoulder muscles to breathe).

Stabilizing. The transverse abdominis (which we can call the TA for short) wraps around your body kind of like a weight belt that helps stabilize and prevent back injuries. It is a tricky muscle to find and know if you are using it, but think about how you feel when you blow out the last candle or blow up a balloon or laugh. You are using your TA muscles for those types of activities. The TA is one of my favorite muscles to strengthen because it has the added benefit of sliming the waist.

Supporting. The pelvic floor muscles are located at the bottom of your core and are intimately linked to most of the systems of the body like the respiratory, nervous, reproductive, circulatory, skeletal, endocrine, and digestive systems. Because of this, when the pelvic floor is not functioning properly, you can experience a host of seemingly unrelated symptoms such as low back pain, neck pain, headaches, incontinence, separation of the abs (diastasis), or jaw tension (TMJ).

Choosing a chair to support your core.

What chair you choose to spend the majority of your day in is a critical factor in your how well your core functions. Consider what happens to your core when you sit in a traditional task chair with lumbar support and arm rests - your core atrophies (gets weaker) because it is not being used.

Alternatively, active seating is the practice of sitting on a dynamic support structure that uses your own muscles to keep your body safe and functioning when you have to spend excessive time behind a desk. My favorite example of this is the Move by Varier because it is N.E.A.T. certified by the Mayo Clinic and because it meets the 3 criteria for active seating:

• It opens the hip angle (distance of the torso from the legs)
• It stacks the spine using your own muscles (no lumbar support or arm rests)
• It provides the ability to fidget, move & change positions frequently.

Remember the awesome TA muscle that wraps around your core for support and protection? When you sit in an active chair, the TA has to engage to maintain upright posture and balance. Breathing from the diaphragm is easier because the spine is stacked properly, and this triggers the contraction and release of the pelvic floor in sync with each breath. The result is an engaged and functioning core. Over time, the core gets stronger and stronger so you have less risk of back pain, a smaller waist, and better posture.

As a side benefit, one of my colleagues began using active seating a year ago. Her doctor recently confirmed that she is 1/2 an inch taller than last year. That's the power of a stronger core.

As you look at your workspace, ask yourself these questions,

Does my chair my chair cultivate a balance between rest and movement?

Does my chair actually engage my core or does it act as a splint and hold me in position?

If your answers are "no," then I am giving you permission to swap out your chair for active seating, and ditch the crunches while you're at it. Your future you will be grateful you did it.

If you want to explore ideas for building core strength through active seating in your office or school, please email me at [email protected] for a free consultation.

About the Author

Stevyn Guinnip, MSEd helps organizations rethink traditional concepts about how workplaces and schools should function in a modern, health‐conscious society. She has a masters degree in kinesiology and over 20 years of experience including research for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), corporate wellness, cardiac rehab, business consulting, and launching fitness programs in both the US and Australia. Currently, Stevyn is the Corporate Kinesiologist for FFL Brands? in Boulder, Colorado.