In the exercise world, everything is about the core nowadays. Many people associate core by meaning the 6 pack ab muscle and the lower back muscles. In truth there are 29 different muscles that make up the core. Some run vertical, some run horizontal, and others run at different diagonal directions. Every one of the muscles are needed in one movement or another yet they almost always all work together throughout your daily movements. The most common mistake when working the core is what we call a saggital plane concentration. The saggital plane will entail all the exercises like situps and back hyperextensions where you are squeezing forward or backward.

When you focus on exercises that are in a limited range of motion then you leave out most of the muscles that are required for twisting and bending. It is best to incorporate exercises that require you to do cross body movements as well as exercises that incorporate all the muscles of your core like a Plank exercise (shown below)

There are hundreds of exercises that can challenge your core in different ways. Keep your core guessing and lay off the crunches and situps if you want to truly develop a beautiful mid-section.

Looking for some more fun exercises or have any questions feel free to email me at jdidlott@therpmsystem.com and I’d be more than happy to help.