tely, many people interested in getting into shape and doing something for their body fail to focus on the importance of core exercises. Simply put, core exercises focus primarily on muscle groups around the body’s pelvis and torso, the core. By using core exercises, you can build a stronger, healthier body, particularly around the abdomen, lower back, pelvis, and hips. These are the very parts of the body that carry the weight and do a lot of work. Therefore, it is important that they be maintained.

What you will quickly discover is that once you incorporate core exercises into your daily regimen, doing everyday things will become so much easier. Everyday movements that require some body strength, such as lifting up kids, pushing the lawnmower, using a vacuum cleaner and bending down and back up, become less stressful. Another benefit of doing core exercises is that you find you can now do even more things to include playing tennis, softball, golf, and other fun sports.

Another huge benefit associated with doing core exercises is that you will notice a much better posture. As a result, experiencing muscle strain, injury, and pain subsides. It is a common misperception that pushups and crunches are the only exercises needed to have a strong core. In truth, there are distinct core exercises that do much more. The key is to add core exercises to your normal workout so these muscle groups are no longer neglected.

Now, some core exercises do include doing pushups, crunches, sit ups, and squats. However, there are additional exercises that should be added. For instance, the following are some options that you might consider.

- Bridge – With the bridge, you would begin by lying on your back, keeping your knees bent and your back completely relaxed without any kind of arching or pressing the back to the floor. Tightening the abs, slowly lift your hips off the floor, aligning them with the shoulders and knees. Hold this position for 5 seconds and then slowly move back to the starting position.

- Segmental Rotations – Another of the core exercises that is highly effective is this. This begins with you lying on the floor on your back, bending the knees and relaxing the back. Again, tighten the abs while slowly allowing your knees to move to the left of the body. Just make sure your shoulders do not come up off the floor in the process. At first, you will only be able to lower the knees so far but in time, you will find your flexibility and strength improving. Once your knees have been moved to the left, hold them for five seconds. Return the knees to the center position, slowly moving them to the right, again holding for five seconds before returning to the center. You should do three sets at first, slowly increasing.

- Quadrupeds – Start on your hands and knees, keeping your hands shoulder’s width apart. Then, make sure the neck and head is perfectly aligned with the shoulders. Tighten the abs, lift the right arm off the floor, and reach forward. Hold this position for 3 seconds. Lower the arm and do the same for the left arm.



By: Brooks Donner

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Body Weight Exercise

cises are just as important as the name implies – they workout the core of your body, which benefits the rest of your body as well. Your core area are the muscles around your trunk and pelvis. Good core stability means that the muscles in your pelvis, lower back, hips, and abdomen are all working together, which in turn makes it much easier to do a lot of things. For example, when you have good core strength, you will find it easier to play golf or tennis and even to tie your shoes! You will have better posture, and you greatly reduce your risks for lower back pains or injuring your muscles. Sadly, however, most people think they just need to do a few sit ups or crunches to work out their core, and by doing so, they severely neglect that muscle group. Fortunately, there are a lot of easy core exercises you can do – right from the comfort of your own home, if you like – to strengthen your core area.

First, there are the standard core exercises, the ones most of us learn to do in grade school. These include squats, push ups, sit ups, and crunches that target your abdominal area. If you are looking for some more intense core exercises, then first up is the bridge. To do this exercise, you need to lie on your back with your knees bent. It is very important to keep your back in a relaxed, sort of neutral position – no arching your spine or pressing your back into the floor! Next, tighten your abdominal muscles and lift your hips off of the floor so that they are aligned with your knees and your shoulders. Hold this position for three seconds (count them out: one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi), then slowly return to the starting position, and start all over again.

The second type of ******** core exercises are segmental rotations. Again, begin by lying down with your back in a relaxed position and your knees bent. Tighten your abdominal muscles once more. This time, however, you are going to let your knees slowly fall to the left while keeping your shoulders on the floor. Do not stress yourself too much – only let your legs fall as far as is comfortable for you. When you are doing it right, you will feel the tension of the stretch but you will not experience pain. Hold for another three count, return to the starting position, and then repeat, this time lowering your legs to the right.

The last set of core exercises are quadrupeds. For this exercise, you begin on your hands and knees. Your hands should be directly below your shoulders and your head and neck should be aligned with your back. Start off by tightening your abdominal muscles, then lift your left arm off the floor and reach ahead. Hold for a three count, then lower your left arm and repeat the exercise using your right arm. Once you are back in the starting position, this time, you are going to raise your left leg off the floor. If you feel yourself falling off balance, just tighten the muscles in your trunk area. Hold for a three count, go back to the starting position, and do the same with your right leg.

Do these core exercises regularly, and you will be on your way to a strong, healthy core – not to mention some serious six-pack abs!



By: Dominic Ferrara

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Body Weight Fitness

There are 3 phases of Core Training.   When you perform core exercises you can focus on 3 things: stability, strength, or power.  Although stability, strength, and power are all related you can emphasize a certain benefit by choosing specific exercises and performing them in a specific way.  Stability refers to the ability of your muscles to maintain a joint’s position, posture, and alignment.  Strength refers to the ability of your muscles to move a certain amount of resistance through the full range of motion.  And power refers to the ability of your muscles to move your body with speed.

Core stabilization is best developed by isometric exercises.  Isometric exercises are exercises in which the core, pelvis, and spine have little to no movement. Core power is best developed when you perform exercises in a fast and explosive manner.  Core strength is best developed when you move through the full range of motion in a controlled way and sometimes against resistance.  In this article I want to talk about developing core strength. 

Stabilization is the foundation of core training, but as soon as you master stability exercises like the drawing in maneuver and the plank, you should then focus on exercises that challenge your abdominal muscles and lower back muscles through a greater range of motion.  Crunches on a ball and lower back extensions on a ball are both good core strengthening exercises.

Let’s talk about crunches.  Crunches on the floor are a good exercise for developing strength, but on the floor your range of motion is limited.  Because of decreased range of motion on the floor many physical therapists and personal trainers recommend doing crunches on an exercise ball.  When you perform crunches on the ball, your hips and spine are slightly extended, and this gives you more range of motion.  In regards to strengthening any muscle, the greater range of motion you use the greater gains in strength you will achieve.

Okay, now let’s talk about working the lower back muscles on the ball.  The same issues hold true when comparing back extensions on the floor and back extensions on the ball.  You have less range of motion on the floor, so you may not achieve the same improvement in strength.  If you don’t have access to a ball, back extensions on the floor are still a great lower back exercise, but you can enhance the range of motion using a ball.  When you think about core strength, your goal should be to develop your abdominal and lower back muscles through the greatest range of motion possible.  Of course, never compromise form, and always move in the pain free range of motion.

Here’s another tip for developing core strength.  If you want to maximize your strength gains, you must increase or add resistance to your core exercises once they become easy.  The abdominal muscles are just like other muscles.  In order to break strength plateaus, you must increase the challenge by adding resistance.  You can add resistance to your core exercises in many ways.  You can use dumbbells, weighted plates, cables, tubing, or ankle weights.

You can use dumbbells or weighted plates across your chest to add resistance to your crunches.  In addition, you can use cables or tubing to add resistance to your crunches or perform functional moves such as standing rotations, lifts, or chops.  You can even use ankle weights to add resistance to core moves that involve the legs.

Remember, that before you rush off to challenge your core muscles with resistance, you should first develop stability.  Also, begin light when you start to add resistance and build up slowly.  More resistance means more pressure on your muscles and joints, and more pressure can increase the risk of injury, especially if you have incorrect form or posture.

After you have developed adequate core strength, the next step is to develop your power and speed.  If you participate in sports developing speed is essential to performance and injury prevention.  However, if you are not an athlete, you might put less emphasis on developing power and more on stabilization and strength.



By: Charles A. Inniss, Jr. DPT

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Body Weight Workout

Forget about crunches, sit ups, or leg raises.  The drawing-in maneuver to engage the transversus abdominus is the most important core exercise to master if you want to develop core stability.

If you’ve never heard of the transversus abdominus I wouldn’t be surprised.  It the deepest of the abdominal muscles and so you can’t see it.  As its name implies, it runs across the abdomen.  It is often referred to as your natural girdle because it’s only job is to brace your lower back and pull in your belly button, like a girdle.

Why is targeting the Transverse Abdominus so important?

A group of physiotherapists in Australia studied back pain by looking at muscle coordination patterns.  They wanted to see if there were difference between people with no lower back pain and those with chronic lower back pain.  What they found is that when healthy people with no lower back pain move their arms or legs the transverse abdominus is the first muscle to fire.

That’s right… If you move your arm, this core muscle contracts before your arm contracts.  Your body is naturally wired to be stable around the center first before you can move.

In contrast, people with chronic lower back pain displayed an inability to contract the core muscles before the arm muscles.  When you start to move before your spine is stable, more pressure is placed on the joints of the lower back.

This is one reason core training has become so popular.  Core training can help to stabilize the pelvis and lower back while taking pressure off the spine.

The drawing-in maneuver is very easy to do.  Simply pull in your belly button so that it moves towards your back.  Hold for 10 seconds, relax and repeat 5-10 times.

This simple core exercise can help to improve your core stability and it’s the most important core exercise to master!



By: Charles A. Inniss, Jr. DPT

About the Author:

Bodyweight Exercise

Forget about crunches, sit ups, hanging leg raises, russian twists, or stability ball exercises. The drawing-in maneuver to engage the transversus abdominus is the most important core exercise to master if you want to develop core stability.

If you’ve never heard of the transversus abdominus I wouldn’t be surprised. It the deepest of the four anterior abdominal muscles and so you can’t see it. It lies underneath the rectus abdominus (the muscle that forms the 6 pack) and the external and internal oblique muscles.

As its name implies, it runs across the abdomen. It is often referred to as your internal weight belt or your natural girdle because its only job is to brace your lower back and pull in your belly button, like a girdle.

Why is targeting the Transverse Abdominus so important?

A group of physiotherapists in Australia studied back pain by looking at muscle coordination patterns. They wanted to see if there were difference between people with no lower back pain and those with chronic lower back pain. What they found is that when healthy people with no lower back pain move their arms or legs the transverse abdominus is the first muscle to fire.

That’s right! If you move your arms or legs, this core muscle contracts before your arm or leg muscles contract. Your body is naturally wired to be stable around the center first before you can move.

In contrast, people with chronic lower back pain displayed an inability to contract the core muscles before the arm and leg muscles. When you start to move before your spine is stable, more pressure is placed on the joints of the lower back.

This is one reason core training has become so popular. Core training can help to stabilize the pelvis and lower back while taking pressure off the spine.

When a personal trainer says to pull your abs in, they are often referring to drawing in and engaging the transverse abdominus.

You can focus on this muscle during all of your exercises. Maintaining good posture is a key to keeping your joints healthy.

The drawing-in maneuver is very easy to do. You can perform it while sitting in a chair, lying on the floor, standing, or even while balaning on your hands and knees in the quadreped poisition.

Simply pull in your belly button so that it moves towards your back. Hold for 10 seconds, relax and repeat 5-10 times.

This simple core exercise can help to improve your core stability and it’s the most important core exercise to master!



By: Charles Inniss

About the Author:

Bodyweight Exercise