EFFECTIVE WAYS TO STRENGTHEN YOUR CORE sight!) n
i p u – t i s a t (and no
BY LOUISE HURLEY, MumSafeTM TRAINER OF THE YEAR 2022
How often do you tell yourself that you need to strengthen your core? Most people have this thought after experiencing back pain or after the Christmas period. Years before I became a mum’s fitness professional and a MumSafe™ trainer, I was baffled by how I could strengthen my core. I felt like I was consistently going to the gym, I was active every day, but I wasn’t seeing any progress. Here’s where I was going wrong: I was measuring my core strength by how my abdominal wall looked. I didn’t have a visible six pack and I therefore thought that I didn’t have a strong core. I didn’t understand how my core muscles were made up, how they worked together and what I should do to strengthen them other than sit–ups and crunches.
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So that’s exactly what I did, I stuck to doing just sit–ups, planks and using the ab machines at the gym. Whilst these were not inherently “bad” exercises for my core, I personally found them a bit boring and they definitely were not the most effective way to increase my overall core strength. Obviously now, being an experienced mum’s fitness professional I know much
I was measuring my core strength by how my abdominal wall looked. I didn’t have a visible six pack and I therefore thought that I didn’t have a strong core
