Core Exercises - Strengthen Your Core

Core exercises to strengthen your core muscles which are very important, your core muscles are the foundation for a strong central core.

Strengthening your core muscles is one of the best ways to prevent lower back problems, this involves working your lower back, abdominals and the pelvic area. Your core muscles are basically all the muscles in your torso, excluding your arms and legs.

Your core muscles are very important, they're the foundation for our bodies movements, they allow us to stand up straight and move effectively.

Benefits of having a strong core

Injury prevention, reduce back pain, improved posture, daily tasks will become easier and require less effort, better sporting performance as a strong core will allow for the better shifting of your body and allow for smoother more powerful movements.

Core Muscles

Abdominals - Often mistaken for being the only core muscles.

Oblique's - They run along the side of your abdominals.

Erector Spinae - Run from your neck, down to your lower back.

Hip Flexors - These muscles are at the front of your pelvis.

Transverse Abdominis - They're beneath your oblique's and they go around to your back and help to stabilise your spine and waist.

Hip adductors - located in the upper thigh and hip area.

Gluteus Maximus - enables you to stand up straight.

Effective core exercises

• Various plank exercises

• Ab crunches, sit ups, leg raises

• Deadlift

• Stiff legged deadlift

• Good mornings

• Hyperextensions

• Body twists

• Squats

• Press ups

• Hip rotations

Various balancing exercises, (example) exercise balance ball exercises.

Below are three core exercises with details on how to perform them.

Front Plank

Technique

Get into a press up position, however rest your bodies weight on your forearms and elbows instead of your hands.

Then simply just hold your body in that position for a period of time.

Hyperextensions

Technique - requires a hyperextension bench

Lie on the bench faced down, your feet need to be placed under the foot pads to keep your feet in a fixed position.

Now keeping your back straight, slowly start to lower yourself at the waist as far as you can while keeping your back straight.

Now in a slow and controlled fashion raise yourself back up to the starting position.

Alternating Ab Crunches

Technique

Get in a crunch position with your back flat on the ground, knees up and elbows pointed towards your feet with your fingers on your temples.

Now try and touch your left knee with your right elbow, you should feel your abdominals and obliques being worked as you perform this, then repeat with the other side.

For added benefit you can extend and straighten your other leg keeping it suspended a few inches off the ground.