The core and stomach is the area which most men and women alike want to tone and strengthen. But why and what is it? The core of the body is broadly considered to be the torso. Functional movements are highly dependent on this part of the body.
Abs tend to be the favourite part of the core and are easy to show off and look incredible. The core is one of the largest muscle groups so it’s important to train it HARD.
Predominantly abs are made in the kitchen, so you need to eat as clean as you possibly can to reduce your body fat percentage to maximize ab visibility
Below we have listed our top 4 core exercises that our in home trainers love! These below exercises should help those abdominals tighten and can be easily done from home!
Swiss ball arm roll-outs
This has to be one of the most effective core exercises on the planet. Simply rest your forearms shoulder width apart on a swiss ball while supporting your body weight with your knees and toes (think plank position but on an incline.) Roll your arms out, hands palm down facing the floor until the arms are fully extended and hold for two seconds, feeling your abs squeezing, before returning to the start position.
Russian twists
This one’s great for targeting your internal and external obliques. All you need to do is sit down, perfectly upright while holding a weight plate or ball in the hands, then lean back to a 45-degree angle. After that, while balancing perfectly still, touch the weight down to the left of the body, followed by the right, twisting at the hips as you go.
Plank
Overused, arguably? However, it’s important that the plank position never gets pushed to the side in favour of ineffective exercises. It strengthens and tones up the entire front and back of the core muscles and leads to a much stronger body overall. If you combine this with the fact that advancing your hold periods serve to tone the abdominal area up significantly, then you’ve got one powerful and effective combination of benefits on your hands!
Side Plank
This one’s fantastic for targeting the internal obliques and simply strengthening the core in general. You simply need to lean sideway resting on the forearms or a flat bench, suspending your body weight on the side of the foot (a side plank position.) Once this position has been adopted, you then need to bend at the hips, and dip them downwards towards the ground, thus engaging your internal oblique’s stretching the side closest to the ground. Once you have done this, return to the starting position and repeat!
These are all fabulous exercises for developing a well-rounded and aesthetically pleasing core that is also functionally strong and useful in everyday life. Provided you’re eating a calorie-controlled diet, you’ll find that including these four activities will lead to a smoking six pack.
FUN FACTS!
Did you know that in home trainer first started in Newmarket, Ont in 1999 and now services most major cities across Canada?
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