How To Chose The Best Core Exercises
In my previous blog entry, I made mention of how a lot of people ask me what the best exercises for this and that are and so last week I answered the question of what are the best chest exercises. This week, I want to make it a little more functional for those who are interested in simply alleviating, and preventing back pain, and enjoying a better quality of life. This week’s answered question will be what are the best core exercises? This is not to assume that the information supplied in this particular blog will only be of a restorative nature. It will be for everyone from those looking to alleviate said back pain, to professional bodybuilders alike. Everyone needs a strong core.
The first thing to do, for anyone seeking the best core exercises, is to realize the difference between the core muscles and the abdominal muscles. They are not one and the same despite what you read on some popular bodybuilding sites. One such site actually referred to the lats as core muscles, so it’s important to be particular as to where you get your information. An example of a mistaken core exercise that is actually mostly hip flexors and abdominals, is the roman chair exercise where you brace yourself on your forearms and lift your legs to make your thighs parallel with the floor. If you are leaning against the backrest, you are barely engaging your core muscles, but rather the abs and hip flexors, as mentioned. However, if you scoot yourself a bit forward so you are propping yourself up with no postural assistance, you are now providing the necessary stability to perform the exercise by engaging your core muscles.
The best core exercises are the ones which make you struggle. For some, that could mean doing a plank for 15 seconds, with proper form, or for others, it could mean planking for 3 minutes, for example. There’s a great variety of exercises to choose from, so ascertaining which are the best core exercises is a little subjective to say the least. Frog sit ups to jackknife sit ups. Oblique crunches, to reverse crunches, the list of core exercises is highly populated so how do you decide which are the best core exercises for you? By only performing the ones which aren’t going to exacerbate any of your tightness and imbalances. If you start with a simple plank, but your shoulder region is overly tight and your traps hang out around the same level as your ear, you are not an ideal candidate for that exercise. If you want to build a strong core, pick a few exercises that are appropriate for you, and do them regularly and consistently. It also helps to vary the exercises as you progress. This not only offers more challenges physically, but keeps it varied enough so that it erases the monotony that can accompany endless repetition with little variance.
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Andy
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