Strengthen Your "Core"

I witnessed something the other day at the gym that prompted this post.  The other day I witnessed someone at the gym who easily spent over an hour doing ab work.  Now, when I say "ab" work I'm talking about crunches upon crunches.  Every type of crunch.  Crunches on the floor, crunches on the stability ball, weighted crunches and so on.  For OVER AN HOUR!!!  I honestly couldn't believe that someone was spending that much time on one section of their body, but especially because working your entire core is more important.  While doing ab workouts will help to tone the outside of your stomach, it takes a lot more than just doing crunches for over an hour.  A lot of people want a flat stomach or a six-pack, but what you need to realize is that you should focus more on strengthening your "core".  Some of you may be sitting there scratching your head asking yourself "isn't your core the same thing as your abs?"  No.  When I talk about your core, I'm talking about every muscle that makes up your midsection - upper/lower abdominals, oblique's, and lower back all the way down to your glutes and legs... you know those inner muscles that won't show up on the outside of your belly.  Think of your midsection as a corset.  Abs are simply the muscles on the outside of the stomach.  By training your core, you'll get a tighter stomach and see faster results because you're going to be working more than one muscle group.

So what are the benefits of core strengthening?  Doing core exercises will help you with things like balance and stability and will strengthen the spine. A lot of exercises, especially compound exercises require some good core strength.  It also will help improve posture and reduce back pain.

Think of doing a squat with an overhead press.  You can definitely feel your core tightening and keeping you in balance while doing it.  Do exercises that decrease stability and require more balance.  Try squatting on a BOSU ball or lunging with one foot on the BOSU.  Your core will be working harder to balance you and keep you from falling.  Other great core exercises are planks.  There are a wide variety of planks to choose from, so if you find a regular plank easy and non-challenging, try a different version.

Some Core Exercises To Try:

Plank Push Ups
Plank while lifting one arm out straight and the opposite leg
Side Plank With a Cable Row
Push Ups
Lunge with a twist
Supermans
Single Arm Overhead Press

There are so many more as well!  So next time you have a goal of a flatter stomach, start doing more core exercises instead of just ab workouts!  The rest of your body will thank you.