How do I strengthen my core?
1. Begin by teaching your brain to find and engage the core muscles. Most people do not actively engage these muscles in daily life and need to practice contracting them properly.
In order to locate your transversus abdominis muscle, lie on your back with your legs slightly bent. Picture pulling the area two inches below your navel in toward your lower spine. Imagine that you are trying to push your lower spine onto the floor while picturing your waist narrowing. Hold for a count of three and repeat three to five times. Be sure that your buttock and neck muscles are relaxed and do not hold your breath.
Practice sliding your shoulder blades down toward your lower back. While you are sitting or standing, picture the muscles that attach onto the lower part of your shoulder blades (your latissimus dorsi) contracting in order to pull your shoulders away from your ears and lengthen your neck. Hold for three seconds and repeat three to five times.
2. Repetition is the key. The more often you tell your brain to engage these muscles, the easier it will be to access them when you need them. Repeat the above exercises at least twice per day.
3.Once you have mastered contracting these muscles properly, begin to engage them during exercise and everyday activity. Whether you are doing standing biceps curls at the gym or pulling weeds in your garden, utilizing your core muscles will improve your technique by keeping your body stable and ensuring your shoulders don't ride up.
4. You can further develop your core strength through targeted exercises such as Pilates, yoga or stability ball exercises.
It is more important to do core exercises well than it is to do many of them. If you are unsure whether you are doing these exercises properly, schedule a session with a qualified Pilates instructor or a therapist. Don't worry – you don't have to give up on your washboard abs; you will develop added core strength to go along with them.
Page 2 of 2 – Discover your real core muscles (and why they're important) on page 1.
