Core Stability and Strength Exercises
What type of core work should you be doing if you have chronic back and hip pain or injury, frequent loss of balance and falling, issues with hernias, urinary incontinence, or just overall lack of endurance and strength? There is a barrage of core workout on social media and websites but the truth is most of it is not appropriate for people with serious core issues.
This quick blog post covers all the main issues a weak core can cause plus exercises to avoid and 7 you can and should be doing a few times a week to boost core strength, core stability and total body fitness and health.
Fact #1: If Your Core Is Dysfunctional Your Entire Body Suffers
Your core houses muscles that are key for spine health, digestion, muscles that assist with breathing, as well as pelvic floor health and muscles that connect your trunk to your limbs. When the core is dysfunctional it can manifest in a variety of issues from chronic back pain and injuries to poor balance and frequent falls. It can also manifest as low energy, shoulder, neck and hip issues as well as urinary incontinence, increased stress, and of course all this can even affect your confidence and self esteem.
The good news is that activating the core is easy and keeping it strong and stable doesn’t take anywhere near the amount of work it does to sculpt ripped abs. Just 5-10 minutes a few times a week is all it takes to restore function and maintain your results. Having a strong healthy core will actually boost your energy and motivation in ways you never imagined.
Fact #2: A Strong Functional Core Does Not Equal Ripped Abs
In fact what is considered an aesthetic looking core by modern day standards requires a lot of dysfunctional training and extreme dieting. Healthy core work that cinches the waist and flattens the abs from the inside is actually less about building ab muscles and more about restoring and maintaining function.
And this is great news because most clients I’ve worked with in the past 22 years have zero desire to build ripped abs. In the workout video here I shared some of my top moves for helping clients restore core function and build the core strength and stability necessary to do more complex and dynamic workouts. These are exercises I’ve learned from my Scientific Core Training certification as well as Pilates certifications and posture correction courses. They are so quick, practical, fun and rewarding because they keep your entire body healthy and strong.
Core Stability and Strength Workout +Tips
Perform 6-8 repetitions of each move with excellent technique. You don’t need dozens of reps to do great core work but you do need great technique to get better results from your core workouts so just focus your time and energy on quality vs. quantity.
One round is usually sufficient but once you get stronger two rounds is great. Also keep in mind that the last exercise is optional and that any moves that are beyond your ability can be left out until you are stronger which will happen if you do at least the first half of this routine 3x a week.
Leg lower variations
Feet elevated bridge or variations
Quad squat hover to downdog
Pushup plank knee in variations
Stability ball stomach vacuum back extensions
Banded good morning with ball at chest
Modified side plank (optional)
Best Time to Do Core Training
You can train core 3-4 times a week and it’s best to do it after cardio or after strength and metabolic workouts. A little bit of core activation as part of your warm up is good too but never get into hard core workouts before metabolic and strength training. If your core is fatigued you will find more complex movement harder plus raise your risk of injury. This is the reason I usually program it at the end of client sessions.
The Fitness Donut featured in my video is optional BUT
It’s also a very fun and effective piece of gear to use if you have a weak core. Unlike a ball that rolls around it stays in one place but still provides that instability needed with some core moves to bring awareness to your core activation, your breathing and your body alignment. The black one looks like those tires you flip but i got the pink one so it would be more visible in videos.
Fact #3: The Worst Type of Core Work to Be Doing Is…
There are countless videos on youtube by trainers just like me ranting about all the dangerous and pointless core exercises you see everywhere so I refrained from making my own ranty video but here is a list of some common moves you’ll find online that are just a HUGE WASTE OF YOUR TIME and may even cause you more issues with your back, hips, hernias, UI, etc.
Don’t waste your time on these common yet useless moves. Instead do the moves suggested. Some were featured in my video and others we do in sessions often. You know the ones I’m always harassing you about at the end of your sessions hahaha!
Plank holds from the elbows - Do the quad squat hover plank in video instead
Side plank holds with hip dips - Do the modified side plank in video instead
Incline sit ups - Do decline reverse crunches instead (pictured here)
Russian twists - Do weighted counter rotations instead
Standing side bend - Do banded & weighted good mornings in video instead
V Ups - Do leg lower variations in video instead
Ab roller type moves - Do plank walkouts instead (featured in so many of my videos)
Weighted ab machines - OMG just don’t even get functional core training experts started on this hahaha! Do dynamic side planks instead as featured in many of my videos.
Ab rollout - So dangerous for most people. Do ball plank knee ins, trx plank knee ins, forearms on ball plank knee dips or gliding plank pikes. All very advanced so don’t go there if you can’t even handle 2 rounds of what’s in the workout video here with excellent technique.
Need help fixing your core issues? This is one of my favorite areas to help clients with and especially female clients. We can train together in person outdoors and I also have an online core workout plan if you prefer to just do it yourself. Message me for details.
