How to Make Your Core Strong

Your core -- which includes your abdomen, lower back and hip areas -- is not only in the center of your body, but it’s central to almost everything you do athletically. Additionally, the core muscles support you when you walk and help maintain your posture when you’re seated. When you set up an exercise program, therefore, devote about as much time to your core as you do to your legs, arms and chest to maintain maximum total-body fitness.

Things You'll Need

  • Barbell
  • Dumbbells
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Instructions

    • 1

      Warm up with five to 10 minutes of your favorite aerobic exercise, such as treadmill walking or bike riding.

    • 2

      Perform squats by standing tall with a barbell across the back of your shoulders. Squat straight down by bending your knees and hips. Stop when your thighs are roughly horizontal. Rise to the starting position. Do eight to 12 repetitions.

    • 3

      Use a barbell or dumbbells to do deadlifts. For the barbell version, stand just behind a barbell, bend forward from the waist and hold the bar with an overhand grip. Stand up, keeping your arms and back straight and then lower the bar until your torso is parallel to the floor. Perform eight to 12 reps.

    • 4

      Assume a pushup position but bend your elbows and balance on your forearms and toes to do planks. Keep your body as straight as possible for as long as you can, but aim for at least one minute.

    • 5

      Do some single-leg exercises to force your core to work harder to maintain your balance. To do single-leg dumbbell rows, hold a dumbbell in your left hand with your palm facing back. Bend forward roughly 45 degrees from the waist, flex your right knee and raise your left foot off the floor. Let your arm hang straight down to the floor and then row the weight to the left side of your abdomen. Perform eight to 12 reps with both arms.

    • 6

      Crunch your abs. Do standard crunches by lying face up with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Lift your head, shoulders and upper back off the floor and then lower yourself slowly to the starting position. Make crunches more intense by raising both legs off the floor, bringing your right knee toward your chest and trying to touch the knee with your left elbow as you lift and rotate your torso. Repeat the crunch with your opposite elbow and knee. Do 12 crunches per set.

    • 7

      Begin in the standard crunch position to perform Russian twists, but extend your arms toward the ceiling. Keep your arms straight as you twist your torso as far as possible to the right and then to the left to complete one repetition. Do 12 to 15 reps.

    • 8

      Select four exercises per workout and perform two or three core-strengthening sessions each week, but never on consecutive days. Do two to three sets per exercise. For free-weight exercises, the load should be sufficient to make the final reps challenging.