Do you think that toned arms, six pack abs and bulked up shoulders are the stuff of fitness? Then a reality check is in order. The core — the mid-section that stretches from the shoulder to the pelvis and includes the abdominal muscles, back muscles and glutes — is what you need to pay attention to for complete fitness.
Core muscles: what’s the fuss?
If you can’t throw the ball far enough or lift something heavy without your back complaining, then you need to attend to your core muscles. Mumbai-based fitness trainer Abhishek Sharma, author of Fitness on the Go, says:
“People tend to ignore the core as they are into body sculpting. But six-pack abs are not core muscles though the abs are part of the core.”
Jatin Arora, founder, Bootcamp Yellow, which specialises in outdoor fitness programmes in Gurgaon, says: “Unlike the whole body the mid-section does not have bones to hold it up. So, it’s crucial to strengthen it.”
Fitness experts say that since the core is so important, one should be working towards strengthening it each day when you exercise. Luckily, basic exercises like running or squatting strengthen the core.
The best part about core training is that it’s a two-way street. When you exercise your core muscles, you strengthen them, which in turn enables you to play, run, lift your shopping bags/or the baby and perform your daily tasks better. These tasks in turn strengthen the muscles that lie in the core area.
The way to go
Trainers are creating exercise regimens keeping the core in focus. Sharma says that all body-weight training in which one uses the body-weight itself to exercise and freehand training conducted without machines, strengthen the core.
Arora prescribes some basic exercises for core building. “Running is the easiest and the best exercise for core muscles as it exercises not just the legs but also the arms when they swing back and forth. Other exercises like squatting, lunging and squatting with weights all form the basis of core training exercises,” he says.
Holistic fitness guru Mickey Mehta on the other hand vouches for Yoga as the best way to train the core. He says: “Yoga has some of the best exercises for core training.” Some of these include the bhujang asan (cobra pose), dhanur asan (bow pose) and chakra asan (wheel pose).
Vesna Jacob, a Delhi-based fitness and wellness expert has introduced variations for training the core to make the workouts more effective. She says: “All exercises should incorporate a three-way movement — not just for building a strong core but also to ensure that the entire body moves fluidly as one unit rather than each part moving in isolation.” For instance, to do a three-way movement in a sit up, Jacob sits on the floor and supports her back with a medium-sized ball and stretches out her arms. All movements start from this position. For the first movement she leans as far back as possible against the ball and then leans forward. Then starting from the same position she turns from side-to-side. For the third movement, Jacob starts from the same position and does a circling movement with her outstretched arms.
How often
The frequency as well as the intensity of core exercises varies from person to person. Jacob says that the exercises for the core area need to be varied depending on a person’s age, flexibility, requirement and fitness level. Gurgaon-based, Ajay Ahluwalia, founder, Blackbelt Fitness, changes not just the intensity but even the sequence as well as the number of sets according to a person’s requirement.
Precautions in Place
Like any other fitness regimen, a core training programme too needs basic precautions in place.
For one, go slow is the constant refrain of the experts. Ahluwalia, who doesn’t believe in starting with high-intensity exercises, says:
“Start building your core strength over a month and make it more challenging as your fitness level improves.”
For instance, if you doing sit ups, start with simple ones and add weights as you get better. Jacob insists that the threshold for these exercises is when one experiences pain or discomfort.
Arora says: “Gym equipment restricts the range of motion so the chances of injury are reduced. But during core training there are no machines to check a person. A wrong posture or the lack of proper guidance can cause an injury.” Importantly, anyone with a bad back should avoid core training altogether.
So, for a complete fitness regimen, keep the core in focus.
