You often see two views of core workouts on social media: either those who encourage abs everyday or those who claim they don’t need to do abs because they use their core in all of their lifts.
Neither are wrong, but there’s a middle ground.
CORE DURING LIFTS
You might have heard the terms “bracing your core” before. Bracing your core involves breathing through your diaphragm and expanding through all 360-degrees of your midsection. Bracing your core allows you to stabilize and protect your spine through a movement. Although it’s most common to hear the phrase in squats, deadlifts, and other compound exercises, bracing is essential in most exercises in general.
TYPES OF CORE OUTSIDE OF LIFTS
Supplemental core to your main lifts is beneficial if you would like to gain strength, build muscle, or increase endurance. We recommend treating abdominal muscles just like every other muscle in your body; they all need a little TLC.
Supine
A supine position means you will be with your belly toward the ceiling.
Examples of this include:
Dead bug variations
Sit ups
Prone
A prone position means you will be with your belly toward the ground.
Examples of this include:
Plank variations
Bird dogs
Supermans
Rotational
A rotational exercise will result in your obliques being the prime mover with your transverse abs used secondarily.
Examples of this include:
Wood chops
Russian twist
Anti-rotational
An anti-rotational exercise means just that – using your core to avoid or minimize rotation.
Examples of this include:
Pallof press
Half-kneeling press
Renegade row
We include each of these forms of core to encourage strength in all planes of motion. A person doesn’t just move in forward motion in everyday life. We twist, turn, bend, and extend around throughout the day, so addressing strength in these forms will produce a positive outcome. All four types of core exercises outside of lifting are important to include and are found as a component of many fitness training programs here at Garage 1880.