For the past few years, everyone has been talking about Core Strength Training. But, what is it and why is it important? You might have logged thousands of crunches in your exercise history, and not gotten the results that you desired. You may have gotten results, but, when you engage the whole core, the results are so much better than a six pack. So, let’s start by understanding the core.

The Core is the center of the body, the area from which power is generated for movement. It includes the abdominal muscles, the obliques (muscle on the side), the muscles of the lower back and the muscles that stabilize the pelvis. Your core muscles are like a girdle wrapped around your body, constantly supporting you and protecting your organs and back. Strengthening the Core will enable you to perform daily tasks more efficiently, improve your balance, make your back stronger, and make you look thinner. If you are an athlete, it will help increase your performance and reduce the risk of injury. Every time you move, you are using your core. The best routine gets more than one muscle working. A Plank is an exercise that engages many muscles working together. Exercises include those that are continuous, or held for a specified time, require balance and stability engage the abdomen and lower back and the muscles of the trunk. When working to specifically strengthen and tighten the muscles of the core, exercises should be performed slowly and with concentrated effort. Pilates and Yoga are excellent ways to strengthen the core because they require concentration, slow focused breathing and the engagement of the core muscles to perform poses. But, whatever you chose, make sure that your exercise program includes core strengthening!