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If you were to ask me which muscle group in your entire body you could work to
get the greatest benefits in the shortest amount of time, I would tell you
without hesitation, "the core." Strengthening the core can realize tremendous
benefits to anyone regardless of his or her training experience and can do so
very quickly.
But what is the core?
The core, as it's known in strength training circles, consists of all the
muscles in your abdominal and lower back areas. This includes all the abdominal
muscles (rectus abdominus, internal and external obliques, transverse abdominus
and intercostals) as well as the muscles associated with the spine (the erector
spinae group) and the hip flexors (iliacus and psoas, collectively known as the
iliopsoas).
These muscles all work in harmony to provide stabilization for your body and to
transfer power from the legs to the upper body and vice versa. The core muscles
also function to keep your insides in, where they belong!
And why is strengthening the core so important?
Weak core muscles contribute to all kinds of problems in the body, the most
prevalent of which is lower back pain. By strengthening the muscles that help
support the spine and improve posture, you can dramatically decrease the
symptoms of lower back pain.
Picture your spine as a column of soda cans stacked one on top of the other. If
you wanted to keep that column standing up under stress, what do you think
would work better: a "tenser" bandage (as is used for wrapping injured ankles)
or Scotch tape? Sure the tape would keep the cans together but the cans
wouldn't receive a whole lot support, would they?
When you strengthen the muscles of the core, you are in effect turning that
Scotch tape into a nice, tight "tenser" bandage, increasing the amount of
support that your spine gets.
Core training also has the potential to greatly improve sports performance.
Watch a baseball pitcher throw a pitch in slow motion. The power of the throw
starts at the legs, gets transferred through the abdominal area (a.k.a. the
core) then ends up in the arm where the ball is released. Imagine how much
speed and power would be lost from that throw if the core muscles couldn't
efficiently transfer the force from the legs to the throwing arm.
The core is the one area of the body that will always give you a great return on
your investment.
So how do I train my core muscles?
Exercises that work the abdominals and the lower back are the staples of core
training. Also, exercises that target the stabilization and power-transfer
duties of the core muscles are very effective.
The most basic abdominal training exercise is the standard crunch. You can go to
the following URL to see the proper technique for this exercise:
http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Exercises/Crunches.htm
But I've got an exercise for you that blows the standard crunch right out of the
water. The equipment required for this exercise: one rolled-up towel.
The exercise is known as the Abdominal Sit-Up. It uses a sit-up-like movement
but focuses directly on the abdominal muscles rather than the hip flexors
(which a regular sit-up does). It is also very safe for your lower back.
Another advantage it has over the standard crunch is that it targets the
stretched (arched back) range of motion of the abs, which is totally missed in
standard floor crunch.
How To Do It:
Lie on your back on the floor. Roll up a towel or mat and slip it underneath
your lower back, just above the waistband (the size of the towel affects your
body position during this movement - use a fairly large towel).
Your knees should be bent about 90 degrees. Keep your feet close together and
knees fairly wide apart. This prevents the hip flexors from having a direct
line of pull, helping to minimize their involvement.
Do not anchor your feet or have someone hold them down. This automatically
activates the hip flexors. You will get the most out of this exercise by
minimizing their involvement.
The difficulty of this exercise depends on where you hold your hands. The
hardest position is above your head at arms-length, then beside your head, then
across your chest, then straight down between your legs or at your sides. Start
with the easiest first then progress to the other positions as you get
stronger.
You are now ready to begin.
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Keeping your torso straight and stiff, start the sit-up by tightening your lower abs then
lifting your upper body off the floor.
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As you continue up, imagine trying to push your face up against the ceiling (think up, not
around).
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When you reach about 25 to 30 degrees above horizontal, hold there for a second or two and
squeeze your abs hard.
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Keep your lower back in contact with the towel at all times and always maintain tension in
the abs.
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Lower yourself down slowly and under control. Do not just drop back to the ground. The
negative portion of this exercise is extremely effective.
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Remember to adjust your arm position depending on the strength of your abs (see above).
You can see pictures of how this exercise is done by going to:
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue9-ab-tip.htm
Incline Ab Sit-Ups
If you are a beginning trainer, this is a good starting variation of the
Abdominal Sit-up.
Set an incline sit-up board to a slight incline. If you don't have an incline
sit-up board, you can use an adjustable incline bench, a decline bench, a Step
platform with a riser under one of the ends or a flat bench with something
under one end. You can even use a propped-up 2 x 6 board!
Your head should be on the higher end with your feet placed on the floor.
The execution is exactly the same. The only difference is that the tension on
the abs is much less due to the greatly improved leverage in this position,
allowing even people feel that their abs aren't strong enough to do the
exercise.
Lying Superman Raises - An Exercise For The Lower Back
Though this exercise has a rather unique name, it is an excellent strengthening
exercise for the lower back that you can do almost anywhere.
How To Do It:
Lie face down on the floor with your arms stretched out directly overhead (like
Superman flying, hence the name).
Raise your left arm and right leg into the air at the same time, also raising
your chest slightly off the floor. Hold there for a second and squeeze the
muscles of your lower back. Lower your limbs back to the ground then raise your
right arm and left leg and hold for a second.
You can push down with the hand that is on the ground to help raise your other
arm and chest higher off the ground.
This exercise, even though it only uses your limbs as resistance, provides an
excellent way to strengthen the lower back muscles.
Conclusion:
These two exercises will give you a good place to start with core training. You
can begin improving your core strength by doing these exercises 3 times a week
for 2 to 3 sets each.
Make core training a priority in your exercise routine and you will rapidly reap
the benefits of having a stronger, more injury-proof midsection and back.
If you have any questions about core training or the exercises described here,
go to:
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Contactus.htm
About The Author
Nick
Nilsson is Vice President of BetterU, Inc., an online exercise,
fitness, and personal training company. Check out his latest eBook
"The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of" at http://www.thebestexercises.com
or visit http://www.fitstep.com.
You can contact him at betteru@fitstep.com
or subscribe to BetterU News, his fitness newsletter at betterunews@fitstep.com.
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