What Are Core Workouts?
15
about whatever is bothering you. Exercise even leads to the formation
of new brain cells!
Core exercises in particular target the muscles and bones in your
torso. They make your muscles stronger and more stable, and keep
your bones strong as well. Like all exercises, they also affect your lungs
and heart, keeping both healthy. Core exercises are some of the most
important activities you can do!
FROM EXERCISE TO WORKOUT
Core exercises are a little different from core workouts. Exercises are
structured sets of
repetitive
movements. Exercises target particular
muscles to make them stronger. Doing five sets of ten crunches is an
example of a core exercise.
Workouts are combinations of various exercises. Instead of just do-
ing crunches, a person doing a core workout would include other core
exercises like holding a plank pose, or balancing on a medicine ball.
Altogether, the exercises make up a whole workout.
You could do one exercise for the whole
duration
of a workout, but
you’d probably get pretty bored. Also, it’s not always healthy to do one
movement over and over again, because you might injure whatever par-
ticular muscles you’re working on. You’re better off combining several
exercises into a workout, so you’re strengthening multiple core muscles
Make Connections
Core exercises can help keep your entire body strong. Core mus-
cles and bones are connected to other parts of your body—your
arms, legs, and neck. By strengthening your core muscles, you’re
also doing a lot to help these other parts of the body as well. The
best core workouts involve these other muscles that connect to the core muscles.
You wouldn’t want to have a strong core and very weak legs!




