“Your body can stand almost anything. It’s your mind that you have to convince.” - Anonymous
Abs always seem to be the thing everyone wants when they work out, but are the hardest thing to sculpt!
It’s not in your imagination; getting defined abs is no easy task.
You can exercise your entire core at home without any fancy gym equipment!
What exactly is the core and how is it different from abs? What exercises are the best for working out these muscles? How can you build an effective workout routine to help your abs pop?
What Muscles Are Part of the Core?
The core is made up of several muscle groups, one of which is the abdominals. The purpose of the core is to
- Support the body in being upright
- Stabilize the body against falling and collapsing
- Allow the body to twist, bend, and move
- Protect the internal organs and spine
Most people only try to work out one muscle or one muscle group when they think of abs, but it’s important to think of the entire core.
The core is the entire “trunk” part of the body below the lungs and above the tops of the femurs.
You can think of the core as a barrel, where the top is the diaphragm, the bottom is the pelvic floor, and the muscles that wrap around in between are the sides.
Specifically, the core and pelvic floor allow you to breathe, cough, sneeze, sit and stand upright, defecate and urinate, and in females, be pregnant and give birth all while keeping your organs in place.
Abdominal Muscles
These are the muscles we think of when we think of abs and ab workouts.
- Rectus Abdominis (6-pack abs)
- Internal Obliques
- External Obliques
- Transversus Abdominis
- Pyrimidalis Muscle (only 80% of people have this one!)
These muscles are located at the front and sides of the body. When you do a situp and a Russian Twist, these are the muscles that are worked.
¨The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do.¨ – Swati Sharma
The Rest of the Core Muscles
In addition to the above abdominal muscles, these muscles are also part of the core.
- Erector Spinae
- Multifidus
- Quadratus Lumborum
- Latissimus Dorsi
- Serratus Anterior
- Inferior Serratus Posterior
- Diaphragm
- Iliacus
- Psoas Major
- Psoas Minor
- Pelvic Floor (made of many muscles)
- Puborectalis muscle
- Pubococcygeus muscle
- Iliococcygeus muscle
- Coccygeus muscle
Some people even consider the gluteus maximus and the piriformis muscle to be part of the core because they help with stability!
Benefits of a Strong Abs and a Stable Core
Beyond aesthetics, there are many benefits to working out your core.
- Prevent, reduce, and even eliminate back pain (and pain in other parts of the body - it’s all connected!)
- Improve digestion
- Improve breathing
- Increase energy
- Reduce anxiety and depression (exercise + endorphins + better breathing + better energy = improved mental health)
- Increase stability, decreasing risk of injuries and falling
- Better balance and body control
- Control weight more easily
- Improved performance in sports and everyday activities
- Boost self-esteem
6 Best Trainer-Recommended Exercises for a Strong Core at Home
Let’s get into the details of how to exercise your abs and core!
These exercises are all recommended by various fitness trainers, so you know they are effective.
Remember to warm up with dynamic stretching before you begin any workout routine. Try some torso twists, jogging in place, side-to-side stretching, lunges, and even some light yoga.
1. Hundreds
This classic Pilates move looks oh so simple, but it’s actually incredibly effective! It’s a fantastic abs workout for beginners.
Set Up: On an exercise or yoga mat, lay on your back. Flatten your lower back to press against the mat, bend your knees, and lift your legs so your thighs are perpendicular to your body, and your shins are perpendicular to your thighs (parallel with the floor).
Work Out: Engage the abs and lift your upper shoulders and head up slightly. Reach your fingertips straight forward, palms down. Pump your arms up and down in small, rapid motions. Pump your arms one hundred times! All the while, engaging your core and breathing.
Why It Works: In addition to constantly engaging the abs to hold up your head, shoulders, and legs, pumping your arms rocks the body and makes it a little unstable. Your core muscles need to make micro-adjustments and tiny flexes to keep you in place.
“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Ryun
2. Corkscrew
You can modify this move to be easier or harder depending on your strength and energy levels.
Set Up: On a mat, lay on your back, supporting your upper body by placing the forearms down behind you, palms face down. Stretch the legs out, toes pointed, and keep the legs tightly pressed together.
Work Out: Engage the core, lift the legs a few inches off the mat, and move the legs over to one side. Keep your core and upper body in place, and use your oblique muscles to pull the legs over. When you can’t go to the side anymore, begin lifting the legs up.
If you have less energy and strength, bring the legs straight up and down so your core can relax slightly. If you have more strength, keep the legs at a 60 to 80-degree angle to keep the abs engaged. If you have maximum strength, lift the hips off the floor (don’t use momentum!).
Draw a circle with the legs and bring them back down towards the floor slowly with control.
You can either switch directions after each circle or do 10 one way and then switch and do 10 the other way.
Why It Works: The circular motion engages all the muscles in the front part of the core.
3. Side Plank Twist
You can do this move in a low plank or a high plank, it’s up to you! Both work slightly different muscles in a slightly different way.
Set Up: Get into a low side plank with the forearm pressed into the mat perpendicular to the body, palm face down. Or, get into a high plank. You can have the bottom knee lowered if needed.
In low plank: Bend the top arm and place the fingertips at the back of the head.
In high plank: Reach straight up with the top arm.
Work Out: In both variations, you are engaging the entire core to keep the body lifted and straight, and you’re twisting to bring the top arm down. The shoulders come as close to parallel to the floor as possible.
In low plank: Reach the point of the elbow towards the mat right next to your planted elbow. Then twist back into your start pose.
In high plank: Reach under the body towards the wall behind you as much as possible without falling. Then twist back into your start pose.
Why It Works: The side plank works the obliques, hips, glutes, and pelvic muscles. The twist works the obliques more and even strengthens the serratus and latissimus dorsi muscles.
“If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” – Fred DeVito
4. Plank Pike Toe Touch
This compound move combines the classic plank, the classic pike, cross-movement, and upper ab movement.
Set Up: Get into a high plank pose.
Work Out: Pressing into the palms of the hands for stability, engage the core muscles and pull the upper and lower body together, resulting in the hips hinging and the booty reaching up into the air for your pike.
Try to keep the whole body still (don’t shift side-to-side) as you reach one hand toward the opposite toes, replace the hand, and switch sides. Return to high plank.
Why It Works: Holding a plank is a static strength pose for the core. Active engagement of the core makes the abs even stronger. Reaching towards the toes challenges your balance and requires upper core muscles to stay up and reach.
5. Bird Dog Crunches
Bird dogs are a great way to exercise the back and the abs in one move.
Set Up: Get into a tabletop position (hands and knees). For an added challenge, get into beast position instead (knees lifted 1-3 inches from the mat and balancing on toes).
Work Out: Extend one arm out straight in front of you, reaching forward. Extend the opposite leg out straight behind you. Keep the back straight, not sagging. Keep your neck long, don’t let the shoulders slump, and look at the floor.
Inhale and reach the fingers forward, the toes back, and lift with the back muscles.
Exhale and crunch the abs, bringing the lifted elbow and knee together beneath you and trying to lift everything up as much as possible.
Inhale and come back to start.
Do as many reps as you like on one side, then switch.
Why It Works: The bird-dog position incorporates all the back muscles to keep the body straight and the limbs lifted. The crunch portion requires you to pull the abs in as much as you can, defying gravity.
“A year from now you may wish you had started today.” – Karen Lamb
6. Dead Bug
Oddly named but super effective, this exercise is sure to tone your lower abs.
Set Up: Lay on your back, arms reaching straight up, legs bent at a 90-degree angle, knees pointing straight up.
Work Out: Inhale as you reach one arm overhead (towards the wall behind you) and at the same time, extend the opposite leg out straight and hover the heel just above the floor. Engage the core muscles to both keep the arm and leg hovering and keep the low back pressing into the floor (not arching).
Exhale back to start, and repeat on the other side.
Why It Works: Once again, this combination of balance and movement makes your muscles work harder than a static hold.
How to Build a Fitness Routine to Make Your Abs Pop
Exercises alone aren’t enough to give you chiseled abs. In fact, people who have visible abs have to work really hard… in the kitchen!
If you work out a lot, chances are you have some strong and well-defined abs, even if you can’t see them. The truth is that in order to get chiseled, visible abs, you have to get rid of most of the fat on top of them so they can be seen.
Not everyone has the body type that will allow for this kind of fat loss in a healthy way! Remember that visible abs are not an indication of overall health, and in fact, many people with visible abs may be undernourished.
Many aesthetic fitness enthusiasts will schedule their diet so they have visible abs for a specific event, like a beach trip or body competition, but will not have nearly as much visibility on their abs for the rest of the time.
That being said, here is how you can encourage your abs to come say hi to the world!
Cardio and Strength Training
First: you need to build abs so you have something to look for.
Practice all-over body strength training to support even muscle growth, allow yourself to do even more challenging workouts for your abs as you get stronger, and burn more calories and fat even when you’re not actively exercising.
How many ab exercises per workout depends on your current fitness level, goals, and available time. Aim for 3-6 moves on abs day to work out your core enough without overdoing it.
Be sure to do a variety of ab exercises to give your muscles the chance to grow in every direction instead of just one or two.
Bulking Phase Diet
Then, you need to make your muscles bigger.
In this phase of fitness dieting, you might have a surplus of calories and protein plus specific vitamins and minerals to encourage muscle hypertrophy (growing in size).
“Enduring means accepting. Accepting things as they are and not as you would wish them to be, and then looking ahead, not behind.” – Rafael Nadal
Cutting Phase Diet
In the cutting phase, you want to find foods that are rich and dense in all the nutrients you need - except calories.
Having a calorie deficit will help you melt fat, but having all the rest of the nutrients you need will ensure that you a) feel good and b) don’t start burning muscle for energy!
You can’t stay in the cutting phase for too long, or else your body will start to think you are starving and enter survival mode. It will try to store as much fat as possible and burn up your muscles for energy, which is the opposite of what you want!
Stay Hydrated and Healthy
Always make sure you’re getting the proper nutrition, hydration, getting enough sleep, and taking rest and recovery days from exercising. Overdoing your fitness routine can lead to burnout and fatigue, which can then lead to injury and needing a long period of time to let your body and mind recover.
Taking a little time off often is better than needing to take a lot of time off all at once later.
Make sure you research a lot and consult with a doctor and/or dietician, nutritionist, or personal trainer to follow a healthy diet and maintain your vitality! Extreme dieting without knowing what you’re doing can lead to far more harm than good.
Listen to your body and if you’re feeling overly fatigued, angry, sad, emotional, anxious, or just plain “off,” take a break from your fitness routine and reevaluate how you can reach your goal in a way that makes you feel fantastic instead.
Happy exercising!
Enjoyed this article? Leave a rating!
Loading...
