Getting a Strong Core
One thing you will learn at Fit and Psyched, located at 1177 Clare Ave., Unit #2, West Palm Beach, FL, is that having a strong core will do much for your workouts and for your everyday activities. That core strength aids you in other weight training, can prevent lower back pain, and can help prevent other injuries from lifting. But how to get that stronger core? Crunches, planks, leg raises, and sit ups. While those might sound just too routine, take heart because you can add in lots of variations.
Crunches
There is the basic crunch but once you have that down you can start adding variations to make it more difficult and work some other muscles.
Basic crunch – Lie on your back on the floor, knees bent so feet are flat on the floor. Your hands can either be behind your head or crossed on your chest. The basic move is lifting your shoulder toward the ceiling, using your abs for the move. Be as controlled lower your shoulders back to the ground. Relax the muscles and repeat.
Key is not to strain your neck and not to left your back. The move is small but you will feel it.
Reverse Crunch – This time your upper body stays on the floor and your legs and hips come up contracting your abs. Start the move with your arms by your side, and legs either straight up in the air or bent at 90 degrees. With your feet off the ground you will be working your lower abs too.
Instead of lifting your shoulder to contract your abs, lift your hips toward your chest. If you find you need to “cheat” by pressing your hands into the floor to assist the lift, return to regular crunches.
Twist or Bicycle Crunches – Again, on your back on the floor, hands behind your head, legs straight and a few inches above the ground. Your legs will do the basic movement as you were riding a bike: bend one knee and bring it toward your chest while lifting the opposite shoulder and touching your elbow to the knee: left elbow to right knee; right elbow to left knee.
Planks
Planks! This exercise might be everyone’s favorite one to hate but it is a great exercise and works many parts of your body: abs, shoulder, back – it’s a real core builder.
The basic plank has you get into push-up position but then bend your arms 90 degrees so you are resting on your forearms and elbows.
The exercise itself is simple – you simply hold the position. I find it’s key to have some good music on so I can focus on that rather than how my core is shaking. Keep track of how long you can hold the plank. Better yet, set a goal for being able to do a plank for x minutes. Practice, practice, practice.
You can also add variations to the plank:
- Lift one leg
- Lift one arm
- Put your arms on a ball (full-sized exercise ball or a Bosu)
- Alternating bring one knee up to your chest
Leg Raises
In addition to working your abs, leg raises, or leg lifts, also work hip muscles. The basic exercise is lying down or sitting on a bench, you raise your legs.
Lying on your back, raise your legs to vertical, then bring back down slowly (defying gravity!) and stop with your feet a few inches from the ground, and then repeat.
Want to add some difficulty to it? Hold a medicine ball between your feet and do the lift. And if you like that, you can add another move: as your legs come up use your arms to reach out for the ball. Take the ball in your hands and go back down. On the next move pass the ball from your hands back to your feet, and repeat.
And if you want some more difficulty, hang by your arms from a bar and left your straight legs so they are parallel to the ground. If that is too much, you can bend your legs and bring your knees up to your chest.
You can also do leg raises from a sitting position. Sit on a bench or other object, hands behind you so you are leaning back a bit. Then simply raise your legs to be parallel to the floor, lower but don’t let your feet touch the ground and repeat. You can also add in raising your legs and bringing your knees to your chest. Lastly, you can add in a medicine ball to make it all more interesting.
Sit Ups
Last but not least, the sit up. It might be the best known ab exercise but it is key to have the form right. And getting your form right is one of the benefits of working with a personal trainer.
The basic move: lie down, knees bent, hands clasped behind your head where it meets your neck. Then raise your upper body so that it creates a V with your bent legs. Once you feel the contraction for a few seconds, return to the starting position and repeat.
As with crunches, you can use a weight (plate) behind your head to make the exercise more difficult.
For some reason, most of us aren’t likely to put abs on a list of workouts we love to do. But by “mixing it up” and varying what you do and how keeps it interesting! Be sure to visit our website for more ideas.
