What is Abdominal Coning?
This occurs commonly during pregnancy and early postpartum due to diastasis recti: the normal separation of the six-pack abs during pregnancy!
As pregnancy progresses, the core musculature, tissues, and ligaments thin and stretch to accommodate baby’s growth. This thinning causes the tissues to be more easily manipulated by changes in pressure within the abdominal cavity.
When exercising, we may experience coning with certain types of movements!
Overhead Presses: Common exercise that causes coning
Overhead presses, or strict press type movements, tend to cause coning once the lift is initiated. The reason for this is usually improper positioning!
If you look at the image to the right, you can see the ribs thrusted and back arched. This is usually a compensation pattern to bring the lift into the chest (usually stronger muscles).
This arched position stretches or lengthens the front abdominal wall.
Our front abdominal musculature and tissues are thinner and stretched during pregnancy to accommodate baby’s growth. Therefore, increasing this thinning and stretching by arching in the back could make coning more likely.
Remember, thinner tissues are more easily manipulated by changes in pressure.
Next, we can manage pressure based on the relationship between our diaphragm and pelvic floor. In an arched position, the diaphragm and pelvic floor are disconnected.
Solution? First, we want to focus on positioning the ribs and pelvis! Some believe breathing comes first, but I find that the setup and alignment should come first, followed by a focus on breathing.
Pelvic Position: Supported Neutral Position from a Seated Overhead Press
First, we can focus on the positioning of our pelvis. The pelvis is in a neutral position when the front of the hip bones and the pubic bone are aligned vertically with one another.
We can support a more neutral pelvis position by placing some support under the backside of the glutes.
Because the back of the pelvis mostly consists of muscle tissues, the tendency is to rock back into a posterior pelvic tilt (tucking the butt under) when in a seated position.
Adding a deflated ball or wedge under the glutes can support the pelvis in a more neutral position.
Sometimes bringing the pelvis into a more neutral position supports a more stacked overall position with presses. The seated position also adds more overall support and stability to the lift with less joints required to stabilize.
- Seated: Hips, spine, and shoulders stabilizing
- Standing: Ankles, knees, hips, spine, and shoulders stabilizing
Spine Position: Bench Feedback
Some of our clients find that external feedback for their spine helps them keep the rib cage down!
One way to do this is to use an incline bench at the highest incline setting (normally 90 degrees as shown in the picture to the right).
Press the upper back and hips into the bench, leaving a small gap for the low back to maintain a neutral spine. Neutral is not flat back!
As you exhale, press the weight overhead, focusing on keeping the upper back and hips in contact with the bench.
You will feel the upper back move away from the bench if you arch! This external feedback can be incredibly helpful!
Breathing Focus: Adductor Activation & Rib Cage External Feedback
Exhale Focus
Breathing is how we manage pressure in our abdominal cavity. Our diaphragm and our pelvic floor influence how pressure is distributed throughout the abdominal cavity.
Once we have the diaphragm and pelvic floor aligned, we can focus on breathing to manage coning.
First, we can focus on exhalation to keep the rib cage down by engaging the core.
A helpful way to emphasize the strength of the exhalation is to increase adductor activation.
Place a Pilates ball between the thighs and upon exhale, squeeze the ball, then press the weight overhead. The resulting increase in adductor activation helps to turn on the pelvic floor and lower abs, which can keep the rib cage down as you press.
Inhale Focus
Step two is to focus on inhalation. The stronger the inhalation, the more power we can generate with our exhalation.
Our rib cage expands laterally as our diaphragm flattens and moves down with inhale, resulting in increased downward pressure in our abdominal cavity. This increases the displacement of our core musculature from its starting position, which allows us to generate more power with exhalation. Essentially, our exhales will be stronger! This is why inhales are so important!
Adding feedback to the rib cage can help you feel lateral expansion to support a more thorough inhalation.
We like using either resistance bands or a Core 360 belt to provide some feedback. The belt is not super tight; you can still freely expand your rib cage, but it gives you a little feedback to expand into.
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A Personal Favorite: Opposites Working
Our favorite way to help keep the rib cage down to maintain a better overall position with the overhead press is the half kneeling strict press with banded pull-down!
The banded pull down with strict press has opposites working together to maintain a neutral position of the spine and pelvis.
In a half-kneeling position, pull a band down. Hold the weight on the knee’s side so you have a straight line of overhead press from the floor.
Exhale to keep the band pulled towards the body, and then press the weight overhead.
This counter pull-press usually does a great job of keeping the rib cage down and alleviating coning!
Watch the video below for a quick demo of this movement in action!
Overhead presses tends to be a common exercise that causes coning during pregnancy and early position. The main reason is positioning: as we press the weight overhead, there is a tendency to arch in the back to bring the movement more into the chest.
This arching can stretch the already thinned front abdominal wall, making it more susceptible to changes in pressure.
Focusing on different techniques to keep a more neutral position as we press overhead can help to manage or alleviate coning during prenatal lifting!
Check out our 40-Week Prenatal Strength Programming and Prenatal Workout On-Demand Program for more guidance on how to work out throughout your pregnancy. Our programming syncs to your week of pregnancy, so you can begin it at any time! One-time payment and monthly payment options are available.
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