The Importance of Your Core Muscles and Strengthening Them
Exercise gurus have been putting a lot of hype lately on strengthening your core. Before dismissing the idea because you think it’s just the latest fad let’s find out exactly what your core is and why it’s important to overall fitness.
The core is made up of a set of 29 different muscles surrounding your torso; more specifically your abs, glutes and back muscles. Maybe that doesn’t seem all that important but the truth is it’s important because they surround your center of gravity. If your core muscles are toned it’s going to improve your posture, balance and stability. Still doubting the importance of these muscle groups? Try this test (make sure to get permission first), as someone is moving place your hand on their abdominal or back muscles. No matter what part of the body is moving you should always be able to feel these muscles moving.
By now you might be thinking that in order to tone those 29 muscles that you’ll have to do 29 different exercises. You won’t have to. Instead do moves that work at least one group of core muscles at the same time. The best exercise choices are the crunch, the quadruped, the bride and the plank. It’s not about quantity while doing these exercises but quality. Make sure you go slow and focus on doing them properly. Many people think quantity is more beneficial. Truth is one exercise done right once is more helpful and beneficial than doing it wrong twice or more.
If you find that you don’t have a lot of time for exercise there are ways to focus on your core while exercising the rest of your body. The easiest way to do this is by using an exercise ball. Remember back in the beginning of the article when I mentioned that if your core muscles are toned it helps with your balance and stability? Working on an exercise ball requires that you stay balanced. Since your core is pivotal for staying balanced, the exercise ball is going to work on those core muscles while you also work on other areas of your body.
Even though it might seem simple enough to purchase an exercise ball, blow it up and use it you should also pick up an instructional tape or even sign up for a class to get started with. It’s imperative that you are doing these exercises correctly and focusing on the movements to get the maximum results for your core muscles.
You should now have enough information to help get you started. Focusing on your core muscles is important so that your whole body can perform better.