Building core muscles?

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Replies

  • brittanyarkward
    brittanyarkward Posts: 32 Member
    Thank you everyone. It's nice to have a few suggestions to try. I do have back pain from time to time. Not troublesome though. I didn't know they were linked.
  • XavierNusum
    XavierNusum Posts: 720 Member
    Cherimoose wrote: »
    brittanyarkward wrote: »
    I can't even "suck it in" for more than a few seconds at a time. How do I strengthen my abdominal muscles? I don't even know where to start.

    Start with contracting your abs all throughout the day (as if bracing for a punch). Develop endurance and conscious control, then worry about strength.

    I'm surprised you don't have back pain.

    Right here, this should come long before compound movements! Start here and progress to planks or other body stability movements before adding weight.
  • JDHINAZ
    JDHINAZ Posts: 641 Member
    Good routine for building core strength when you're ready. http://scoobysworkshop.com/2012/07/01/rotisserie-functional-core-abs-workout/ If you can't do full planks, either start on your knees (works for side planks also), or try standing, facing a wall, arms length away, suck in your gut, tighten your glutes, bend your arms so you are leaning into the wall, and hold for 10 seconds. Repeat 2 or three times. As you get stronger, add more time. Then try to do it with hands on a counter (lowering the angle for your plank) Always suck in your gut and squeeze your buttocks. Then try knee planks on the floor for 10 seconds or so. Just don't rush your self and remember to keep everything tight when you do planks. Don't arch or bow your back. I do them in front of a mirror. If I don't, I do them wrong 100% of the time. And stretch every evening. If you don't keep your muscles loose and flexible, you will have problems. Hip flexor, lower back and hamstring stretches are very, very important. They all combine to help keep your core strong and flexible.
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
    brittanyarkward wrote: »
    Thank you everyone. It's nice to have a few suggestions to try. I do have back pain from time to time. Not troublesome though. I didn't know they were linked.

    What happens is that you have muscles that are referred to as Core Stabilizers and those would be your Transversus Abdominus (TrA), Erector Spinae, Longissiumus, and Multifidus. These muscles basically help keep your spine stable during movements. What has been found in people with weak Core Stabilizers is that they are moving before the stabilizers have time to stabilize the spine and it should be the other way around; when you move those muscles should already be doing their job. My final semester of school I read quite a bit about how this is common with the TrA and linked to LBP.

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