Your Core

Do have bad posture? Well, that could be because you have weak core muscles. Or, uneven muscles in your core. Well, a good way to work on posture is core workouts. These usually don't seem too hard, but will leave you with a sore core until your body is used to it.

You may wonder why I didn't say ab workouts instead of core workouts? That is because your abs and your core are different. Your abs are a part of you core, but not the only part of your core. If you only strengthen your abs, you will probably end up with bad posture. That happened to me: A few years ago I really wanted to get strong defined abs. So every day I did ab work... but almost no core workouts. So I ended up with my strong defined abs, but I noticed my back was getting sore alot and I always seemed a little hunched over. After that I got kind of lazy and worked out less, so my posture stayed where it was. Luckily, my freshman year at track I had a really good coach and he talked about the difference between core and ab muscles. He also made us do core workouts, which were quite hard. So after that year of track I worked on my core a lot and now have pretty good posture. Not perfect, but much better since my uneven core muscles.

Now why did I have bad posture with strong abs and a weak back? Well, in case you didn't know, every muscle has a counter muscle. For example: your bicep and your tricep. If you have extremely strong biceps, but weak triceps, it would be very hard to extend your arm. Another example is your quadriceps and your hamstring. If your quadriceps are too strong while your hamstring is too weak, you could pull you hamstring very easily, and it would be very easy to hurt your knees because your legs would be extended  most of the time and maybe even hyper extend. Now that you can see there is a counter muscle for pretty much every muscle, what counters your abs? Your back. Your back is like you triceps or quadriceps. It extends your core, while your abs contract your core, like you biceps or hamstrings. So you want to keep all of those muscles pretty even.

So if you plan on working out your abs, make sure you fit in some core workouts. They won't make your abs look much better, but it sure will help your back, and your over all strength. Here are a few good core workouts my coach gave me:
Staggered hand, stacked foot push-ups. In this workout you will get in the push-up position (also known as plank position). You will put one hand close to your side, near your waist. Your other hand will be going out to the side, a little farther than your shoulder. You can stack your feet, but that's optional. Once you have the position, you should do 5 push-ups, then switch your hands around and do 5 more. Repeat until you lose form.

Another is banana rolls. They sound funny, but after doing a few, you will not think they're funny. First start off by laying on your back. Then you lift your legs a few inches off the ground, and the same with your arms. Hold that for 10 seconds, then roll to your side, keeping you legs and arms barely off the ground. Hold for 10 seconds, then roll to you stomach, still keeping legs and feet off the ground. Hold for ten seconds, then roll to your other side, still keeping leg and arms off the ground. Hold for ten seconds, then roll on to your back still keeping your legs and arms off the ground. Now do the same thing in reserve so you end up in the same spot you started in. You just did one. How many do you want to do?

A tough one is grand circles. This one you start off laying down again. Now lift you legs about 6 inches off the ground. Now in a slow, controlled movement, swing your feet around clockwise around your body keeping them as close to the ground as possible (without touching the ground). When you return to the starting position, go the other way. Put your hand where ever you feel the most balanced while doing this.
When ever you workout, remember to breathe. Holding your breathe is one of the worst things you can do for yourself.

If you want more workouts like this, Google core workouts, or comment on this and I will try to help you... Actually, if you have questions about working out, comment on any of my posts about working out and I will try to help you!