The Forgotten Core

Why your posture, waistline, and how you feel day to day depend on muscles you're probably not training.

We hear a lot about abs. But real core strength has very little to do with crunches. It's about your breathing, your deep abdominal muscles, your pelvic floor, and how they all work together.

For women over 35 especially, this is one of the most overlooked parts of staying strong and feeling good in your body.

Your core is a system, not a six-pack

Most people train their core like it's one muscle. In reality, it's a support system that includes:

• Your diaphragm, your main breathing muscle

• Your transverse abdominis, the deep abs that wrap around your midsection like a corset

• Your pelvic floor, which supports stability and continence

• The connective tissue that holds it all together

When part of that system weakens, whether from pregnancy, surgery, stress, poor posture, or too much sitting, you feel it. Posture slips, your back works harder than it should, and your midsection can feel less supported.

What I changed

I used to think I just needed to work harder. More planks, more cardio, more ab workouts. What actually made the difference was training smarter and paying attention to recovery, not just effort.

I also love wood therapy and body gua sha, and I wear compression garments like a faja or sweat belt. For me, they help with puffiness and make my waist feel more sculpted and supported. I do this both professionally and at home.

Not all ab work is equal

This one I learned the hard way: in my experience, doing a lot of heavy side-to-side oblique work made my waist look wider, not more defined.

So now I focus on:

• Planks, especially forearm and side planks done with control

• Lower ab work like leg lifts and pulses

• Slow weighted sit-ups, focusing on tension rather than reps

The lower abs often weaken after childbirth, surgery, or hormonal changes, and they're key to that strong, held-in feeling most of us want. If you've had a baby and notice separation or leaking, a pelvic floor physiotherapist is worth seeing before you do intense ab work.

The breath and core connection

Your diaphragm and pelvic floor work together like a pump. When you breathe deeply and properly, they move in sync and support your whole midsection. When your breathing is shallow and tense, your core doesn't get that support, and your posture tends to fold inward.

When I'm consistent with deep belly breathing, lymphatic massage, and time on my vibration plate or rebounder, I notice:

• Less puffiness

• Easier digestion

• Better core definition

• More energy, better mood, and better sleep

Strength and softness

Women are often taught to chase results with more: more workouts, more burn. The real shift happens when you train with intention and recover just as intentionally. If you want to keep your posture, your waistline, and your strength as you age, you have to train the deeper muscles that support them, and stop doing the things that work against you.

Keep reading: Tension Is the Teacher, How to Feel Younger Naturally Every Day, and Inside The Ageless Code

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