Exercise: Abdominal Elevator

This exercise is good for strengthening the transverse abdominal muscle and gaining greater abdominal subtlety.

Position:
Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet on the floor. Place one hand on your navel. Pelvis should be in neutral position, where the 3 bony points on the front of the pelvis (hipbones, and pubic bone) align on the same horizontal plane, where there is a small space between the floor and the lumbar vertebrae (the lower back).

Movement overview:
Navel will move up and down, while maintaining the stability of the bones, particularly, keeping neutral pelvis. You will feel with your hand how the belly moves in and out. You will feel the transverse abdominal muscle, expand then contract in stages.

Image:
Your abdomen is a 6 story building; the space between the floor and the spine is the basement, the spine is the first floor, the second floor is just above the spine, floors stacking up on top of each other where the 6th floor (the roof deck) is the point where you can push your navel as far up, away from the spine, as possible. The navel is an elevator that travels up and down the building stopping on various floors.

Directions:
1. Inhale; allow the navel to push all the way out so that the elevator goes up to the roof deck, the 6th floor.
2. Exhale and Inhale; keep the belly pushed out so the navel/elevator stays on the 6th floor.
3. Exhale; pull the navel in a little bit so the elevator descends to the 5th floor.
4. Inhale; keep the elevator on the 5th floor.
5. Exhale; pull the navel in a bit more, bringing the elevator to the 4th floor.
6. Inhale; hold the elevator on the 4th floor.
7. Exhale; pull the navel in a bit more, bringing the elevator to the 3rd floor. It should feel like you are halfway to the spine, or you are pulled in half the amount that you can.
8. Inhale; hold the elevator on the 3rd floor.
9. Exhale; pull the navel in a bit more, bringing the elevator to the 2nd floor.
10. Inhale; hold the elevator on the 2nd floor.
11. Exhale; pull the navel in a bit more, bringing the elevator to the 1st floor. Navel is 'all the way' to the spine. Keep in mind you should have a space for the basement still.
12. Inhale; hold the elevator on the 1st floor.
13. Exhale; imagine pulling the elevator all the way into the basement (dont crush the basement with the 1st floor though). You should feel an even stronger tightening of the abdominal muscles around the spine.
14. Inhale; hold the elevator in the basement.
15. Exhale; push the belly all the way out again, back to the roof deck and repeat steps 2-15. In total, do the exercise 3 times.