October: Overhead March

by Shania Rayford

No Deep Core Left Behind

Have you ever heard of the myth that in order to shrink your waist, you must do a bunch of sit ups and crunches daily? While that solution may sound ideal, it does not really solve the problem if your goal is to decrease your waist circumference. There are so many components that come into play while trying to achieve this goal like diet, exercise frequency, type, etc. However, when it comes to the abdominal component, there should be a focus on strengthening your deep core muscles. Sit ups and crunches are beneficial for strengthening the outer most layer of the core which are the muscles that we sometimes see protruding under someone’s skin. On the other hand, deep core muscles like the transverse abdominis, which are responsible for stabilization, are sometimes forgotten about due to certain exercise myths like mentioned earlier. In order to get a full rounded abdominal workout, we must incorporate exercises that target your deep core muscles as well.

Image: https://strongmamawellnessco.com/blog/deep-core-pregnancy-postpartum

An exercise that you can perform in many different variations to target your deep core would be a standing overhead march. Start with identifying the load that you’ll be holding over your head, whether that be a dumbbell, kettlebell, medicine ball, etc. Begin with a light weight and work your way up based on your fitness level and/or comfortability. Next, you’ll focus on engaging your core by bringing your belly button to spine, drawing in the hip bones for a corset feeling, but still breathing. Once your weight is overhead and your core is engaged, all that’s left to do is execute a slow and controlled marching motion, almost like a slowed down high knee. Click here to watch a video demonstration on how to perform an overhead march.

The overhead march can be done a series of ways to add some variety into your routine.

• Hold one object in both hands
• Hold one object in one hand
• Each hand holds its own object
• Alternate legs or do sets of one side at a time.

Remember if you choose to do these unilaterally by holding weight on one side, or by only marching on one side, make sure that you repeat it on the opposite for an equal amount of sets/reps/time. For more information on bracing your core, its benefits, and more exercise examples, check out this article by Muscle and Motion.