Are you ready to advance your core training? I hope so! If this is your first time thinking about building your core strength start HERE to begin your routine – otherwise here are 7 exercises to advance your core strength.
Just to reiterate — core exercises are VITAL to overall strength training. Every move your body makes relies on your core in some way.
Last time, we started out very simply with three basic moves. But if you’re ready to pick up the pace a notch, let’s get to some advanced core exercises:
***All moves demonstrated in the video below***
- Bicycles – For some reason this brings me back to my elementary school PE days. How many of you laced your fingers behind your neck and squeezed your elbows in by your ears? (Or still do?) Well, no more! Now you know the proper (and safe!) way to do a bicycle exercise.
**Fingertips to temples. Elbows wide. Lift shoulder toward opposite knee. Tap toes to floor OR extend legs long (as long as low back stays on the floor).
- Long-Lying Side Crunch – Similar to Bicycles, this exercise works those oblique muscles (the sides of the torso).
**Lying on side, bottom arm out 45 degrees, palm up. Top arm long overhead. Lift feet 2 inches off floor. Pull belly button back toward spine to create stability. Lift upper body, bringing top knee and elbow to meet by hips for a side crunch.
- Leg Drops – Most important issue here: Bracing the core to keep the lower back towards the floor. (I’ll keep saying it over and over… ) You won’t be strengthening anything if you’re using poor form here – you’ll only be setting yourself up for injury – and none of us wants that!
**Lying on back, legs extended with feet directly over hips. Bracing through the core (with a slight tip of the hips to make sure your low back stays toward the floor), lower one leg at a time to just a couple inches off the floor (or whatever level works for you to keep your low back near the ground).
**Option to advance by lowering both legs at the same time (but only if low back stays toward the floor).
- C-Crunch – Incorporating the upper and the lower sections of the abdominals, the C-Crunch
**Knees bent. Toes on the floor. Fingertips lightly touching temples. Elbows wide. Brace core and small tuck of the chin as you exhale and lift shoulder blades off the floor while also lifting knees over hips, maintaining 90 degree angle in legs. Inhale as you roll back down.
**Option to advance by adding an extension, taking arms overhead and legs out to 45 degrees, keeping low back towards mat at all times.
- Up/Down Plank/Hovers – Now we start getting into some of the REALLY fun ones! J
**Start in Hover Position: Knees or toes. Elbows directly under shoulders, resting on your forearms. Hips level with shoulders (no mountaintops!). Tighten thighs, roll shoulders away from ears, and SQUEEZE YOUR CORE! One at a time, hands replace elbows, pushing up to plank position. Return to hover. Change lead hands halfway.
- Cement Mixer – I like to call this one “Rotisserie Chicken” but that just doesn’t seem tough enough I guess.
**Side Hover: Elbow directly under shoulder, resting on your forearms. On bottom knee or legs in split stance. Top arm lifted with shoulders stacked and chest open to the front. Brace core, rotate entire body towards regular hover position, sliding top arm under body without touching ground if possible (thighs, hips, and shoulders, square to floor.) Slowly return with control.
- Flutter Kick Swim – Oh, and let’s finish it off with something slightly easier (so that you agree to come back next time!)
**Lying on front, arms (thumbs up) and legs long (toes pointed). Chin tucked so your eye gaze is directly down toward the ground. Squeeze glutes to lift arms and legs, flutter kicking while slightly lifting alternating arms just a couple inches off floor.
Even as we advance our core with these more challenging moves, please remember our purpose here is for overall health and fitness, both endurance and strength.
Not six-pack abs or a (fake, airbrushed) body on the cover a magazine. We strengthen our core in order to have a body well-trained and prepared to do the tasks set out for us.
That, my friends, is the ultimate goal.
Everyday Faith + Fitness 