Ab exercises for singers: core training that actually helps your voice!

There is a lot of information about singing from the core out there, but what does it actually mean? and… how to use your core in a way that ACTUALLY helps you sing instead of harming your voice and potentially losing it!

1. Lie down on your back
2. bring up your knees to a 90-degree angle while you gently inhale (silent breathing)
3. Make sure you keep your back touching the ground at all times. Don’t arch it!
4. gently and slowly, in a controlled manner, exhale while you bring your leg down. The spine remains touching the floor at all times.
5. To make sure you are doing this ab exercise for singers in a helpful way, gently and freely move your head side to side while you exhale, without interrupting your exhale.

You can do that exercise before you do your singing practice. Make sure you are doing it in the way that I am showing you to avoid voice damage.

How NOT to do ab exercises for singers

Using the core for singers is a controversial topic. Many coaches have different ideas. But there are certain things that are scientifically proven to lead to certain results. 

If you want to avoid using your abs in a way that will really harm your voice, you need to be really conscious of what you’re doing with your rectus abdominis. So when we say core, we are talking about a lot of muscles, actually. And when you are thinking about singing from the abs, usually what happens is this is like the rectus abdominis muscle. One of the particularities that these muscles have is that when you pull it in tightly to exhale or sing, as a result the diaphragm (which contracts in the inhale), has to relax way too quickly. This creates a lot of pressure on your vocal cords. And that is not going to allow you to have a very differentiated and effective singing. Plus, it can potentially damage your voice. 

So we want to avoid that.

You also want to avoid having your abs too relaxed. Ideally, they should be gently toned and stretched, allowing the diaphragm to work freely.