Core Strengthening Exercises

In everyday life, we are constantly twisting, turning and bending. We sit for long periods of time each day. All of that action (even just sitting) demands that our core muscles are in good shape to support our spine and internal organs. Once we start to slack off in our efforts to maintain core stability, our back begins to hurt, bending over becomes a chore, and in general life just becomes more and more miserable the longer we let it go. The object of the get up is to lie on the ground holding the kettlebell up above your head while always maintaining your arm at a perpendicular angle to the ground. From the ground in a series of calculated and seamless movements you are to stand up onto your feet and return to the ground all while keeping the kettlebell locked out above your head and with your arm perpendicular to the ground. Strengthening core muscles means that you have to load your body by maximizing the amount of force that is applied upon your working muscles. By creating force your body must maximally tension in order to support the weighted load that has been placed upon it. This can be smartly done by engaging in lifts and exercises that are multi-joint in nature. Lay on the floor with your lower legs on a chair so knees are bent at 90 degrees. Use your abdominal muscles to lift your head, shoulders and shoulder blades off the floor. Hands can be crossed over chest. Be careful not to pull your neck forward. Now at this point of the lift you should be flexed at both your hips and knees and your left leg should be loaded with the weight of the bell. As the bell swings around to the outside of your left leg then from here you will want to forcefully extend at your hips, knees, and left elbow to drive the kettlebell from down by your leg diagonally across your body. Hopefully you are starting to see the importance of a strong healthy core. The best exercises to achieve this are called multi joint or compound exercises. They are exercises like the clean and jerk, the dead lift, squats, military press, dumb bell snatch and others. These exercises work your entire body at the same time and your core, your back and abs, must provide balance and stability while you do them. Focus on consuming protein, low glycemic carbs, unsaturated fats and of course, drink plenty of water throughout the day. As for the workouts, you want to be performing the exercises that utilize the most energy (calories) to perform. These are usually movements like squats, lunges, pull ups, push ups - basically the exercises that train multiple large muscle groups at once are best.