Physical activity is an important aspect of living a healthy lifestyle. Lifting weights is one of the activities that can help keep bones strong and morale high. While a lot of people focus on their ‘sexy muscles’ (biceps and chest), how many know to strengthen their core as well?
Core exercises help build the muscles in your hips, pelvis, lower back and abdominals, and help to improve – among other things – your posture and can even reduce your chance of injury.
You see, the stronger your core, the easier it is for you for perform tasks (or in this case, workout) while exerting less effort and, in turn, you’ll keep energy levels up and fatigue down. By exercising your core, you’ll actually make it easier to build muscles on other areas of your body.
There are plenty of exercises that can be done either at the gym or right in the comfort of your own home. Sit-ups and bridges, for example, are just two of the many ways to workout your core. To complete a bridge, lie on your back with your feet firmly on the floor and your hands to the side. Slowly raise your pelvic area and hold for 2-3 seconds and lower back to your start position without actually touching the floor (and repeat the motion). Examples core exercises can also be found here.
As with any exercise, don’t feel you have to over-exert yourself to get ‘better’ results. There’s nothing wrong with starting off slowly and completing only the number of reps as you feel comfortable with.
Before starting any workout routine, or should you have any further questions about this, or any related topic, contact one of the health professionals at Kew Gardens Health Group.
Re-visit an older article by Dr. Scott Dunham on core stability here
