This article highlights three effective core stabilizing movements—bird dog, dead bug, and plank—that improve balance, coordination, and overall core strength, which are essential for daily activities and injury prevention.
The author of this article decided to do a 7-minute pillar bridge plank every day for a week. They experimented with different hand positions and added movement variations to spice things up. Throughout the week, they felt the exercise targeting various muscle groups, particularly the arms, triceps, obliques, and upper body. However, they found the exercise to become repetitive and lacked enough variation. The author emphasizes the importance of incorporating active recovery and variation into exercise routines for muscle growth, strength building, and overall fitness. They suggest adding activities like bedtime yoga, walking workouts, or extra sleep to enhance recovery.
Instructor Georgia Weibel's Pilates routine uses four dynamic variations of the plank to provide a comprehensive core workout for beginners and experienced exercisers. Practicing the standard plank will help build the core strength and shoulder stability needed to perform these four variations. Pilates and yoga are great ways to improve mind-muscle connection, making sure the targeted muscles are the ones actually being worked.
Peloton instructor Joslyn Thompson has created a six-move core workout that exclusively uses bodyweight exercises to hit all midsection muscles, bringing with it plenty of health benefits. The workout includes exercises like planks and side planks, which work all the muscles that make up the core, including the muscles of the hips, back, and spinal stabilizer muscles. A strong core ensures the trunk is supported well under load, reducing injury, increasing stability, and improving movement efficiency.
Peloton instructor Joslyn Thompson has created a six-move core workout that exclusively uses bodyweight exercises to hit all midsection muscles, bringing with it plenty of health benefits. The routine includes exercises such as planks, side planks, standing marches, dead bugs, bird dogs, and Russian twists. Core training helps stabilize the spine and trunk, reducing injury, increasing stability, and improving movement efficiency. Thompson's workout bridges the gap between abs vs core training, offering a more well-rounded way to work midsection muscles.
Peloton instructor Joslyn Thompson has created a six-move core workout that exclusively uses bodyweight exercises to hit all midsection muscles, bringing with it plenty of health benefits. The workout includes exercises like planks, side planks, standing marches, dead bugs, bird dogs, and Russian twists. Core training helps stabilize the spine and trunk, reducing injury, increasing stability, and improving movement efficiency. Thompson suggests taking your time with each exercise and remembering to breathe.
Strengthening the core is essential for women as it helps with athletic performance, injury prevention, and daily activities. The six best core-strengthening exercises for women include the dead bug, plank, side plank, body saw, stir-the-pot, and reverse crunch. These exercises are suitable for all fitness levels and can be easily modified to increase intensity.
A 10-minute strength and conditioning workout for a total-body tone can be done with just a kettlebell and a soft surface to lie on. The workout includes jump squats, kettlebell swings, plank jacks, and bicycle crunches. The workout is structured with three AMRAP rounds, each with a three-minute working period and 30 seconds of rest in between. The workout is designed to improve physical performance, speed, cognitive abilities, and self-esteem, and help perform daily tasks.