Your core is what everything else is attached to. If you are not strong there you will have bad posture, be injury prone, and will not have the strength in your arms and legs that you would hope for.
What exactly your core consists ?
The core consists of your abdominal muscles (rectus abdominis, internal/external oblique, and internal/external intercostals) and the muscles that run along your spine (erector spinae). You must work all in order to be balanced and strong.
So, how do we do that?
There are lots of ways. The one I will tell you about now is for your back. It is commonly referred to as The Superman.
So ! lets gets started
Lay face down on a mat or towel, bring both arms straight overhead, legs straight back; now lift arms and legs off the floor keeping your chin down, pause for a second then come back down. You should feel this in the little of your back. Do 10-20 repetitions, pause for 30 seconds to a minute then repeat.
Alright, Next exercise!
you worked the back, now you need to work the front. We will start with the Crunch with a knee lift; nice and basic. Lay Face up, bend your knees, cross your ankles and bring your feet off the ground till your legs are at a 90 degree angle. (like your sitting in a chair) Place your hands at the side of your head, fingers behind ears, keep a space the size of an orange between your chin and chest at all times so that you can breathe correctly and so that you are not pulling on your neck. The movement is a contracting of your abdominal area as you bring up your head and lift your butt off the floor a few inches, hold for a second, breathing out, release, controlled. Do two to three sets of as many as you can, you want to feel an almost burning sensation in your abs. The number doesn’t matter as much as the effort you put in to it.
Next! lets sweat more
I know I was going to give that to you first but I decided to give you this one instead. Good ab hunting!
Are you ready for this one? No love for the love handles. You will need a stability ball and a floor. Sit down, bring knees up heels on the floor; now slowly sit back until you feel you abdominal wall tighten. Stop there, now, keeping eyes looking straight ahead touch the ball down by your hip on the floor, then touch the other side keeping your core straight only twisting your arms. If you are doing this exercise properly you may only be able to do 5 to start.
That’s ok. Do 2 sets to fatigue; you should work your way up to 20 or so, eventually.
