This chart details the best core exercises for achieving a firmer, more fit midsection to support overall movement and a strong back. The abdominals, hips, and lower back are equally important for transmitting and generating forces between the lower and upper body.
What is Essential Core Training?
Core training is the foundation of great athletic performance. The core muscles splint the entire trunk and torso. Known as the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex, the core consists of over 29 pairs of muscles working together to stabilize the spine, pelvis, and hips for all movement.
The core is made up of two layers. The deepest layer consists of muscles that stabilize the spine. They are the transversus abdominis, multifidi, medial quadratus lumborum, pelvic floor and diaphragm muscles. The second layer consists of the rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique, erector spinae and lateral quadratus lumborum muscles. They flex, extend, and rotate the spine. Both layers work together to create a strong core, allowing you to enjoy every sport and activity.
If your neck and shoulders are chronically tight, not only does it feel bad, but neck and shoulder limitations affect the biomechanics of your body. Conversely, when you have balance and alignment in everyday life, you establish a great starting … Continue reading →
Can you think of a time when your problems seemed insurmountable? In a world where our happiness is so crucial to our overall well-being, behavioral tools can be helpful. If you’re struggling with goals like eating better, sleeping or exercising … Continue reading →
We all want to enjoy a healthy work-life balance and have more energy throughout the day. Regardless of your age, the habits of daily living become more important, whether you are in your 40s or 60s. The body, however, has … Continue reading →
Healing a sore back requires breaking some old habits and forming some new ones, says Dr. Stuart McGill. If you’re living with an achy back, getting your swagger back, as McGill, the most recognized spine researcher in the world, states, … Continue reading →
All winter sports require strong leg muscles, good balance and core support—all benefits of doing regular squats. The squat is one of the most common and basic exercises performed in strength training and offers a tremendous bang for your buck. … Continue reading →
Good habits contribute to optimum health. When it comes to your health, preventing injuries in any sport or activity you enjoy is crucial. No one likes being injured. With a New Year fast approaching, here are five injury-preventing moves to … Continue reading →
Early fall, ski-teamers are working on quad strength for their upcoming competitive season. You should be, too, if you are planning to ski this winter. Even if you’re not doing any type of physical activity, you should at least train … Continue reading →
The feet and ankles support and cushion the entire weight of the body and are crucial to keep your body balanced. Anyone that has to be on his or her feet all day knows that they bear a lot of … Continue reading →
We need sleep and it’s best in moderation, like most things in life. According to studies recently published in the journal Brain, there is a middle range to keep the brain sharp over time, and most adults need at least … Continue reading →
The human brain is a magnificent three-pound organ. It is the seat of our intelligence, initiates all our body movement and controls our behavior. As we all age, the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases is expected to markedly increase. Our health … Continue reading →
The Covid -19 pandemic has impacted everyone across the globe. It has affected our lives on both a small and large scale, particularly having to let go, for a while, of a pre-Covid world. Remember, there is nothing wrong about allowing … Continue reading →
Core stability is imperative for all facets of movement and performance, whether you’re a skier or skater. As a new ski season kicks off, core strength can be a great asset to ski at a higher intensity, for a longer … Continue reading →
Try this new six-move fitness routine to break your pandemic rut Did you ever imagine living through a pan- demic? More than ever, we’re all chal- lenged to be resilient. For many of us, our routines are shot and the new … Continue reading →
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could simply get rid of your belly fat with a few crunches and ab work? After all, wouldn’t all that hard work melt the fat away if you really put your heart into it? … Continue reading →
Fear and uncertainty are real right now, as each week brings even more uncertainty fighting COVID-19. Many of us are scared and lonely. But please don’t be so hard on yourself right now, because you already are doing something very … Continue reading →
When we’re in a stressful situation, it’s not always easy to take a deep breath and calm down. Stress makes all of us look and feel older, teens and those in their 20s and 30s included. A new study finds that younger adults look and feel older on stressful days, when they feel they have less control over their lives.
Stress is a psychological and physiological response to situations we find to be overwhelming. It’s associated with a host of negative outcomes. However, up until now, there has been little research on the amount of stress younger adults are experiencing compared to what previous generations experienced when they were young, says Shevaun Newport, professor of psychology at North Carolina State University.
Accumulative stress over time can have adverse effects. People are feeling increasing levels of stress as they move from young adulthood to midlife—their 40s and 50s—Newport says. If young people are already experiencing high levels of stress for their age, and that stress is affecting how old they feel, it is important for us to address stress-related physical health and mental health for this generation, he says.
So how can we deal with stressful days? Communication coach Tatiana Kolovou suggests not turning against ourselves by self-bashing. Lines such as “What were you thinking?” or “This was a huge mistake” are self-sabotaging and negative. Think of something encouraging instead, she advises. When we have bumps along our road, we need to remember that we can do hard things. We can reframe our self-talk and build resilience. Instead of saying, “I have to do hard things,” for example, we could choose to say “I get to do hard things.”
Even small shifts in the language we use to refer to ourselves can be helpful. A research review in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology showed that first person self-talk (“I can do this“) helps to positively influence our ability to manage our thoughts and emotions under stress.
You can manage a stressful situation by taking a deep breath. Deep breathing is a great way to reduce the activation of your nervous system. (Take a deep breath in for a few seconds, hold it and slowly release it.) Learning and applying this skill can help activate your parasympathetic nervous system to rest, which helps the anxiety you may be feeling.
We all have crummy days, and strengthening our personal skills and resilience is key. Exercise is a great stress reliever. And taking care of yourself with proper nutrition is imperative, not only to help your whole body feel better, but your mind as well. Make a commitment to trying any of these strategies for good days ahead.
