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Core Workout Equipment and Safety
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hands. Exercisers use the arms and core muscles to raise the knees as
far up as they’ll go, then bring them slowly back down to the ground.
The abdominal crunch machine is a little more complicated. If you’re
using one, hook your legs under the bottom supports. Grab the arm
handles behind your head and place your elbows against the arm
pads. Then push your elbows in, bend forward, and lift your legs to
your chest all at the same time. Use your core muscles as much as pos-
sible when lifting and then letting go.
While all these machines can be useful, you can also get a thorough
and challenging workout at home without all the fancy equipment. Ma-
chines do make core workouts more interesting, though, if you’re bored
with your regular routine and have access to a gym.
DO WHAT YOU CAN
One of the biggest mistakes people new to exercise make is to try and
do too much. You may want to try the hardest exercises right away, or
work out for a long time. But core workouts build up strength over time.
There aren’t any shortcuts, and trying to do too much too soon could
end up in an injury. Then you won’t be able to do any exercise at all!
Start off doing core exercises for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time.
You probably won’t get bored in such a short amount of time, and it’s
easier to
motivate
yourself to exercise for a short period of time rather
than a longer one. After fifteen or twenty minutes gets easy, add five
minutes on your workouts for a week or two. Then add another five.
Before you know it, you’ll be at forty-five minutes or an hour.
You also want to start off slow so that you don’t burn out or get
frustrated right away. People who try really hard exercises right away
probably won’t be able to perform them properly. Then they might get
discouraged from exercising at all, because they feel like they failed so
soon. Instead, a beginning exerciser should start off with easier moves
and work up to the harder ones. After a few months or a couple years,
experienced exercisers can do those challenging moves with more ease
and less danger of injury.
You should also feel comfortable taking some days off from exercising.