Anyone who sports a lot in the gym knows the stories of a new hype of important muscles or new best exercises that have been described on social media. The big back muscle or the core stability are the favorite things you hear a lot about. I have often been asked what I think are the most important muscles in our body. All muscles are important to me, but in my opinion the following muscles or group muscles are the most important of our body.

Heart muscle
Our heart muscle is a very important muscle. A heart consists of three layers with the middle layer being our myocardium. The myocardium is our heart muscle. Why is this muscle so important? The function of the myocardium is to contract the heart, allowing blood to flow easily through our blood vessels. So it keeps us alive. How do we train our heart muscle? You do this with aerobic training. Examples of this are walking, running, cycling, swimming, rowing & much more. It is usually recommended to do this 3-5 times a week.

Diaphragm
The diaphragm. I've already written a post about it, that's how important this muscle is. The diaphragm is our main breathing muscle. The diaphragm has many functions. Some of these include breathing, getting blood flowing to the heart, giving good posture, being an attachment to your organs, giving your organs the movement they need, vomiting & much more. How do you train the diaphragm? The answer seems simple, but unfortunately it is done wrong in many cases. Breathe correctly!
How do I breathe correctly?

• To breathe correctly it is important that you sit / stand upright with good posture.
• When you breathe in, you make your belly bigger.
• Light pressure may develop up to the pubic bone.
• After the belly gets bigger, your chest may get bigger.
• Pay close attention to your posture and avoid shrugging your shoulders.

Core stability muscles
I also think that the core stability muscles are extremely important. Why? This group of muscles stabilize your spine. Instability causes false axes in the spine which can cause many complaints such as lower back pain. These muscles also ensure that organs such as your kidneys are properly in place.

How do I train my core stability muscles?
There are an incredible number of exercises you can do to train this group of muscles. Squats or sit ups are an example of this. Internet is full of it.

Pelvic floor muscles
The pelvic floor muscles is another group of muscles that are important to your body. The pelvic floor muscles or the diaphragm of your pelvis also have a few important functions. One function is that your bladder rests on these muscles, so weak pelvic floor muscles can cause problems for the bladder. Before, during and after pregnancy, the pelvic floor muscles are also important, as these muscles can help you give birth to the baby. These muscles are also important for urination, defecation and sex.

How do you train these muscles?
You train these muscles by means of kegel exercises. Just like with core stability, there are many kegel exercises on the internet. Due to a lack of pictures I can unfortunately not show exactly how these exercises should be done. Fortunately, there are many pelvic physiotherapists who specialize in this, so if you want to learn more about this, make an appointment with them.

Laughing muscles
The laughing muscles are very important. The laughing muscles is a group of 15 muscles of which one of the functions is laughter. Scientific research has proven that laughter is very healthy. By laughing a lot, even if it is fake, we create endorphins which make us really happy. How do you train these smile muscles? By laughing of course.

Questions, feedback or ideas for new posts? Message me.

Kind regards,

Sascha Bargi BSc. Pt & MSc. Ost. in training