You may have heard the words coning, doming and/or peaking as things to look out for and avoid when performing abdominal exercises during pregnancy. But what exactly is coning? Can it be avoided and what can you do when you see it happening during an exercise? Keep reading as I dive into this topic in this month’s ‘Edit’ and hopefully provide you with enough information to feel empowered to trust your gut and make the right adaptations to any exercise so you can keep moving safely and effectively through pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond.
What is Coning/ Doming?
To understand what it is we need to briefly break down the anatomy of the deep core muscles also known as the core canister. I like having my clients visualize their core canister like a can of soda. At the top of the can sits our main breathing organ, our diaphragm, the bottom of the can is our pelvic floor, and then the sides of the can that wrap around it (our corset muscle) known as the transversus abdominis (TVA). The can is filled with air/pressure that helps it to hold its cylindrical shape. We call this same pressure within our abdominal cavity intra-abdominal pressure (IAP). Whenever we inhale we fill our core canister with air, which makes our belly rise and our ribcage expand. When we exhale we release all of the pressure through our mouth enabling us to draw our waist inwards and engage our abdominal muscles. Every day, as we breathe our body is managing this intra-abdominal pressure in the core canister.
During pregnancy, as your baby grows more pressure is built up in the core and the skin around your belly button starts to stretch out. The fibrous band of connective tissue that runs from your breast bone to your pubic bone, the linea alba, starts to thin out and as a result, becomes weaker (visualize the same effect as blowing up a balloon!) Our breath will always seek the path of least resistance so if you go to pick up a heavy object during pregnancy and hold your breath while doing so you will most likely see a peak or ridge forming down the linea alba - THIS IS CONING!! It can appear either above or below the belly button and it is a sign of mismanagement of Intra-abdominal pressure. This can happen anytime you put load or pressure on the core if you are not exhaling on the exertion part of a move. For example, if you lift a heavy object while holding your breath the pressure build-up in your core (your IAP) will press into the areas in the body that have less tension and restriction causing them to bulge out. The skin tissue around your belly button will be the most vulnerable area for this to happen and that is why we often see coning in pregnant bodies in the 2nd & 3rd trimesters and early on postpartum.
Coning Example in Pregnancy:
Notice as she lifts her head off the ground and engages her core her abdominals are making a mountain peak near her belly button rather than looking flat, round, and firm to the touch.
This is Coning/Peaking/Doming!
Does Coning harm baby?
Coning does not harm your baby but it does put excessive strain on the connective tissue that connects the right and left sides of your abdominal wall. Our tissue is designed to be highly adaptable and the stretching and thinning out of the connective tissue as your baby grows is a completely normal physiological process. However, excessive strain on this area during pregnancy from mismanagement of intra-abdominal pressure can lead to further damage to the connective tissue and ‘injury-based Diastasis Recti’ which will significantly slow down your recovery postpartum.
If I see Coning during an exercise should I stop immediately?
We shouldn’t be fearful of seeing coning. Like with many things in the body, it is our body’s way of signaling to us we need to adapt the move or deepen our breathing to be more stable, and safer in the exercise.
Next time you see coning follow these steps to reduce the signs:
Awareness - First simply know what it looks like when you are coning and when you are not. When pregnant and engaging our deep core the bump should look smooth, round, and firm to the touch. When coning it will look more like a mountain ridge/ bread loaf that is firm - THIS is what we want to avoid.
Check the breath - If you notice you are coning before modifying the exercise start by simply deepening the breath when you perform the move (exhaling on the effort - exhale to lift) In many cases this will reduce coning dramatically.
Reduce the load or volume - If a stronger exhale doesn’t fix the coning then dry reducing the load on your core. Perhaps this is lowering one leg to the ground, performing the same move with lighter or no weights, or reducing the repetitions of an exercise. You might be able to do 4 reps with great engagement and no coning but as your muscles tire towards the end of a set coning may become more visible.
Move on - If after trying points 2 and 3 with no success then move on to a different exercise. The move might not be appropriate for the stage of pregnancy you are in and may be putting too much pressure on your core to be able to avoid Coning.
The Power of Diaphragmatic Breathing
If you have ever taken one of my Train Like A Mother classes then you will be very familiar with the technique of Diaphragmatic Breathing! This breathing technique alone can completely transform how you exercise during your pregnancy. It takes a while to master (where are my shallow and reversed breathers at??) but once you get it you will radiate strength from the inside out and come to realize that your power truly comes from the breath. Diaphragmatic breathing is the key to pressure management in your core and will help you to avoid seeing distortion in your abdominals (aka coning) when you perform an exercise.
HOW TO: Diaphragmatic Breathing (360 Breathing)
Find a comfortable seat either on a chair or sitting cross-legged. Sit up tall with your ribs aligned over your hips and your ears over your shoulders. Bring one hand to your belly and one to the side of your ribcage. Take a deep inhale through your nose, breathing deep into your ribcage and your belly. On your exhale, purse your lips and visualize a birthday candle 8 inches away from your mouth. Exhale the air out like you are blowing through a straw. Allow the breath to be audible. Every time you exhale, you want to gently hug your deep core muscles towards your spine.
The problem with reverse breathing
Reverse breathing is when we inhale and hold our breath during the effort part of an exercise as opposed to exhaling during the effort. Reverse breathing patterns are very common and it can take a while to break these bad breathing habits and retrain your body to exhale on the challenging part of the movement. For example, in a ‘Flatback Single Leg Marching’ exercise if you inhale instead of exhale as you lower the leg to the ground your core canister will fill up with air/pressure creating no space for the muscles to engage and wrap in and down which helps to keep the spine and pelvis stable. Poor management of our IAP will put more pressure on the pelvic floor which can lead to further complications like pelvic floor dysfunction. When you can master diaphragmatic breathing it will completely transform how you experience an abdominal exercise during pregnancy and will protect your core, lower back, and pelvic floor while doing so.
If I see Coning every time I exercise will I get an Ab Separation?
As I mentioned before the tissue is designed to naturally adapt as your baby grows. What we hear of as ‘Ab Separation’ is not the abdominal muscles tearing apart but the connective tissue thinning and stretching out. As this is a natural physiological process 99% of pregnant women will experience Diastasis Recti (DR) to some degree by the 3rd trimester. DR can heal on its own in the first 8-16 weeks postpartum with gentle ab rehab and pelvic floor exercises. In more severe cases it can take closer to 6-18 months before seeing remarkable changes. Although we can not completely avoid DR from occurring we can dramatically reduce the risk of it getting worse by being mindful of how we execute a movement and avoid putting excessive load on the core.
Here is a list of some of the exercises you should avoid during pregnancy as they can cause excessive strain on the connective tissue:
Full-Form (on toes) Planks of any kind
Jack-knife
Weighted Russian Twists
Full-form pushups
Pilates Roll Downs to floor
Sitting straight up in bed without rolling to the side.
If you are a new or expecting mama looking for more guidance on how to train safely and effectively throughout your pregnancy and postpartum recovery then check out my 40-week Train Like A Mother Prenatal Program and my 8-Week Postpartum Core Recovery Program.
If you ever have a question about pre and postnatal exercise I am always happy to chat. Email your Qs to peri@phmethod.com or drop them in the comments below!Peri
xo
