For many of us, our main aim is to have a powerful and stable midsection. A strong core helps enhance your posture while improving balance, preventing back pain and keeping you healthy in general. While there are many different exercises for building your core muscles, some are better than others. Here are a few exercises that will strengthen your entire body overall:
Plank
The plank is one of the best exercises for your core. It works your abdominals and lower back, as well as your shoulder and leg muscles. To do a plank:
- Lie on your stomach with your legs straight and arms at your sides, palms flat on the floor in front of you (or place them under your shoulders if it’s too hard). Lift up into a pushup position so that only feet, ankles, knees, and tops of feet touch the ground; ensure that you’re keeping abs tight throughout the exercise. Hold this position as long as possible without resting or relaxing–you can even try holding for up to 30 seconds at first! When done properly with good form it will feel like someone is pressing down on top of each shoulder blade. To increase the difficulty level once mastered, try performing planks using one arm at a time instead of both the arms together – this increases stability significantly!
Side Plank
HOW TO DO THE SIDE PLANK
- Begin by getting into a plank position, with your shoulders directly over your hands and feet hip-width apart.
- Raise one arm and leg off the floor; keep them straight throughout the exercise (you may want to place a towel under your knee or elbow). You should be able to feel this in your oblique’s, lower back, and glutes! If this is too hard for you, try keeping both feet on the floor instead of raising one at a time — or just hold this side plank position for 15 seconds before switching sides with each rep!
- However, if you want to try something that is more challenging than a regular side plank then try interchanging between your right and left sides every 10 seconds. One can also opt for doing some bird dogs! This move targets not only core muscles but also glutes (butt) muscles at the same time by forcing us into an awkward position where both sides need equal amounts of strength to stay balanced while moving around freely without falling over backward onto our heads.
Bird Dog
The bird dog is an excellent core exercise that works both the upper and lower abs. The exercise can also be altered to target different areas of the core, depending on how long you are able to hold each position.
- Start with your hands and knees on the floor, shoulder-width apart from each other, with a straight back and flat stomach (like a table top). Ensure your head is in line with your spine. This position should feel familiar from doing push ups or planks!
- Raise one arm toward the ceiling while keeping it straight–don’t let it bend at all during this movement; keep it parallel with the floor throughout its entire range of motion (ROM). Your opposite leg will be extended behind you, as though trying to step back into an imaginary chair beneath yourself–this will help stabilize your body so that only one side moves at any given time instead of both sides together like when walking down stairs slowly where both feet move together instead just one foot stepping at a time like normal walking does where only one leg steps while holding onto something solid like railings etc. It is also convenient because most people don’t have chairs available during workouts so having something else nearby provides a balance better than nothing at all.
Lateral Raise and Crossover
This exercise targets the middle and lower abs, as well as the oblique’s.
- Begin with a dumbbell in both hands and stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and knees slightly bent.
- Raise both arms to shoulder height so they’re parallel to the floor, palms facing forward (A).
- Then lift one arm up while bringing its opposite side down (B). Repeat on opposite sides 10 times total; as you get stronger, increase the weight or add more sets of this move! Exhale as you lift up; inhale as you lower back down toward starting position at the end of each rep.
These exercises can help you build a stronger core
- Plank – This exercise is great for building core strength, especially in the upper back. To perform a plank, you’ll need to get into a push-up position with your arms extended and your feet together on the floor. Make sure that when you lift yourself up from this position, you keep your torso as straight as possible so that only one arm is supporting most of the weight at any given time (it should be resting on one side or another). You may find that holding this position for 60 seconds can be difficult at first; if so, lower yourself down slowly until it feels easier before trying again with more time under tension in between reps!
Side Plank – This exercise targets both sides of your core at once by strengthening both oblique’s (side abs) and transverse abdominals (lower back). Start by lying down on one side with legs bent and feet flat against each other; then place hands directly underneath shoulders so they form an elevated platform just above hips level when viewed from above–this helps maintain balance during movement patterns like twisting motions which require strong stabilization muscles throughout the torso region.
CONCLUSION In the end I would like to conclude this article by saying that If you want to build a stronger core, try doing these exercises. They are a great way to get started with your workouts and will help improve your posture as well. You can do these at home or at the gym–they require no equipment at all!
