Why you should work your core

soze

To play better golf of course. Actually any exercise that depends on twisting and turning, such as softball, volleyball, basketball, and yes walking. Now at 316 lbs. I am definitely not an expert. I can tell you I swing the clubs better, my back no longer hurts, and it has helped me with some weight training. If you need additional motivation it flattens out your tummy sooner than dieting alone.

I do 3 exercises if you're curious. I do crunches and plenty of them. For another exercise I use the pulley machines. I stick my arms straight out with light weights on the pulley and twist my body using just my core for both sides. The other exercise is I grab a barbell and hold down at my side. Then I lift it with by leaning to the opposite side of the weight focusing on my side muscles, what ever those are called. All of these were taught to me by a trainer. I use a big rubber ball for the crunches btw. It also teaches balance.

Another really cool thing you can do if you have a work out partner is to grab the heavy ball and throw it to each other using just overhead two armed tosses. That is really awesome not only do you feel it when you throw but when you catch it you feel it again.

What made me think of this was yesterday I was doing some lateral pull downs after the ab crunches and I could feel my abs working to help me with the pull downs.

Good luck all, be happy!

BunnyDVP

My personal trainer at the gym I belong to has me do core exercises 5 days a week. Abdominal crunches are just one of them. Another is a bridge. Lay with back flat on floor with knees bent. Raise body to make a "bridge". Repeat for 2 sets of 20. (Can also be done with one leg raised.) Another is a body rotation. Sit on floor with knees bent and arms out straight. Lean backwards slightly and rotate torso side to side. Once again, 2 sets of 20. She also has us do a "plank". Start on hands and knees and raise body on toes with arms in a straight position to form a "plank" (Keep butt and body straight). Hold for 60 seconds. Repeat 2 times. The last one is a balance and core exercise. On floor get on hans and knees. Raise right arm then left leg together. Lower, then raise left arm and left leg together. Repeat 20 times on each side for 2 sets. A really good workout.

guardup

I lift weights 6 days a week. And I do core exercises 6 days a week. If I have time for only one area to work, I work the core. That's how important it is to me. The core protects our spine and all the major joints coming off the spine as well as impact the secondary joints. Many of my knee issues were resolved with core exercises.

I often have people ask me what I do to get such "shredded" arms. Yes, I do arms about once a week. The rest of the time, I do core. Because in almost every movement I do in life, I use my core.

Any unstable exercise works the core muscles. I like to stand on an exercise/stability ball and throw a medicine ball to my training partner who catches and throws it back (not hard - as this is an advanced exercise). I also do push up with both my hands on one exercise ball and my feet on another one. Two points of instability... excellent core workout.