21 / 66
What Are Core Workouts?
19
• Plank. Lie face down on the floor, then get up on your elbows
with your forearms flat on the floor. Your toes should curl under
to lift your feet off the ground. See how long you can stay in the
plank position. When you get strong enough to hold it for a min-
ute, stretch your arms out to full length so you’re resting on your
hands instead of your elbows. Finally, when you get good at that,
do a plank lifting one leg at a time for a minute each.
• Sit-ups. A good sit-up is done slowly, so your core muscles re-
ally work hard. Lie on your back on the floor with your feet flat
on the floor and your knees bent. Cross your arms on your chest
or behind your head, and make sure they stay there. Using your
core muscles, lift your top half off the floor, bringing your shoul-
ders toward your knees. Then lower yourself slowly back down,
using your muscles rather than letting gravity let you fall back to
the floor.
• Bridge. Lie flat on your back on the floor with your knees bent
and your feet on the floor. Have your arms against your sides
on the floor too. Tighten your abdominal muscles and arch your
hips and back away from the floor while keeping your arms on
the ground. Your upper back and neck will still be on the floor,
but your hips and lower back will not. Try to make a straight di-
agonal line from your shoulders through your hips to your knees.
Hold for a few seconds and bring yourself gently back to the
floor before lifting up again.
CORE ROUTINES
Some types of exercises are especially great for your core. Pilates and
yoga are two kinds of routines that will help build strength in the core
muscles
Pilates is a physical fitness system that was invented in the 1900s by
a man named Joseph Pilates. Part of the purpose of Pilates is to build
a stronger core, along with increasing flexibility, endurance, and bal-
ance. Since the early 1900s, millions of people around the world have
discovered Pilates and started practicing it.