Your core might be what’s holding you back…

25.04.22

Written by Zane Gosling

When we think of someone with a great core, our go to image is someone with chiseled abs, and on the covers of all those fitness magazines. I’m not going to say this isn’t the case, they may well have great core strength, but this isn’t the only case. Your core is not just your abs. And you don’t need to be <10% body fat to have a strong core.

 Your core is used in just about everything. Getting out of bed in the morning, carrying the groceries inside, picking up the grumpy 2 year old. Playing a role in so many day to day activities however means that if it’s lacking in strength and mobility, it is going to take a toll, usually in the form of an injury to surrounding joints. A lot of ‘dodgy’ backs, hips, and knees can be linked back to the weaknesses in the core.

 While some dream of having a 6 pack, you must remember that is a whole other conversation. When we say core strength, we refer to the whole package. Check out the image below.

Some of the core muscles shown:

Rectus abdominis: More commonly known as your ‘abs’.

Obliques: Located on the side of your ‘abs’ to help you twist.

Glutes: Connecting your core to your legs.

Erector Spinae: The muscles around your spine that help you stand straight.

Your core is your foundation, and you’d never build your dream house on toothpicks. We all have these muscles under the skin, and we all need to make sure they are strong enough to prevent injuries.

Here’s 4 exercises to start with, that are simple in execution, but really help lay the foundation of ‘activating’ your core muscles through bracing and holding for extended periods of time.

Plank

The plank is a very simple exercise in theory, focusing on stability and strength throughout your entire body. Your main goal is to elevate your body to perpendicular with the ground, either on your hands or elbows. Planking for short times can be easy, so set a goal for yourself on a certain time held in the plank. Can you do 1, 2, or 3 minutes?

Knee Plank

This variation of the plank is the step down from the standard plank above. It means more body weight is resting on the floor, so less weight is needed to be held up by your shoulders and core muscles.

This is where you should start if you’re a beginner at planks. A great idea when working towards your plank, is to hold the plank for as long as you can then immediately without skipping a beat “finish” your time in the knee plank. This will help your progressive overload.

Glute Bridge

The glute bridge is a great exercise that builds more of the posterior core muscles, namely, the glutes. There are lots of variations that you can do, single legged, frog legged or weighted, but all movements focus on driving your hips upwards while keeping your shoulders and heels on the ground. Make sure to keep the heels under the knees to make sure you don’t use the hamstrings too much.

Hollow Body

The toughest of the four beginner exercises. The hollow body trains you to resist arching your lower back when performing abdominal movements like a crunch. That arching can result in back pains from sit ups etc., so this is a perfect movement to work towards preventing that. Easily modifiable, you can aim your arms up to the ceiling instead, and also bend your knees to have your knees above your hips.

Notice a trend in these? They’re all focused on stabilising your body, and strengthening it up with isometric holds. We need that stable core when we’re at the gym squatting, or when we’re picking up the groceries from the floor.

Build progressive overload with these exercises by increasing time, putting them one after the other, and challenging your friend to a plank off!