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5 Moves to Work Your Core

FitSugar — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:00:32 -0800

As part of our Get Fit For 2010 contest, I challenged you all to assess your fitness level with three simple tests - one test being to measure your current core strength by holding an elbow plank.

While the elbow plank is a great core exercise, not only can it get a little boring, but your body becomes accustomed to the exercise and you stop gaining strength. If you're ready to add variation to your core routine, here are five new moves to strengthen your mid-section courtesy of Core Performance Women. These exercises target the back and glutes as well as the abs and the inner thighs. Add two to three of these exercises to your strength training sessions and you will notice a more toned middle and stronger workouts all around.
Photos courtesy of Core Performance Women (Penguin)

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Cross Train by Sitting Up Straight

FitSugar — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:00:18 -0800

In all kinds of exercise - swimming, biking, lifting, running - a strong and connected core makes you more efficient, which means faster and less likely to suffer an overuse injury. My Equinox swim coach Hannah is tweaking my stroke, but the most effective change by far is my rib cage. She wants it up and forward, which interestingly enough is the same postural correction I received from Danny Dreyer, creator of Chi Running, when I studied with him last Spring. Since I'll be unable to get into the pool before our next session, Hannah told me to work on my ribs and posture - to lengthen my torso and lift my chest.

Yes! I can cross train at my desk, while walking my daughter to school, and when doing the dishes. When I leave the slouching behind and lift my ribs, not only am I taller, but I feel my upper abs engage. I call that a double bonus. Are you slouching right now? Try a little desk cross training and sit up straight, with the ribs over the pelvis not behind it, and engage your abs. This should help your aching back too.

Another Reason to Exercise: Coregasms!

FitSugar — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:00:00 -0700

My pal DearSugar writes about sex daily. She can tell you how to have a better orgasm, and I can tell you the health benefits of having them regularly. Having sex not only relieves stress, but it also boosts your immunity. Most of the time you find the big "O" behind closed doors, but this just in - many women are experiencing them in the gym. I'm talking about something called a coregasm.

Have I caught your attention yet? If so read more.

This astounding fitness phenomenon known as the coregasm is actually pretty common. Women experience them when working their core muscles, whether they're doing crunches, strengthening leg lifts, or backbends in a yoga class (talk about an enlightening experience!). According to sex therapist, Dr. Victoria Zdrok,

"A lot of women require a buildup of tension in their legs before they can achieve the release of orgasm. So, when a woman exercises, the release of endorphins and dopamine, which are necessary for orgasm, combined with the tension in the lower extremities, can cause the clitoral stimulation [that is needed]."

It happens when women tap into the muscles in their deep core, quads, or thighs. They end up automatically squeezing the pelvic muscles which triggers nerve impulses, and voilà - a coregasm is born. One squeeze won't necessarily work, but if you're doing many repetitions, that much stimulation can cause intense pleasure in your nether region. If that doesn't get you to the gym, then I don't know what will!

Tell me ladies, have you ever experienced a coregasm while working out?

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Core Concepts: Running

FitSugar — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:00:00 -0800

Whether running for fun, fitness, or to be fast, efficiency is key. Having a strong core plays an important part in translating the power of the legs to propelling the entire body forward through space. The deep abs, made up of the transversus abdominis (TVA) and internal obliques, are the keystone for core stabilization. Unfortunately, running bio-mechanics expert Michael Fredericson, Ph.D, found that about 90 percent of runners have weak abs leading to faulty running patterns. Having weak abs can easily translate into "running funny" with too long or too short of steps, or a pelvis that swings from side to side.

The deep abs stabilize the pelvis by keeping it in a neutral position, so that the back of the legs can push your entire body forward, rather than just wasting power just stretching the low abs. A strong core can help make your running more efficient as well as faster. When the weak low abs work in tandem with the spinal muscles these muscles support the torso and give you more endurance too.

Due to our modern and sedentary lifestyle, many folks have weak deep abs because sitting all day leads to slouching, which deactivates the deeps abs. To learn how to reactivate your TVA right now read more.

Sit up straight (since I just said we all slouch too much you had to know that one was coming). Put your hands on your low ribs and inhale, feeling them expand (flare out to the sides). Don't raise your shoulders though (it might take a few times for you to get the hang of this).
Try to keep your low ribs wide as you exhale by pulling your navel to your spine while keeping your spine still. Think of pushing the air out of your lungs with the action of pulling the deeps abs toward the spine. Repeat for a while until it starts to feel "normal."
Keep practicing this action and not only will you start to strengthen your deep abs, you will increase your ability to breathe deeply by opening up the space between your side and back ribs.

Now every time you do any abdominal exercise you want to focus on the deep abs being active. Warm up your abs before you run, jog, walk, use the stair stepper or elliptical. Exercise mindfully and focus on your pelvic stability and keep checking in with your form. The payoff for paying attention? Stabilizing the pelvis during running and other physical activities will help you stay injury free.

Pilates 101: Finding Neutral Spine

FitSugar — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:00:00 -0800

The concept of neutral spine may sound simple, but this important Pilates concept can be elusive. To keep a neutral shade of spine, you maintain the natural curves of your back while doing an exercise, such as an upper abdominal curl (aka crunches). Keeping neutral means the muscles in your back are working in conjunction with your abs, and when you get your abs and back to fire together, you are working your core. Maintaining those natural curves keeps your ab work honest and makes it more difficult to cheat.

Although the concept of leaving things as they are sounds simple, when the majority of people lie on their backs, they automatically press their low spines into the floor. This, my friends, is not neutral.

To find your neutral spine:

Lie down on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, with your heels about a foot from your bum.
Rock your pelvis up and down so you can feel the top and bottom of your sacrum, the bony back of your pelvis.
Stop rocking and feel the entire sacrum on the ground, allowing the five vertebrae in your lumbar spine to make a gentle curve away from the floor. It will not be big curve!
Your bottom rib should also be making contact with the floor.
The curve of your neck should mirror the curve of your low spine, so it pulls away from the floor as well.

To learn how to find neutral spine from the front of your body, simply read more.

You can also monitor your neutral spine from the front.

Your pubic bone and top of your pelvis (ASIS) should be on the same plane and parallel to the floor.
To get a sense if these bones are even, place the heels of your palm on the top of your pelvis and the middle fingers of both hands on your pubic bone. These bones should be on the same plane.
The apex of the curve in your lower (lumbar) spine should be even with your belly button. This is another way to feel that the curve is there but not huge!

When lying on your back with both feet off the ground, you should round your low back (super scoop) and not maintain neutral. In those positions (like the 100s in Pilates), rounding the spine protects your back!

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Core Knowledge

FitSugar — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Fitness types toss the term "core" around with little explanation, leaving many people confused and believing that ab work, like crunches, is strengthening their core. But this is not the case; the core is not simply the muscles on the front of your body. Nope. The core is three-dimensional, and in general terms you can think of it as your torso. One of my favorite definitions of the core is that it runs from your nipples to your knees.

Essentially, the core stabilizes your pelvis, low back, and rib cage, and it is made up of many muscle groups: all four layers of your abdominal muscles, including the obliques and transversus; the muscles on either side of the spine; the little muscles that run vertebrae to vertebrae know as the multifidi; as well as your glutes, hip flexors, and inner thighs. In Pilates, we also include the pelvic floor as part of the core; these small deep muscles help stabilize the pelvis.

To see how these muscles work together read more.

All these muscles work together to maintain torso stability, but I feel a working core is easiest to feel if you imagine sandwiching your spine with your deep abs and deep spinal muscles, like when holding plank. When you add leg movement to a plank, like a donkey kick, you are challenging your core even more. You should feel your core working during squats as well as boat pose in yoga. And if you don't feel your back and abs working together, imagine that sandwiching sensation and know that if you pull your abs toward your spine without moving the vertebrae, the muscles in your back will be working too.

Looking for more exercise to strengthen your core, now that you know crunches are not targeting all the elements of your core? Check out these core exercises.

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DVD Review: Shiva Rea - Creative Core + Lower Body

FitSugar — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:30:00 -0700

I loved Shiva Rea's Creative Core Abs video, so I was excited to try her newest DVD, Creative Core + Lower Body ($10). It focuses on a combination of fluid movements and holding of postures that targets your abs, thighs, lower back, and bum. I learned variations of poses that in my eight years of teaching yoga I've never seen before, so this DVD was a breath of fresh air and insanely challenging too. Although this sequence was short (only 22 minutes long), my thighs and bum were burning (in a positive way), and my lower back felt open and calm.

This is a great video to pop in if you only have a short time to work out, or if you want to do a little lower body stretching after a run or bike ride. Creative Core + Lower Body is one of the best yoga DVDs I've ever tried. I just wish it was longer!

If you want to see a preview of this DVD then read more

Fit's Tips:If you're looking for a full yoga practice, I'd highly recommend Shiva Rea's Fluid Power - Vinyasa Flow Yoga.

Fit Tip: Remember to Work Your Back

FitSugar — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:30:00 -0700

You should be proud of yourself for making the time to do crunches and other grueling exercises that work your abs. Not only do strong abs look good, but they help to prevent back pain. The thing is, they're not the only part of your body that makes up your core. Don't forget about the other side of your body. If you constantly focus on moves that tone your tummy and your back muscles are weak, this imbalance may cause pain and result in injury down the road. So work on incorporating some strengthening exercises that target your upper, middle, and lower back. Check out these exercises that target those areas:

Back Off series of back-strengthening moves.
Get Your Back Ready to Bare slideshow of back exercises.
Basic moves such as Two-Minute Headstand and Superman that require no equipment.
Yoga poses: Half Wheel, Wheel, Bow, Warrior 3, and Scorpion.

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Fit Tip: Start With Ab Work

FitSugar — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 03:00:00 -0800

It seems commonplace to incorporate ab work into your cool down; probably because at the end of a grueling workout it is so nice to lie down. This is assuming you do both a cool down and ab work, but I have faith that you do both.

Here's an idea though, start your workout with abs and core exercises. After warming up, warm up your center with some ab work and feel how this improves your other activities. When you work out, either lifting or doing cardio, you will be better able to stabilize your torso. Feeling connected to your core will not only help your overall form but it will also help protect your back and prevent injury. For instance, engaging your core will help you take that backward sway out of your bicep curls.

Looking for ab work? Try this short, sweet and complete ab exercise video to work your abs. Follow those moves with a few elbow planks to warm up your core. You will definitely feel connected.

When I start my workout with ab exercises, I feel the heat of my center radiating to my limbs and I feel stronger and more efficient. Try it next time you work out and let me know how it goes.

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Fire Fighter Workout: Part IV

FitSugar — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 08:30:00 -0800

If you tried the fire fighter workouts I've been posting on earlier then you're feeling for those folks in uniform, since the workouts are literally no walk in the park. Here is the arms/abs portion of the circuit workout. Be prepared to sweat as these circuits are loaded with some tough exercises. Check out these highlights:

ARMS (Note: Repeat arms and core/abs (part 2) circuits consecutively)

Triceps extension: Stand on resistance band. With arms raised and elbows by your head, hold the band's handles behind your head. Raise them over your head, and then back down. 30-60 seconds.

Fire curls: Stand on resistance band with both feet, arms at sides. Bend arms at elbows and raise to shoulders. Lower. 30-60 seconds.

Lateral extensions pulse: Stand on resistance band with arms raised to the sides (palms down). Lift arms a few inches, then lower. As fast as you can for 30 seconds.

Reverse ax chop: Stand on resistance band with both feet. Hold the band in front with arms locked. Reach back over your right shoulder with both arms as if you were raising and swinging an ax. Alternate between shoulders. 60 seconds.

To see the core/abs portion read more.

CORE/ABS (PART 2)

Bicycle crunch: Lie on back with legs raised and bent. Move your legs in a bicycle motion. Alternate opposing elbows to knees. 30 seconds.

Cross-legged crunch: Lie on your back with legs raised. Cross right leg over left knee. Contract abs and bring left elbow toward right knee. 30 seconds. Alternate knees and elbows. Repeat for 30 seconds.

Upright toe touches: Lie on back. Raise legs and bring fingers as close as possible to your toes. 30-60 seconds.

Superman: Lie on stomach. Raise your arms and legs off the ground. Hold 30-60 seconds.

Side plank crunches: Lie on your right side. Raise up, using your forearm for support. Lift right knee toward your chest, and then bring it back down. 30 seconds. Alternate sides. Repeat for 30 seconds.

Hose push: See previous post. Push 25-to-35 yards, 3 to 4 reps.

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