Which muscles does your core consist of?
When it comes to the core muscles, the first thing you probably think of is your abdominal muscles. This is often the focus in many workouts — one of the main reasons is that your abdominal muscles give a clearly visible result when you train them effectively. But in fact, your core covers the entire torso, and consists of no less than 29 muscles; from your abdominal muscles to your glutes, back muscles and pelvic floor muscles.
Wat does your core do?
Your core supports your body in many different movements. These are often movements that you take for granted, such as getting up, walking and bending down. Thus you also use them during sports. Among other things, your core muscles are responsible for maintaining a good balance and stability. That's why we talk about “training your torso stability” when it comes to core-workouts.
What are the benefits of training your core?
Strengthening your core muscles has many advantages. We'll name a few of those now:
- A strong core reduces the risk of injury. Because your body is more stable and can better absorb unexpected strength, you have less chance of falling, straining a muscle or overloading a part of your body.
- It reduces (lower) back pain. Sit down, we do it a lot in our daily lives, especially for those of us who have an office job. Sitting puts a lot of pressure and load on the lower back, especially if the muscles are not strong enough. Training your core ensures that those muscles can better cope with the load of sitting, which reduces or even dissolves back pain altogether.
- A stronger core improves workout performance. Your core is responsible for many of the twisting, lifting and bending movements your body makes. During a workout, a trained core gives you more stability and endurance for many different exercises, thus you can perform them more effectively and for longer periods.
- Strengthening your core means strengthening your (torso) stability. You will benefit from this in everyday life, such as gardening and vacuuming or lifting up a child. Moreover, as you get older, it is often more difficult to find your stability. Training your core helps you maintain that stability.
- Training your core ensures a better posture. By strengthening the core muscles, especially your abdomen and back, you stand up and sit right.
What are good exercises and materials for training your core?
Training the entire torso of your body with an exercise wheel, also known as 'abwheel'. By rolling you effectively train your core through a combination of power and balance.
Planks, leg raises and other abdominal exercises are also excellent for training your core. An abdominal mat supports your body and stimulates the correct posture during these exercises to prevent injuries. And of course there is a wide choice of abdominal trainers that can help you train the core. A sissy squat is also widely used for training the core. This allows you to work effectively on your gluteal muscles. And finally: the fitness hula-hoop. Effective, simple and also a lot of fun to do. And a nice side effect: training with the hula-hoop also improves your balance and coordination.
