Best exercises for your core?

Squats, Planks, possibly Roman Bar leg lifts if it does not hurt your back.

I do a lot of pilates and we do a lot of excercises to strengthen the back. Holding a superman pose only lifting your legs and arms a few inches off the ground feels good on the back. build up to 1 minute increments...

maybe consider a pilates abs routine...there is good balance in strengthening the abs and the back and improving overall core muscle tone.

I'm a fan of direct core work, but please understand that all the core/abs work in the world won't provide definition until your body fat% is low enough.
Hanging knee & leg raises, L-sits area few of my favorite moves

SonyaCele wrote: »

deadlifts have been the best thing i have ever done for my back/core. i've had back problems also. More than just strengthening the muscles, deadlifts taught how to move and lift properly.

Deadlifts? Bad idea to whomever recommended that. You really don't want any heavy weights in your hands or on your shoulders, because that adds compression weight to your already compressed spine. Unless your physical therapist works with you on weight lifting, I wouldn't try it. If you want to strength tone, use resistance bands, which don't add compressing weight to the spine.

"Superman" is great for abs, as someone mentioned, as is ball work. My physical therapist recommended most of this video after my surgery. The butt lift at 8.5 minutes is the only one I can't do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3LWxSXwNX4

sbaillie86 wrote: »

I'm really wanting to tone up generally but especially my core. I had a lower spinal operation (anterior fusion) back in 2000 and since then have developed very weak back and abdominal muscles and I have limited movement in that area. Traditional core exercises like sit ups only hurt my back and do not seem to do anything in the way of developing abs.

Any suggestions about what exercises I can do to achieve better core strength and improved toning in that area?

Thanks

First, let's understand what the Core musculature really is. The Core is more than just your Abs (rectus abdominus).

- Anterior (front)
Core stabilizers: Transversus Abdominus
Core movers: Rectus Abdominus, Inner & Outer Obliques, Psoas (hip flexors)

- Posterior (back)
Core stabilizers: Multifidus, Longissiumus, Spinal Erectors
Core movers: Gluteus maximus, Quadratus Lumborum (low back), Latissimus

When you think of training your "Core" it's definitely more than just your abs, and with you having that surgery and it doesn't sound like you ever really recovered well from it; you need to train everything. You may consider going back to physical therapy or finding a trainer that specializes in Corrective Exercise.

@J72FIT plank and superman recommendations are good and will help with much of that. One thing you can do with a Front Plank that will help your Glutes and Low Back is to extend one of your legs up off the ground so you're basically on your two arms and one leg while you hold the other up.

The Farmers Walks are actually a good recommendation for now as well, however; I would do them with one DB in-hand and the other hand nothing to help force more muscle recruitment to stabilize yourself. You can also vary different carries by walking with a DB/DB's overhead or even a barbell over your head.The Hanging Leg Raises are actually not bad for your hips either. If you don't know what these are you can YouTube them,
- Bird Dog
- Paloff Press
- Drawing-In Maneuver
- Lunges or Step-Ups

If your Core strength improves then at some point squats and / or deadlifts would be a good idea. The squat and deadlift @ 70%+ intensity has been show to be two of the best, if not the best, for your posterior Core musculature. They do work the anterior muscles as well but aren't the best, so you may want to mix it up with some other exercises a little, not a lot. The Ab Wheel is an excellent exercise if you can improve your strength to that level. Hope this helps a little.

I stick by what I said. Unless your physical therapist works with you deadlifts, bends, lunges - anything that adds compression to your fused spine- you really probably shouldn't do it.

Paloff press

I would suggest planking (there is a lot of variations) and pilates. You can very easily find all these exercises on youtube or just googling.