Don’t Ignore Your Core

Building a strong and stable core is arguably the most critical part of any exercise program—especially if you have plans on continuing to be mobile and fit well into your senior years.

At the same time, because the core itself is so complex and responsible for so many mechanical functions in our torsos, it is also arguably the most poorly understood component of fitness.

I blame a lot of this misunderstanding on all the Instagram photos of people pointing to their rock-hard six-packs alongside a hashtag like #coregoals, #hardcore or #shreddedcore. In all honesty, most of those photos should be tagged with #lowerbackpaingoals, but that is for another day.

Isn’t “Core” Really Just a Fancy Way of Saying “Abs”?

Let me make this clear right from the beginning—core strength is not all about your abs and it has very little to do with crunches or indeed your belly region in general!

The four muscles that you are seeing in those Instagram photos are:

• The rectus abdominis: One big sheet of muscle tissue that runs from your breastbone down to your pelvis.

• The external obliques: Run from your ribs to your hips in a forward direction.

• The internal obliques: Run from your ribs to your hips in a backwards direction,

• The transverses abdominis: Located deep in your abs, underneath the obliques.

But as you are probably guessing by now, the core goes far beyond these four abdominal muscles. The core includes muscles in your lower back, muscle bands that flank your spine, your pelvic floor, your diaphragm, and all around your hips. In total there are more than 15 muscles that make up your core and all of them are as important as your abs, if not more so.

Core strength has very little to do with crunches or your belly region in general.

What Has My Core Done for Me Lately?

When you put these 15+ core muscles together, they form the core of your body and, in fact, the core of nearly all your movement patterns.

If you bend down, pick a box up off the floor and lift it overhead, each of these core muscles becomes involved. Which, BTW, is why a multi-joint movement is a far more effective core training exercise than simply sitting on a machine and pressing a weight overhead or doing endless amounts of crunches.

Core strength is the ability to stabilize the bones in your upper body, rotate your torso, maintain proper spinal curvature, and stable pelvic position while you sit, stand, and move. Beyond that, core strength is the ability to control your bladder, stabilize your knee ligaments, support your lower abdominal wall, and the ability to also breathe deeply and correctly while you are doing all these fancy movements.

So, yes, many movement skills, both inside and outside the gym, fall into the category of core strength, all of which you need to pay attention to today and in the future.

Why Can’t I Just Do Crunches?

Doing a ton of crunches can be an effective way to train some very specific abdominal muscles, but what is often forgotten (or skipped) are all the other muscles that make up the core. Simply focusing on your abs alone is an improper way to use your torso and can lead to some imbalances and pain.

Sure, if you want those popping six-pack abs, crunches are a must, but keep in mind that in order to really get six-pack abs, you mostly have to shed fat. Men, you will need to get your body fat to about six percent, and women to around nine percent, and if you read my episode Body Fat: How to Use It and Lose It, you’ll know that neither of those percentages is particularly healthy.

But I Just Want to Be a Runner

Many of the athletes that I work with have complained that I am giving them a lot of core work and they would rather just be running, cycling or pumping iron. But as a fitness program, none of those single activities are conducive to longevity in life or sport. What I mean is that you will not be able to do that one particular movement for the rest of your life if you neglect everything else.

Let’s look at running for example. The forces generated by running (especially excessive running) damage the renewable resources of your body. It is simply a matter of physics, gravity and G-Forces.

• Standing is what we call a one G activity. In a one G activity, if you weigh 160 pounds, then your body only has to deal with 160 pounds of force.
• Walking is a 1.5 to 1.75 G activity. So, if you weigh 160 pounds, your body has to deal with 240-280 pounds of force.
• Running is a 2 to 3 G activity. If you weigh 160 pounds, your body is dealing with 320-480 pounds of force. And that is a lot of pressure to put on your muscles and joints—every single day.

So, by not varying your program, not only are you underusing areas of your body (like your core) but you are also using the same motor pattern over and over (and over) again. This type of repetition is a sure fire way to create overuse injuries in those poor overworked muscles that you do use regularly. At the same time that you’re overusing certain muscles, you are creating weaknesses in underused muscles (such as your core).

There are a million (maybe even a billion) ways to work on your core strength and I encourage you to mix it up as often as you desire. But if you are stuck and need a little bit of help thinking outside the sit-up box, here is a core workout you can start with…

A Quick and Dirty Core Workout

Dead Bug

Get on your back, spine neutral, with both knees lifted to 90 degrees directly over your hips. Reach your arms up to the ceiling, right above your shoulders. Extend your right leg forward and reach your left arm back, without moving the rest of your body. Return to the starting position. Then extend your left leg forward and reach your right arm back. Return to the starting position.

Alternate for 10-15 reps on each side (or as many as you can do with good form).

If this is too hard: try separating the arm and leg motion instead of moving them at the same time.

Marching Bridge

Start on your back, hips pressed up to the ceiling, body weight resting on your shoulders, feet in parallel position, and arms by your side. Squeeze your glutes before lifting the right knee to 90 degrees. Pause and then place your right foot back down. Re-engage your glutes again before lifting the left knee to 90 degrees. Pause and place your left foot back down.

Alternate for 10-15 total reps.

If this is too hard: start by doing some basic bridges with both feet on the ground and work up to this.

Prone Leg Lifts

As the prone part of the name of this exercise suggests, you start on your stomach. Head resting on your hands and legs reaching back against the floor. Lift your right leg one or two inches off the floor. Pause and lower it back down the ground. Lift the left leg to the same height off the floor. Pause and lower.

Alternate for 20 total repetitions, 10 on each leg.

If this is too hard: try doing this on a bed with your legs hanging off the edge from the knees.

Clam Shells

Start on the floor, laying on your side. Rest your head on your bottom arm with your knees bent and stacked. Keep your heels in line with your sit bones. While keeping your pelvis still, rotate your top knee toward the ceiling, rotating your inner thigh forward, like a clam opening its shell. Lower the knee back down.

Repeat for 10-15 reps on one leg before doing the same on the other side.

Bird Dog

Start on all-fours with your wrists under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Keep your spine long and neutral and extend your right leg back while you reach your left arm forward. Pause and then lower your limbs. Then extend your left leg back and reach your right arm forward. Pause, and lower your limbs.

Alternate for 10 total repetitions, 5 on each side.

Bonus Tip: Many of these exercises are derived from the Pilates method. Check out my episode on Busting Popular Pilates Myths for more on this effective core-strengthening method.  

Knee Hovers

Start on all-fours again, with your wrists under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Tuck your toes and then lift or float your knees up off the ground. Just one inch from the floor, without changing the shape of your spine or collapsing in your pelvis. Hold this position for a few breaths and lower the knees down.

Repeat for 5-10 repetitions depending on how long you hold is hover for.

Mountain Climber

Start on all-fours, the same as the others. Get into a high plank position (like starting a push-up), hands stacked below your shoulders and your body in one straight line. Make sure your neck stays in line with your body. Then quickly draw your right knee up to your chest, and immediately extend it back out and down as you drive your left knee up to your chest. To raise your heart rate, run your knees in and out as quickly as you can.

Do 5 repetitions starting with the right leg and 5 repetitions starting with the left leg.

Find some other variations and tips in my episode all about planking.

If this is too hard: Simply lift your toes slightly off the ground instead of driving the knee.

Resistance Band Torso Twists

In a standing position, tie one end of your resistance band to a sturdy anchor at chest height and hold on to the other end. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and reach across your body to grasp band with both hands and long arms. Rotate your torso and guide the band horizontally across your body. Slowly and with control rotate back to the starting position.

Do 10-15 reps of this one before turning and doing the other side.

Round out your fitness program, even just a couple of days per week, by strengthening the muscles that are not being used in your preferred workout program. Focusing on gaining flexibility and mobility through other exercises will maintain normal range of motion of all your joints. And if you spend some time making sure that your core is solid, strong and well rounded, you will be much more likely to remain healthy, mobile, and well for many years to come.

For more core info, ab tips, and to join the strong conversation, head over to Facebook.com/GetFitGuy, twitter.com/getfitguy or BrockArmstrong.com.

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Woman doing a core workout image courtesy of Shutterstock.