Last week while discussing the core, its location on the human body, and its function, I focused solely on one exercise, the plank. There are a wide variety of other exercises which are also great for strengthening the core and in today’s post, I list some of my favorites.
Photo credit: viktoriasbalance from Pixabay
Location and Functions of the Core
Quickly refreshing what I said in my Six Steps to a Perfect Plank, the core is made up of the muscles in your midsection (trunk and pelvis) from the top of your ribs to your inguinal fold and the area all the way around your body including your front, back, and both sides.
The chief function of the muscles within the core is to stabilize and protect the spine and provide support for the entire body. Strong core muscles give us a strong foundation for performing day-to-day activities, help improve our fitness level, and improve our quality of life.
Great Core Exercises
When looking for core exercises to add to your rotation, scanning YouTube can be a great start. Below I’ve listed some of my favorite core exercise which include a wide variety of difficulty levels. For your ease, I’ve linked each exercise to a video describing how to correctly perform the exercise.
- • Bird dog
- • Bridge
- • Plank
- • Side plank
- • Dead bug
- • Pilates swimmer
- • V-sit
- • Swiss ball atomic pushup
- • And my most recent discovery, panther shoulder taps
Questions:
- • Which of these exercises are in your rotation?
- • How often do you work your core?
- • What other core exercises do you find beneficial?
Keep sharing
Someday I will do some exercises.
LOL
All of those are in my rotation. I love the dead bugs and have a few variations on those. Your “panther” planks, I call bear planks. They are harder than they look. I have been doing a lot more core work lately but not sure it’s actually making any difference
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Yes, panther/bear shoulder taps are not easy and take a lot of focus. Using correct form is so important!
I know I need to do more core work but I will admit that I don’t do it regularly. Thanks for the reminder!
My pleasure! 😉
As you know, I do daily planks, but I really need to add more variety into my arsenal. I do what seems like the same 3-4 core exercises, and when I”m in the middle of doing them, my mind goes blank on all the others I could be doing LOL. This is a great reference!
Kimberly Hatting recently posted…Global Running Day…shall we?
Hope it comes in handy for the Queen of Planks! 😀