It's Not All About The 'Six Pack'

The Importance of Core Strength

When we think about core exercises we need to remember it is not all about the ‘Abs’. There is so much more to abdominal strength than the highly desired ‘six pack’ aesthetic.

Think of your core as the tree trunk of your body, keeping you upright and providing stability in everything we do, from getting out of bed to hitting that PB lift in the gym. Without these muscles we would literally flop. They support the spine, the pelvis and link the upper and lower body, allowing us to transfer force from one area of the body to the other.

Although our core muscles are often activated by our nervous system prior to us performing a movement, this doesn’t mean we can just ignore them and presume they’ll do their job. They need training regularly in order to fire at their best and protect us from injury.

Routinely practising core activation and strengthening exercises also improves the brain to muscle connection, creating more awareness of when the muscles are firing or if they need to be activated in order to perform movements safely.

A truly strong centre comes from combined strength in all the ‘trunk’ muscles.

Practice activating these through bracing; imagine you are bracing yourself for a punch to the stomach, consciously focus on engaging all your abdominal muscles (Transverses Abdominis, Inner Obliques, Outer Obliques, Rectus Abdominis) and make your ‘trunk’ as stiff as possible whilst continuing to breath normally.

I know I know, that’s a lot of elements to concentrate on at once and it does take some practice but, stick with it. It will become second nature if you keep persevering.

It’ll be worth it, with a strong and stable core you will be able to lift more, breath better and move faster.

If you are looking to build core strength, start by performing these exercises as part of your workouts:

• Forearm Plank

• Dead Bug

• Pilates 100

• Plank Knees to Toes (Start in forearm plank position then keeping shoulders and hips in line, lower your knees to the floor, count 1&2, then lift back up to straight legs then repeat)

Once you have these under your belt try adding in other exercises to create a total core workout, here are some ideas:

• Bicycle Crunch

• Leg Raises

• Leg Extensions

• Butterfly Sit Ups (soles of feet together, knees dropped outwards)

• Single Leg Jackknife

• Bird Dog Crunch
  

Remember, it’s not just about the ‘Abs’. Work your whole core and stabilise your body.

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