Ah yes, that wonderful area that runs from our chest to our hips and around to our back, the core. This is an area of our that all of us want to look good and feel strong.
However, looking good and feeling strong is one of the few benefits we should want from our core area. It is a very important area of our body to strengthen and we should want to strengthen it as much as possible.
How do we go about getting a stronger core?
I would love to say that it is as simple as doing core exercises… it is not.
Believe it or not exercise placement has a lot to do with helping us get a stronger more muscular core.
When it comes to placement of core strengthening exercises the best place for a health seeker like you and me is at the beginning of your workout just after your mobility work.
I say this simply because we know for a fact that the best place to put the most important work is at the start of a workout.
We start with mobility work which gets you ready for your workout then move into core work. The added benefit of core work being second on the list is that it will aid in getting a better warm up for the rest of your workout.
As far as exercise selection goes, we should be avoiding flexion and heavy rotation movements.
This would be things like sit up, crunches, and Russian twists.
I say because these types of movements could potentially be bad for your back.
The movements we would want to choose would be anti-rotation and anti-flexion. The opposite of the movements mentioned earlier.
Anti-flexion and anti-rotation would include exercises like planks and side planks.
Another reason to do core work is all around stability through our upper body. Sure we can get a great glute, quad, and hamstring workout with core movements. It is our upper body that gets the most benefit.
It helps with posture, strength to do normal everyday things, and balance. Let’s not forget to mention that strengthening our core helps with any lower back pain we may have.
Exercising the core area of our body should more than just a few crunches at the end of our workout. Just like the rest of our workouts exercises selection and placement are very important. The core helps us live a functional healthy life, and we should want to take care of it. Especially when it is the core of our entire body.
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