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Building the foundation

Just like a house has its foundation, so too does your body. Some might say that your foundation is your legs since they are in contact with the ground, but going deeper in, you will see that the foundation for all movement is your core. This will make more sense when we clarify just exactly what the core consists of.

The core has been unfairly boxed in to the abdominals. That’s why when you ask someone to work their core, they immediately do an ab exercise. The simplest way to describe the core is the body minus all the extremities. This means take away the head, the arms and the legs, and that’s the core. That includes your chest, abdominals and yes, the entire back all the way down to your butt. Looking at all the muscles in the core not to mention the spine and the hip complex, you see just how complex it is. I’ve written a lot about core training (here, and here) but really, one post can’t cover it.

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Now that you know what the core is, it’s time to learn how to train it. I’ve written before about Gray Cook’s joint by joint method of training the body and I apply this for core training, you should too if you want a strong core without wrecking your hips, back or shoulders. The method is simple but answers a lot of issues when it comes to body pain and functionality. Going up the body, from the foot to the neck, the joints alternate in training need from stability to mobility to stability and mobility an so on and so forth. The diagram below should make it clearer.

This means that the knee joint needs to be trained for stability as well as the lumbar spine (lower back) while the hip and thoracic spine (upper back) should be trained for mobility. Now, look at that diagram and look at what happens when you do a conventional sit-up, which for years has been used all over the world to develop your "core." Most people will be bending through the lumbar spine and not through the hips. As we can see, the lumbar spine is a joint that should be trained to be stable so the sit-ups go against this which results in lower back pain. Unless you're a boxer, a mix martial artist or a dancer/performer who needs mobility in the lumber spine, STOP DOING CRUNCHES.

So how should we do core training? I believe the following exercises should be considered in training the core:

1. Planks and Push ups - Planks and Push ups take into account the joint by joint method by promoting stability in the lumbar spine and strengthening of the chest and shoulder muscles at the same time. This makes it an efficient and effective exercise for the core.

2. Kettle bell swings - I'll be posting more about the kettle bell and how to maximize it in the future but for now, the swing should be a great introduction. Swinging the kettle bell properly will introduce mobility to the hips as well as strengthen the lower back, abdominals, and glutes.

3. Turkish Get up - This is a rather complex exercise but it is one that introduces the right movements for all joints and creates core integrity by strengthening the shoulder joint, the entire back and the abdominals. The video below is a tutorial on how to do it.

Half to kneeling

Though these exercises aren't the end all be all for core exercises, they are all great additions to your workout regimen. And again, stop it with the crunches, okay guys?

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Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.