Lately I have been hearing this from my more mature clients. “Ben I just had my yearly checkup and my DR. told me to cut out carbs and to work my core more, so I guess I need to do more planks and not eat bread. (let’s keep carb cutting for a later discussion) Most of us tend to do core work or abdominal work for all the wrong reasons.

Would it be cool to have a washboard stomach and a six-pack at 60+? Sure … but if you want that, you probably need to overhaul your nutrition instead of doing 1,000 sit-ups a day.

When discussing our core, we’re talking about four layers of abdominal walls that criss-cross your midsection and work together to support your spine, prevent back pain, improve posture, and help you execute daily activities safely.

Any well-designed exercise program will emphasize core training, especially when someone is just getting started.

There are three practical functions of the core that help protect your back, improve your balance, and align your posture, and thus three types of exercises to improve those functions. A couple of favorites that we use at Heart & Pride Fitness are:

Anti-Extension: The goal here is to strengthen the muscles that allow you to avoid extension of the spine. Examples, include Dead Bugs and Ab Wheels.

Anti-Rotation: Here, we’re training the abdominals to avoid rotation through the spine. These exercises include a Pallof Press and Plank Shoulder Taps.

Anti-Lateral Flexion: For this function, we’re trying to avoid misalignment of the hips, i.e. side-bending. These exercises include Side Planks and Offset Loaded Carries (i.e. holding weight only one side but maintaining proper posture as you do).

Sure, having a strong core could also lead to a flat stomach and maybe even a six pack. But don’t think doing endless situps and crunches is going to make your abs magically appear. Flattening your stomach has more to do with your calorie burn and your diet. But now you know there’s more to the core than just appearance. It serves a vital purpose if you want to live a healthy, pain-free life.

Resilience one lift at a time.

Ben...

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