Lets talk about CORE
Your core is supper important for everyday life and includes more then you might think.
When talking about our core the first thing you might think of are the 6-pack muscles (rectus abdominis). You wouldn’t be wrong, but you would only be thinking of a very small part of your core. The core is comprised of many different muscles all working together to help with stability for the body. Some of the muscles that make up your core are these muscles
Abdominal muscles:
Rectus abdominis
Transversus abdominis
Internal Oblique
External Oblique
Back muscles:
Erector Spinae
Multifidi
Other muscles:
Diaphragm
Glute muscles
Pelvic Floor muscles
Another way to look understand what makes up your core is to think of it as the main part of your body. If you cut off your arms, legs, and neck what you have left is your core.
Now that we have a better understanding of what our core is lets talk about why it is important. A strong core sets you up for being successful in all other exercises. If your have a weak core you put yourself at more risk for injury
Here are 3 of my go to exercises for training the core:
Plank
How to:
Start in a table top position
Lower forearms to the ground, stacking elbows below shoulder
Lift knees off the ground and extend feet back
Brace core, squeeze glutes & quads
Pallof Press
Equipment:
Band or cable
How to:
Grab the band/cable and bring it to the center of chest
Step out to the side so there is tension on band/cable
Place feet about shoulder width apart
Brace core
Extend hands out in straight line and return to starting position
Deadbug
Lay flat on back with arms towards ceiling, legs up towards ceiling, bend hips & knees 90 degrees
Extend opposite arm and leg straight out.
Return to starting position and switch sides.
KEEP LOWER BACK FLAT ON GROUND THE WHOLE TIME!
Theses exercises are great at targeting multiple components of the core. While at the same time limiting risk of irritating the back. Try adding these into your next workout and build that core strength.
