The Benefits of Core Strengthening Exercises

You hear us talking about your ‘core’ all the time, but what is it made of and why is it so important?

As the name suggests, your core muscles are essentially the central building blocks of your body and you use them constantly; even when you are asleep. The structure that we describe as your core is comprised of 29 muscles including the abdominals, mid and lower back, pelvic and hip muscles. These muscles are responsible for holding you upright, twisting your body and supporting your spine and your skull.

Strengthening your core muscles can help to manage and reduce back pain, improve posture and balance, open your airways to make breathing easier and improve your spinal alignment. Having a strong core makes everything in daily life easier, and you don’t have to spend hours doing sit ups to start enjoying the benefits!

Because you are constantly using your core to stabilise you, it’s not just crunches and russian twists that are going to improve your balance and spinal stability (although they will) – squats, lunges and other functional strength training exercises will also have a positive effect if done with the correct form. When performing these functional exercises we brace our core muscles to keep our spine aligned and subconsciously train our bodies to hold proper posture throughout daily tasks, which protects our backs, hips and knees and reduces the risk of injury.

Everyone can benefit from working on these important muscles, which is why we have put together a 4-week course to help you to learn a little bit more about your core muscles and put them through their paces. The classes are 30 minutes long and involve a range of different exercises and equipment; why not combine them with a Group Personal Training session for the ultimate workout?

Our next block of #IAMEngaged sessions run from Friday 11th January at 7pm and can be booked as a class via the app, so don’t worry if you can’t make all 4. We look forward to seeing you there!