Thursday, July 14, 2011

Your core, it's more than just abs.

If anyone has ever told you that you need to work your core and all you did was add a couple of abdominal exercises to your workout regimen, you are only getting a third of the job done. Your core involves a lot more than just that so-sought-after six pack. I often refer to the core as the powerhouse of your body. Almost every single move your body makes involves your core. So, back to the question. What exactly is your core?
Of course a part of your core is the front of your midsection or the rectus abdominus (abs). But even this part isn't that simple. There is more there than just that. You have muscles all around that that act as postural muscles to keep you upright. Below your rectus abdominus is your transverse abdominus. Just consider this another layer to your abs. To each side of your rectus and transverse abs are your obliques. These muscles are called obliques because of the direction they run. They actually run diagonally through your midsection. SO MANY AB MUSCLES, how do you work them all?! Simple. The most effective ab workout is the plank (also called a hover). Another great exercise is the Ab Rollout on a Swissball. The great thing about the Ab Rollout is that you can progress from a Swissball to lower apparatuses such as an Ab Dolly, Ab Wheel, or just a barbell with different sized plates when you get the hang of it and want to keep challenging yourself.
Alright, so the front of the midsection is taken care of. What about the back of the midsection? This is also a part of your core, a very important part of your core. Your back muscles are what keeps in you good posture and keeps you from slouching forward as you get older. Also, keeping the back strong greatly lessens your chance of having any lower back problems. One of these muscles is called your erector spinae. You work this by doing Pointers or Swimmers. Depending on who you talk to some consider your latissimus dorsi part of your core. I'm one of those. Your lats are a key part of having good strong posture. A simple exercise for the lats is the Lat Pull Down. If you want to shake things up a Bent Over Row works great too.
The last and final piece of the core puzzle is your hips. YES, your hips. There are A LOT of little muscles that make up your hips and I won't even begin to name them all here. The most important fact to know is that working these muscles is just as important as working everything else. Any exercise that has you working your legs from side to side or outside to inside (in the frontal plane, if that makes sense to you) is going to work the muscles of your hips. A couple of examples is a Banded Step Touch or a Power Step Touch. Squat with a Hip Abduction is an example you see a lot with trainers or group fitness instructors.
All of these different systems of muscles all work together to make the core. It's more than just ab work that is going to give you the strong core you want and need. Results really should come in a total body package. Now you understand why I refer to the core as your powerhouse. It initiates almost every movement you will ever do in a day whether inside the gym or at work or even at home. So take all this, let it soak in, and on your next trip the gym try out some of these exercises and see if it doesn't make a difference in your results.