5 Key Core Exercises – Critical for Success

How do I get rid of my belly? What’s the best exercise to shed weight from my tummy? What can I do to get a flat, toned stomach..?

These are just a few of the many questions I get regularly asked about when it comes to our mid-section. A problem area for many of us, whether it’s to get rid of the last few lbs from our stomach, or shed the ‘pinch an inch’ over hang on our trousers to reducing the size and shape of the one area of our body that is hiding our six-packs..!

The answer to the above questions is generally focussed around getting the right type and amount of effective fitness training in combination to consuming (on a regular, consistent basis) a healthy and nutritious eating plan.

It’s impossible to ’spot reduce’ any area of the body let alone the stomach – the one stubborn area of the body that it seems fat is purely reluctant to leave..! However, it will happen! The body when dropping fat, will do so from all around the body on an overall equal level and will be only a matter of time that you really start to see significant results from a reduction of the ever-increasing waist line.

It must be recognised by anyone wishing to reduce the size of the tummy area, that performing and smashing out hundreds, if not thousands of stomach crunches every day/week, will do absolutely ‘jack all’ for reducing the stomach area. If anything, all you are doing is ’slightly’ increasing the size of the abdominal muscle beneath the layer of fat and therefore without taking any action to reduce the fat cells above, you are literally making the circumfrence of the mid section larger!

So what’s the answer? Well, as I said, it must be a combination of smart eating patterns that provide optimum nutrition along side an exercise programme specifically geared towards your personal ability, fitness level, time allowance and interests. Try avoiding working out in the ‘fat burning zone’ as this generally gets you sweating at a too low a level. You need to optimise calorie expenditure for your time and effort and therefore high intensity interval training is much more advised (within your personal capabilities).

Now… we all love the idea of working on our abdominal area when we workout don’t we? It makes us feel as though we have done something towards us achieving the long awaited six-pack effect. BUT… as I say above, it’s a complete waste of time and effort at this point to concentrate solely on performing crunches and the like.

Instead, try to spend some time working on the all important ‘CORE‘ muscles. These are the deep abdominal muscles that we don’t necessarily see, but have a critical role to play in our lives.

The core muscles are responsible for many things including:

• Providing a strong, positive posture
• Providing a strong foundation for your superficial abdominal muscles to build upon
• They help to flatten the lower tummy
• Reducing lower back pain
• Can help females during and after pregnancy
• many more benefits…

So… What are the best ‘CORE’ based exercises to do then Richard? – Great question… I have below, what I think are 5 of the best Key Core exercises crital for abdominal tone and success…

Just remember, that when you are performing core based exercises, the idea here is to switch on your deep, core muscles (Transverse Abdominis) and then ‘HOLD’ them on tight (without holding your breath and without squeezing your main Rectus Abdominis muscle). To do this, think about drawing your belly button backwards and inwards and hold it firm. This will activate you deep core muscles properly. Another way is to draw tight your pelvic floor. If you press your fingers on your lower abs beneath your belly button, it should be firm. Test the muscle by coughing and ‘feeling’ the muscle tighten up as you do so. This is the muscle you contract and hold tight throughout the exercises below:

1. Abdominal Plank Builder (CLICK HERE TO VIEW)

Place your body on the ground, face down. From here, raise up and rest on your elbows and forearms. Ensure your elbows are directly underneath your shoulders. Raise your body then onto your toes (or knees for an easier option) so that your body is in a straight line from shoulders through to your hips through to your toes. Maintain a straight line throughout, keeping your hips just above the height of your shoulders. Once here, start to move up onto your hands one by one, then back down to your elbows and repeat.

2. Side Plank with Torso Rotation (CLICK HERE TO VIEW)

Lie on your side in a straight line. Place you lower arm at an angle on the floor beneath you, ensure your elbow is tucked way under your shoulder to start with. Place your top leg just infront of your lower leg on the floor. Next lift your hips off the floor and raise your upper arm to the sky. Slowly and with control bring your upper arm down and through, under your body with a full body rotation and then return to the start position. Work in this mode on both sides.

3. Spiderman Plank (CLICK HERE TO VIEW)

Start in exactley the same position as the standard plank or the Plank Builder above. On your toes and elbows with your deep core muscles activated. From here, lift one foot slightly off the floor and open up the same side hip joint. Then with control, bring the knee of the lifted leg up and outwards and towards the same side elbow. Squeeze your waist line as you perform the lift. Place back the foot to its starting position and transfer your weight on to the opposite foot to repeat the same movement with the other leg. For a slightly easier version perform this exercise on your hands instead of your elbows.

4. Plank Crawls / Ninja Plank Crawls (CLICK HERE TO VIEW)

Start in a standard plank position with your weight supported on your toes and elbows with your deep core muscles engaged. ‘Simply’ crawl your body forward 2-3 steps on your elbows and toes in little steps aiming to keep your body low and in perfect alignment. Then, crawl backwards slowly returning to your start position and repeat.

5. Abdominal Bicycles (CLICK HERE TO VIEW)

Start on your back and lift your feet off the floor. Start with your knees directly above your hips and take your ankles just above knee height. From this point activate your deep core muscles, then lift your upper back (shoulders) off the floor with your chin up and head looking up at the ceiling. Place your hands lightly on the side of your ears with your elbows out. Then crunch and twist your torso so that your left elbow moves towards and aims to meet your right knee and then twist/rotate the other direction so that your right elbow and left knee move towards each other and continue to repeat in a ‘bicycle’ action.

So there you have it… my Top 5 Key Critical Core Exercises to provide success..!

Perform these exercises in a row for 30 seconds each with around 15-30 seconds rest between each exercise and repeat the 5 exercises for 3-4 rounds for a great abdominal/core based workout or use it as a ‘finisher’ at the end of your main workouts.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me. If you have any comments, it would be great to hear from you so please post them below.

Let me know what you think is the best ‘core’ exercise that you have ever completed, then we can add and share extra great exercises to help our problem areas.

As always, best of luck with your training…

Work Hard – Train Harder

Don’t Just Take Part – Do Something Incredible!

http://www.absolutefitness-online.co.uk

Tags: abdominals, abs, absolute fitness, belly, cheshire, coach, core, define, exercise, fat, Fitness Tips, flab, lose, loss, manchester, personal trainer, richard marsh, sexy, shape, shed, shred, six pack, slim, stockport, stomach, toned, training, tummy, waist, weight

Posted: Wednesday, October 12th, 2011 at 10:12 pm | Categories: Fitness Tips, absolute fitness Articles | Rss: RSS 2.0
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