Remember that core stability training is not the same as performing crunches or other traditional abdominal exercises. While these exercises are effective for improving abdominal strength, they do not improve stability in the lumbopelvic region of the body to the extent of specific ore stability exercises.

Free Weight Core Stability Training

This form of core stability training is performed on stable surfaces with the intention of increasing core strength and power. These exercises are simple and can be performed by just about anyone.

Examples of classic core stability exercises include the plank, side plank, bridge, and superman. Another great core stability exercise is the overhead press, as the muscles of the rectus abdominus must remain activities to maintain posture while the weight is supported overhead.

Perform these classic exercises unilaterally (using only one side of your body) to further improve the core stability effects. For example, perform a one-hand overhead press while standing on one foot.

Unstable Surface Core Stability Training

These exercises are performed on balance boards or air discs. Research has demonstrated higher core muscle activity when performing core exercises on unstable surfaces, as motor units within the smaller, stabilizer muscles must engage to not only lift weight, but maintain posture.

You can turn just about any traditional free weight exercise into a core stability exercise by using an unstable surface. For example, perform biceps curls or shoulder extensions on air discs to engage the core region. The BOSU balance trainer is also a highly effective device for improving core stability. Perform the plank with your feet and hands on air discs to increase the physical demand and core requirements of this exercise.

Swiss Ball Exercises

The Swiss ball is another too that forces the core muscles to activate at a higher rate to maintain spinal posture throughout any exercise. According to Cosio-Lima and colleagues (2003), using a Swiss ball to perform classic free weight exercises results in significantly greater activation of the core musculature.

As with air discs and the BOSU balance trainer, perform the plank, side plank, or overhead press on a Swiss ball. Try maintaining balance on the Swiss ball with your feet off the ground, and then perform shoulder presses, curls, and chest presses to promote core stability.

Medicine Ball Passes

A lesser-used strategy for enhancing core stability is to perform medicine ball throws. You will need a partner to perform many of these exercises, but you can also throw the ball against the wall.

Try the classic medicine ball twist exercise by sitting on the floor with your feet crossed and slightly off the ground. Holding the medicine ball, twist from side to side so you feel a workout in your abdominal muscles. For increased activation of the core musculature, perform this exercise on a Swiss ball (make sure to have your partner help balance the ball). Additional medicine ball exercises include kneeling passes and one leg twist passes, which can be performed on a Swiss ball or suing balance discs as well.

Below you will find my recommendations for men and women for snack portions of protein bars for both weight loss and weight maintenance.  Remember that calorie needs may vary person-to-person depending on metabolism and activity level and these calorie levels should be used as a basic approximation for a moderately active individual.

Women weight loss Snack (Approx. 1200-1500 calories/daily diet):

• 120-150 calories
• <15g carbohydrates
• 9g protein
• >3g fiber
• <6g sugar

Women weight maintenance snack (Approx. 1800 calories/day diet)

• 180-200 calories
• <20g carbohydrate
• 13g protein
• >3g fiber
• <8g sugar

Men weight loss snack (Approximately 1600 calories/day diet)

• 150-200 calories
• <20g carbohydrate
• 15g protein
• >3g fiber
• <8g sugar

Men weight maintenance snack (Approximately 2200 calories/day diet)

• 200-300 calories
• <30g carbohydrates
• 20-25g protein
• >3g fiber
• <10g sugar

Cut out the white bread to help reduce body fat.

In order to reduce body fat, you should steer clear of a number of foods. Two categories of foods, in particular, can have a particularly adverse effect on body fat: most white foods and foods high in sugar — especially fructose. White-colored foods are often high in the carbohydrates starch and sugar. Carbohydrates are an essential component of a healthy diet, but many people are not active enough to burn off the excessive amounts of these nutrients they consume. When carbohydrates go unused, the body converts them to fat and they are stored in various locations — particularly the abs– for later energy use.

White-colored foods typically also have a high glycemic index — a measure of a particular food’s effect on blood sugar levels. High-glycemic foods are quickly digested and absorbed into the bloodstream, causing a sudden rise in blood glucose levels. This surge of blood glucose causes a quick burst of energy, but is followed shortly after by a crash. High-glycemic foods can leave you feeling hungry shortly after eating — craving another blood glucose rush.

White Breads and Refined Grains

White bread, and other foods made from white flour, are high in carbohydrates, particularly the simple sugar glucose — and have among the highest glycemic indexes of any foods available. Refined white flour also undergoes a milling process that removes the bran and germ from the wheat grain. These two layers of the seed hold much of the grain’s vitamins, minerals and fiber. You need to consume more white bread, and thus more calories, to obtain the same amount of nutrition as whole grain products. Though fiber is technically also a carbohydrate, the body does not digest it, and it therefore does not cause the rise in blood sugar of other carbohydrates.

Potatoes

Potatoes are high in the carbohydrate starch. Starch is exclusively found in plant foods, and is composed of hundreds molecules of glucose. Carbohydrates are ultimately converted to glucose in the bloodstream, thus starch is dissolved very quickly, causing a sudden and drastic rise in blood glucose levels. Like potatoes, white rice is also high in starch. Instead of white rice and potatoes, eat brown rice, barley and other non-starchy whole grains.

Fructose

When most carbohydrates are digested, they are converted to glucose in the bloodstream. The body then secretes insulin to help cells absorb the sugar to be used for energy. Fructose, however, is processed more slowly in the liver than other sugars. The liver cannot convert excess amounts of fructose into usable energy quickly, so it converts it to fat. High amounts of circulating fat in the bloodstream can suppress hormones that regulate appetite, leaving you feeling hungry for more calories. Excess fat also contributes to insulin resistance — a condition in which the body has difficulty using glucose for energy. The body, then, releases more insulin into the bloodstream. High levels of insulin can contribute to excess fat storage and a difficulty accessing fat stores for energy.

Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Running requires endurance and flexibility, but strength also plays a significant role in running performance — especially for women. Because women carry the majority of their weight in their hips and lower body, strength in these areas can enhance their running stride and efficiency, while minimizing fatigue and injury.

You can improve both muscular strength and endurance in the gym through resistance training. To improve endurance, however, you first need to increase the cross-sectional area of the muscular fibers — a goal referred to as hypertrophy. Also, running is primarily a lower body sport and much of your time in the gym should be spent strengthening the muscles in your legs, but a strong gluteus maximus, abdomen and back can also improve your running ability. A well-rounded strength training program for runners should include exercises that target these areas as well.

Here’s a sample 2-month strength training program for women that first emphasizes muscular strength and hypertrophy, and then focuses on increasing muscular endurance.

Weeks 1-4: Strength and Hypertrophy (increase load by 5% and decrease repetitions by 2 each week)

Day 1

Squats, 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM

Vertical chest press, 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM

Lunge with dumbbells, 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM

Abdominal crunch, 3 sets of 10 @ 70 % 1RM

Leg curls, 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM

Machine back extension, 3 sets of 10 @ 70 % 1RM

Day 2

Leg press, 3 sets of 10 @ 70 % 1RM

Bench press, 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM

Toe-raises, 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM

Incline sit-ups with plate, 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM

Hamstring curls, 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM

One-armed dumbbell row, 3 sets of 10 each arm @ 70 % 1RM

Day 3

Straight-leg deadlift, 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM

Decline press, 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM

Reverse walking lunges with dumbbells @ 70% 1RM

Oblique twists with dumbbell or plate, 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM

Lat pulldowns, 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM

Lateral shoulder raise, 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM

Week 5

Rest

Weeks 6-9: Endurance (increase repetitions by 2 and decrease load by 5% each week)

Day 1

Walking lunge with dumbbells, 3 sets of 12 @ 65% 1RM

Pushups, body weight, 1 set for max reps, 2 sets @ 80 % max reps

Abdominal crunches, 3 sets of 12 @ 65% 1RM

One-legged squats, body weight, 3 sets of max reps (use a partner for assistance)

Leg press, 3 sets @ 65% 1RM

Machine back extensions, 3 sets @ 65% 1RM

Day 2

Overhead squat, 3 sets of 12 @ 65% 1RM

Pullups, 3 sets of max reps

Incline sit-ups without plate, 1 set of max reps, 2 sets of 80% max reps

Toe raises, 3 sets of 12 @ 65% 1RM

Lateral shoulder raises, 3 sets of 12 @ 65% 1RM

Plank, 3 sets of 1 minute

Day 3

Straight-leg deadlift, 3 sets of 12 @ 65% 1RM

Oblique twists, 3 sets of 1 minute as many reps as you can

Dumbbell chest flies, 3 sets of 12 @ 65% 1RM

Seated row, 3 sets of 12 @ 65% 1RM

Hamstring curls, 3 sets of 12 @ 65% 1RM

Reverse walking lunge with dumbbells, 3 sets of 12 @ 65% 1RM

Additional Tips

• Women runners who are completely new to the gym should only perform two well-spaced resistance training sessions per week.
• Women runners with a lot of experience in the gym can perform four sessions per week.
• Warm up for 10 to 15 minutes before beginning lifting weights, and make sure to walk through a series of dynamic (moving) stretches that replicate movements you will be performing in the gym.
• Increase the amount of weight you lift when you can successfully perform two repetitions beyond your target number for two consecutive sets of an exercise.
• Once you gain sufficient strength, hypertrophy, and endurance you can focus on more advanced training goals in the gym such as power and speed, as well as more intense circuit training routines to improve endurance.
• The amount you rest between sets counts. Rest about 2-3 minutes between sets to promote strength and hypertrophy, and 30 seconds to 1 minute between sets to increase muscular endurance.
• There are many strength training programs out there. Pick one, complete it in its entirety, then decided if you want to switch programs. Contrary to the recently marketing hype. Your muscles do not need to be constantly “confused” to gain performance.

Functional Strength Training Exercises for the Core

Functional training is simply an exercise philosophy that seeks to replicate real-life movements that you can use in your daily activities. For a female firefighter, functional training might be running stairs, dead lifts to mimic picking up an injured victim, or pull ups, chin ups and muscle ups to replicate climbing ladders or pulling herself over a window sill. Functional training is in direct opposition to traditional weight-training, generally thought to be performing exercises on machines that isolate individual muscles. Seldom does real-life activity require work from just one small muscle group, however. Muscle groups are designed to work in a synchronous fashion, and functional training aims to capture this as much as possible.

Core training is actually one of the most misused terms in the fitness industry. When most people think of “core,” they think of abs, and maybe the lower back. Core is a sports term that actually refers to the primary muscles involved in a particular sport movement. For example, an Olympic sprinter’s core muscles would be primarily the quadriceps, hamstrings and gastrocnemius. As a graduate student, I interned with the University of Portland as a strength and conditioning assistant where I was lucky enough to work with their National Championship women’s soccer team. I noticed that I never once saw this team performing traditional ab exercises, such as crunches, sit ups, or any other exercise that isolated the abs. When I asked the head strength and conditioning coach about this, he said he felt ab exercises were overrated, and that by performing more advanced lifts correctly, you’re indirectly working out the abs anyways. As with all functional training, the abs are designed to work in unison with other muscle groups — helping to connect the upper and lower body — and it makes no sense to train them in isolation.

Therefore, to develop “core” muscles in a functional way, you don’t need to perform classic ab exercises. Instead, focus on these more total-body exercises that will help you perform your daily activities with more ease and efficiency, and with less fatigue and risk of injury.

Squats

It seems counter-intuitive, but squats can help you build your ab and lower back muscles. By tucking in your abs, arching your lower back and maintaining good posture throughout the exercise, you will promote stability and support in the spine. Contract your abs, place your hands behind your head to open up your chest and promote better posture and squat down to parallel every repetition.

Pushups

Once again, it seems counterintuitive, but keeping your abs contracted and tight, your back slightly arched and your back straight during a pushup will develop abdominal strength. Focus on performing pushups correctly, with your chest nearly touching the ground, your body as flat as a table and fully extending your arms and you’ll help promote core strength.

Plank

Perhaps no other exercise is more effective for developing the real-life postural support you need in your daily life than the plank. Perform the classic plank by resting on your elbows, with your body off the ground and in a straight line, and maintaining balance on the tips off your toes. Hold this position for at least 30 seconds, and up to several minutes. Variations of the plank include side plank, straight-armed plank and one-handed plank.

Overhead Press

Any resistance training exercise that requires lifting weight over your head places an incredible demand on the lower back. Sufficient strength in the abs can help you maintain posture and protect the spine. Keep your stomach tight and lower back arched while lifting weight directly over your head to develop the functional strength you need in your abs. Start with just light weight, place your feet shoulder-width apart, or slightly wider, and maintain a very straight, rigid posture.

Specific Ab Exercises

For those women who feel they must perform at least one or two specific ab exercises to get a six-pack, here are two of the best. The key with these specific ab exercises, however, is repetitions. Specific ab exercises do not increase strength much, but can help you build endurance. Always perform as many repetitions as you can (a minimum of 12 to 15 repetitions).

Crunches

No surprise here. This tried and true exercise will ultimately help you develop ripped abs. Place your hands across your chest, not behind your head (it’s not a neck exercise). Go up just far enough until you feel your abs contract and then slowly let yourself back down.

Russian Twists

I once had a client tell me she would not do any exercise with the word “Russian” in the title. These actually aren’t that bad, and will target the obliques, those long muscles on either size of the rectus abdominus. Sit on the back of your buttocks, keep your feet off the ground (crossing them helps), place your hands together and touch the ground on either side of your body as fast as you can for as many repetitions as possible.

About 6 months ago, after a very long vacation to foreign lands that fed me very well, I decided that I wasn’t happy with my belly.  I wasn’t getting fat, but lets just say that my belt was becoming less and less necessary.   So like all people trying to make a life style change, I set a goal. This goal was simple, get a six pack before the end of beach season.

Now I want to start by saying that I currently have NOT reached that goal, and yes technically beach season is about to end*, but that doesn’t mean that my journey was meaningless.  I’ve learned a lot of things about myself as well as transformed my body to something it hasn’t been since I was 16.  In fact, aside from the lack of a six pack, I’d say I’m in much better shape now than I’ve ever been in my life.

Feb 1. Old me

October: New me

So this is what I looked like half a year ago.  Not the greatest of shape, but not exactly horrible.  To the right is the new me.  It might be hard to tell, but I went from a size 35 to a size 32.  Of all the belts that I owned prior to my goal, not a single one is actually capable of helping me hold my jeans up now.

Like all goals, you need a plan of action, and my plan of action had pretty much zero ab exercises. Now most of you are probably thinking, no wonder why you never hit your goal of getting a six pack.  Well, as you can see in that first picture, I have what is pretty much the starts of a beer belly from my college drinking days.  I can tell you now, that if I were to start doing crazy amounts of ab exercises, all I would accomplish is pushing out that layer of fat more.  Sure I might have a 6 pack, but it would be buried underneath a layer of fat. Definitely not the desired results.

The Journey

So step one was to lose that layer of belly fat.  Most people are probably thinking, “How do you target that belly fat?  Don’t you do more ab exercises?” Well, not really.  In fact, targeting a certain patch of fat is about as useful as relying on Santa to give you a new body.  So I’m gonna tell you the unfortunate news, you are just gonna have to lose fat the old fashioned way, by burning calories and eating right.  Your body stores excess fat as a source of energy, the problem is that unless we burn more calories than we consume, chances are you never are going to dip into that supply source.

So I’m going to assume that everyone has read my weight loss tips, so I won’t bother rehashing them. But in case you haven’t, you can find those articles here. Well, all of those weight loss tips came as a result from this goal. I scoured the internet for information, and started experimenting with a large number of ideas and decided to try out the things that almost everyone with good success stories agreed on and a few experimental things (aka the medicine ball office chair).

I even experimented by creating a few things to do on my own out of the blue.  One that I particularly like is the “Get Lost While Running” routine.  I just go out and start running with no idea where I’m going and sorta hope I can find my way back. During the run, I find interesting things in my path and I start jumping on them or over them or running around them. Think of it as a poor mans Parkour.  In fact, I did this two hours ago in Golden Gate park, which is full of mystery paths and funky obstacles. Yes, you might look like a crazy person doing this, but I find it extremely fun, much more fun than a normal run in the park.

The point to all of this experimentation is that you find what works for you, and to get you excited about it. People make fitness goals all of the time. Whether its to lose 15 lbs or to get that six pack. I didn’t hit my goal of getting a six pack, but I have discovered a wide variety of exercises that I enjoy. I feel great and I personally love what my body has become. If you shoot for the stars and end up landing on the moon, you can still try getting there tomorrow. Besides, the moon is still pretty damn impressive.

* I actually wrote this article in September but never got around to proof reading it and finishing it until October, so during the time of the original writing of this article, beach season had not ended yet.  It clearly is over now.

A balanced gym exercise routine to strengthen your core will not only improve your overall fitness and feeling fit, but also help avoid back and neck pain and even injuries that can result from weak muscle groups that do not give sufficient support to the bones. For this reason, many agility training programs are packed with core stability exercises.

One of the most important aspects of core stability training programs is that you need to address all muscle groups of the torso in a balanced way. Here are the five best exercises that will give you a good starting point.

1. Straight Crunch. The straight crunch is the classic exercise that strengthens the “6-pack abs” portion of the torso muscles.
2. Crossover Crunch. The crossover crunch is a great exercise that adds a twist of the upper body to the straight crunch movement. This strengthens the muscles that are on the side and front of the abdomen.
3. Back Extension. The back extension exercise is performed lying on your stomach, and contracting the back muscles that run along your spine.
4. Arm Sweep. Sitting down in a slightly leaned-back position, the outstretched arms are moved in a helicopter like circle, twisting your upper body back and forth around your hips. This targets the external obliques.
5. Plank or Push-Up. Finally, the plank or push-up exercises address the “transverse abdominis”, the muscles that are lying in the depth of your abdomen, wrapping around the spine. These muscles protect and stabilize your spine most directly and are crucial in avoiding back pains.

When you mix up these five exercises in a balanced way, you will favor certain muscle groups in each exercise while addressing the “complete package” of core strength training. For best results it may be advisable to use a personal trainer, particularly when you first start with your core stability training. With the help of a trainer you can also venture into more advanced exercises to maintain good core strength.

Lastly, if you would like to learn more about core muscles and core stability exercises, I suggest that you read this article for more information.

However, choosing the right core stability exercises for your goals involves a larger set of target muscles and can be helpful in gaining and maintaining general fitness as well as boost athletic performance and even help eliminate back pain

What is core stability?

Let’s take a look at the broader meaning of “core” first. Core stability exercises are designed to strengthen the torso and all the muscles that are in it. A strong torso will give better support for everyday tasks and thus work against strains that can occur when performing recurring or monotonous tasks. This can help avoid back pain or neck pain caused by certain day-to-day activities.

A strong torso also builds the base support for powerful arm and leg movements and thereby reinforces athletic performance in almost any discipline. The core is the basis for all agility training. From swimming to track and field to athletic team sports – true athletic performance is almost unthinkable without solid core stability and strength.

How can you build and maintaining core stability?

A variety of exercises should be combined for best results. You can do exercises without any aids like push-ups and crunches. Exercises with light equipment are also very effective and a great deal more interesting. These exercises can involve medicine balls, balancing balls, stability balls or dumbbells just to name a few.

More forceful exercises on larger equipment such as bench press, parallel bar dips and other weight lifting machines can be added as well. But careful attention should be given to a good balance between these bulk-building exercises and the ones mentioned before.

Because of the complexity of all the muscles that should be addressed with a good core stability exercise routine, it might be beneficial to have an experienced trainer monitor your training. Considering the goals for the training as well as personal preferences that can be discovered in the program can be a major long term success factor.

After noting all of my tips and precautions, I recommend that you get started by reading about the 5 best core stability exercises to learn more about various exercises to build core muscles.

What Causes Belly Fat Build-up?

Excess belly fat is so common because many factors can contribute to this “spare tire”, “love handles”, “muffin tops”, or “pot belly” syndrome.  If all the root causes are not addressed all at the same time, then there is no way your belly fat will go away.  Here are some factors that contribute to excess belly fat:

• High calorie diet that is heavy on trans fat
  It’s no myth that eating too much can make you fat.  If you consume more energy than your body can burn, then your body stores that extra energy as fat for later use.  Researchers at Wake Forest University have also found that trans fat is a major contributor to belly fat.
• Not enough sleep or irregular sleeping patterns
  Sleep deprivation lowers the amount of leptin in your system, the chemical used for suppressing appetite.  Sleep deprivation can also lower your insulin levels, which helps regular your blood sugar.  Toying with these chemicals in your body so often by sleeping irregularly can have permanent adverse affects on your body (obesity and diabetes) .
• High stress levels
  Prolonged stress can causes our body to produce an excess of the cortisol hormone.  A small amount of these hormones are beneficial, but a large consistent amount can be detrimental to your health in many ways.  You guessed it, one of the drawbacks of cortisol is that it also contributes to belly fat.
• Lack of exercise or incorrect exercise routines
  It’s simple math.  If you consume more energy (calories) than you burn each day, that extra energy gets stored as fat cells.  Believe it or not, localized stomach workouts are actually one of the least effective workouts for burning off excess belly fat.
• Drug abuse (alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana)
  Drugs have adverse effects on your energy levels and appetite.  After one night of binge drinking, your metabolism slows down temporarily and will not recover for two days.  Cigarette cravings often feel like hunger cravings so people misunderstand and ingest food even when they are already full.  A well-known side effect of Marijuana is its ability to promote appetite.

How to Attack These Root Causes

I will be writing a few articles to talk about some of these things in more detail later on.  For now, here are some quick suggestions:

1. Come up with a weekly school/work/life schedule that works in the following elements: 7-9 hours of sleep starting at about the same time each night, minimum 4.5 hours of exercise, grocery shopping, and cooking time.
2. Come up with a healthy eating pattern (more on this on a later article) and try to not eat trans fat.  You can also try to incorporate these natural fat burning foods into your diet. I suggest that if you don’t have time to cook, you should either shift to eating simpler meals (cereal, salad, soup, fruits, steamed vegetables, etc.) or try freezer cooking to save time and still be able to eat healthy.  In general, food cooked at home is much healthier than food purchased from restaurants.
3. Try to exercise at least 4.5 hours a week. Three times each week at the gym: spend 45 minutes on weight lifting workouts focusing on building slow-twitch muscles and spend 45 minutes doing interval training (alternating low intensity and high intensity aerobic based exercises).  Slow-twitch muscles should help you burn extra fat day-by-day.
4. Find a way to de-stress yourself.  Try scheduling a meditation or yoga session weekly.  It might also help to adopt a new regime for getting work done or find ways to improve your mood.
5. Say no to drugs.  Try to limit yourself to 3 drinks at social events.  If you are a smoker, remind yourself that feeling of hunger can just be cigarette cravings.  You really don’t have to drink or smoke to be social.  I’ve lost a total of 20 lbs. ever since I’ve stopped smoking and stopped binge drinking.
6. Take fish oil supplements to help improve your metabolism. See another post on the fish oil supplements out there.

More Help Is on the Way

I will be continuing this discussion in later posts, going into detail on which exercises to perform, which diet plan to follow and which de-stressing techniques to try.  Until then check out my post on using the ECA Stack for weight loss and stay tuned to this blog via the RSS feed!