Three Vital Exercises to Tone Your Core from S.C. Fitness Pro

In the fitness world today there is no doubt that one of the biggest "buzzwords" has become the term "core training."

You will hear the term every where in physical therapy programs to new-age fitness training programs, everyone seems to putting a lot of emphasis on targeting the core.

The term gets used so often it seems that the true understanding of what the core actually is and what its function is has been lost in translation. The goal of this post is to clear up what the body's core actually entails and why it is important to strengthen and train. So here goes...

The proper definition of the core is the area of the body responsible for stabilizing the shoulder, spine, and hips. Another way to think of the core is shoulders to knees, otherwise termed the "pillar" of the body.

The body is broken into two primary anatomical segments and these segments include the axial skeleton (the skull, spine and hips) and the appendicular skeleton (arms and legs).

So, with this information we can hypothesize that the core muscles surround and protect that primary axial structure, and, therefore, allow for proper functioning of the arms and legs or appendicular structures.

This means that the core includes all muscles around the shoulder (pectorals, traps, rhomboids and lats), the muscles around the spine (abdominals, obliques, spinal erectors) and the muscles around the hips (hip flexors, glutes and pelvic floor).

This makes things a little more complicated when assessing how to properly train and strengthen the "core." One of the best ways to train these areas of the body is to first understand what the ultimate function of these muscles are. 

The role of the body's core includes the following functions: maintaining proper postural alignment; stabilizing the spine during loading and movement; and allowing energy transference from right to left, bottom to top, through rotation, etc.

With this in mind, it should be a priority in any training program to improve the core's ability to manage those responsibilities to the best of its ability. This will ensure that your movements will be more balanced, more supported and less prone to increasing risk of injury.

The most common problem for which people seek therapy today is low back pain. If we understand what specific exercises are best for strengthening the core, improving posture and reinforcing proper movement mechanics and energy transference, we can greatly reduce incedence of low back pain.

The following exercises are great for strengthening your core:

• The Front Squat: This exercise is performed by holding a weight (barbell, dumbell, kettlebell, sandbag) in front of the body at just above shouder height with the elbows held tight to the body and the chest nice and tall. The goal is to hold the weight steady while lowering your butt towards the floor and then driving back up into a standing position. The goal of the front squat is to get a FULL range of motion without letting your upper back round forward or in other words maintaining perfect posture. This will help train the body's ability to stabilize the spine through loading and movement.
• The Pull Up or Bodyweight Row: This exercise is completed by finding an object just slightly taller than you are (or just below chest height for the row variation) with a handle position that allows for a neutral grip (palms facing each other). The goal in this exercise is to keep your chest TALL and your shoulders down away from your ears, then pull yourself up toward your hands and then slowly lower yourself back to your starting positon. This exercise is excellent for strengthening all of the muscles in the back which helps to improve postural alignment and core muscular balance.
• The Push-Press: This exercise can be executed with a barbell, two dumbells, two kettlebells or even a medicine ball. The goal in this exercise is to start with your weight at chest height and while keeping a tall upright posture and shoulder width stance, dip into a slight squat and then use your legs to help assist your arms in pressing the weight overhead. This exercise helps teach the body how to properly transfer energy and stabilize the spine while producing force from one side of the body to the other.

Hopefully this article helps to clear up some potential confusion about what the core muscles are and how you can use three easy movements to correctly strengthen the core and also to develop its functional ability.

For more information on a core training, feel free to email me at info@bt-fit.com.