The core is vital for athletic performance. In Center of Attention Part 1, I hope I clarified that there is more to your core than abdominal muscles. Now I will give just a few exercises to help strengthen your core. I will break the exercises down into beginner & advanced. You can increase the difficulty by adding a little weight or moving from bilateral to unilateral. I didn't just read about theses exercises & decided to write about them. I have been lifting weights & training for over 20 years (I started at age 12). I know that theses exercises can improve core strength & transfer to performance on the field/court. I also know that without proper progression & poor technique you will get hurt. In the advanced lifts the spine is loaded. These lifts require a high level of focus & your technique has to be spot on. I have hurt myself doing some of these lifts but it was not because of exercise. It was because I had my head up my butt & didn't pay attention to my technique. The same exercises that I was doing when I got hurt are the same ones that helped improve my performance on the field. You must maintain a psychotic like focus when performing advanced lifts.
I will not attempt teach technique in this blog but here is an important tip for advanced core training exercises. Do not do long-distance runs, long-distance cycling, or aerobic type classes before you do advanced core training exercises. When you do aerobic activity you are fatiguing muscles & rendering them useless for advanced core training exercises. You may think that you are getting a good lift or "pump" but you are depriving yourself of optimal performance. Think how much more you could lift if your muscles were not fatigued. Do a 5-10 minutes warm up, dynamic stretches, & get on the weights.
Beginner
Crunches
Leg Raises
Bent Leg Glute Bridges
Straight Leg Glute Bridges
Side Bridges
Skydiver
Superman
Bird Dog
Cable Twist (high & low)
Advanced
Dead Lifts
Stiff Leg Dead Lifts
Single Leg Dead Lifts
Trap Bar Dead Lifts
Squats (Back & Front)
Glute Ham Raises
Bent-Over Row
I cannot stress enough how important it is to focus on your technique & not to worry about the weight you are lifting on the advanced exercises.
I will not attempt teach technique in this blog but here is an important tip for advanced core training exercises. Do not do long-distance runs, long-distance cycling, or aerobic type classes before you do advanced core training exercises. When you do aerobic activity you are fatiguing muscles & rendering them useless for advanced core training exercises. You may think that you are getting a good lift or "pump" but you are depriving yourself of optimal performance. Think how much more you could lift if your muscles were not fatigued. Do a 5-10 minutes warm up, dynamic stretches, & get on the weights.
Beginner
Crunches
Leg Raises
Bent Leg Glute Bridges
Straight Leg Glute Bridges
Side Bridges
Skydiver
Superman
Bird Dog
Cable Twist (high & low)
Advanced
Dead Lifts
Stiff Leg Dead Lifts
Single Leg Dead Lifts
Trap Bar Dead Lifts
Squats (Back & Front)
Glute Ham Raises
Bent-Over Row
I cannot stress enough how important it is to focus on your technique & not to worry about the weight you are lifting on the advanced exercises.
