ACTIVE LIVING

Strong and stable core muscles help you maintain an upright posture while doing everyday activities. TRISTAN HALL suggests some easy ways to build up core strength.

Core strength is not about having rock-hard abdominal muscles, but investing some time so your body can work better for you and reduce your risk of falls

Many muscles support your spine to give you an upright and stable posture. A good exercise plan will work the smaller muscles around the sides of your body, the laterals, your back muscles and your abdominal muscles.

With a comprehensive approach, you can improve your strength and stability and reduce your chances of back injury and back pain. Let’s get started:

The Birddog – this exercise activates your deep muscles as well as your superficial muscles.

Kneel on the floor. Put both hands on the floor directly below your shoulders. Lift one arm out straight and lift the opposite leg out behind you. Both raised limbs should be parallel with your torso.

Hold this position for 10 exercise puts a load on one side of your body and forces you to adjust your movements so you stay poised and balanced. Your proprioception, awareness of where your body is in space, is tested. Your spine is also put to work. Find an object you can hold comfortably with your hand such as a watering can or a weight. Place the object on the ground outside your leg.

Pick it up then walk in a straight line to a set point, such as the length of your hallway or backyard. Turn around, switch the object to the other hand and walk back. Repeat 3-5 times depending on the length of your circuit.

These exercises are all demonstrated in videos on our Full Circle Wellness website. Getting stronger can boost your confidence and make life more fun. Enjoy. Tristan Hall is an exercise physiologist with Full Circle Wellness. Call 0431 192 284 or visit fullcirclewellness.com.au IN MY book I detail nine exercises that you can do by yourself at home, in the park or wherever room permits.

I believe these exercises will keep you in good shape and should you be able to do all of them, well done! But there is hope for those of us that can no longer do some of these exercises.

The nine exercises are push-ups, squats, lunges, chin-ups, crunches, walking, running or jogging, swimming and cycling.

Okay, you need a bike and a pair or swimmers and a bar suitable for practising your chin-ups would be handy, but most parks now have exercise stations that have chin-up bars.

The point about these particular exercises is they include body strength, core and aerobic or cardio exercises and that is really all you need to do.

Follow the basics of working at least four days a week, with two days doing resistance exercise and you will be doing recommended exercise.

Should you now longer be able to do chin-ups, join the rest

seconds. Return your raised limbs to the floor then repeat 5 times. Switch and repeat for the other side.

The Deadlift – this is also called a hip hinge. You perform hip hinges hundreds of times a day, for instance whenever you sit or stand or pick up a child.

If you don’t have weights, use two bottles of water or bags of rice. Stand with your feet hip width apart. Put your weights on the floor outside your feet. Lower your spine by bending at the hip. You don’t want to curve your back.

Focus on the core muscles, pick up the weights and slowly stand up. Repeat this 5-10 times. You can start this exercise with no weights and build up.

The Farmer’s Carry – This of us because it is a very hard exercise to do, but it is achievable. If you can still do them, bully for you, and long may you be able to perform chin-ups.

If you cannot do them, or any of the other exercises, then adapt or remove that particular exercise from your routine.

You are not expected to perform miracles, and if any exercise is doing you harm or is not suitable for your condition or body either now or permanently, then take it from your routine.

I speak to people all the time who say they can no longer run or jog, so they simply walk and include walking as their mainstay as a regular exercise.

Push-ups are a good example of an exercise that may not be possible as they were in years long gone. The variety of push ups –doing them on your knees, against a wall or using the back of a chair – makes it, like many of the listed exercises, very adaptable, so concentrate on doing what you can rather than what you cannot. Tom Law is author of Tom’s Law Fit Happens.Visit tomslaw.com.au

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