Core Workouts

Fire Up Your Entire Core With the Pilates Teaser In a well-rounded Pilates program like XB Pilates, most moves will work your entire body, especially your core. However, there are a couple of standout exercises that have become classics for good reason. One of these is the Pilates teaser, a major core burner you can do anytime, anywhere. “The teaser challenges both balance and core stability,” says Jen Cordiner, director for Xtend Barre. “In Xtend Barre and XB Pilates, we use it in a sequence to refocus and reconnect to our core. When you want balance, flexibility, and core control, this lets you do all of those in one move.” Pilates Teaser: Step-By-Step Instructions Lie on your back with your core engaged and lower back pressed into the mat or floor. Bend your legs so your feet are flat on the ground, about hip-distance apart. Lift your legs up with your knees bent so that your shins are parallel to the ground. Reach your arms overhead. On an inhale, extend your arms out in front of your shoulders as you lift your torso up, creating a “V” shape with your thighs and upper body while reaching your arms to your toes. Hold this position for a breath, then slowly roll back down as you exhale. Benefits of the Pilates Teaser It seems counterintuitive that the Pilates teaser would be touted for its ability to improve balance, considering that you’re sitting on the floor when you do it. But it’s all about the core. Pilates core exercises like the teaser train the muscles in your whole “girdle,” including the pelvis, hips, lower back, and abdomen, so they work together more effectively. Getting all these muscles to activate in unison can lead to the following benefits: Better posture Less stress and pain in your back Improved athletic performance in everything from HIIT workouts to strength training. Pilates Teaser Tips As with any exercise, Pilates-based or not, good form is essential. Make sure you’re focusing on your core instead of your back with these form reminders: Breath is important, so exhale as you lower down and inhale as you come up from the Pilates teaser. Keep your spine neutral so you’re not rounding your back. Focus on keeping your shoulders pulled back slightly and down, which will help straighten your back. Keep your head in line with your spine, as if you have a plank of wood from your tailbone to the back of your head. Resist the urge to crane your neck forward to look at your toes. Pilates Teaser Modifications Alternate legs with each rep, lifting one leg at a time and leaving your other foot on the floor. Grab the backs of your legs on the way up to assist your core in reaching the “V” position. How to Make the Pilates Teaser Harder Fully extend your legs out at a 45-degree angle. Hold that “V” position for longer, focusing on good form and core engagement. The post Fire Up Your Entire Core With the Pilates Teaser appeared first on BODi. In a well-rounded Pilates program like XB Pilates, most moves will work your entire body, especially your core. However, there are a couple of standout exercises that have become classics for good reason. One of these is the Pilates teaser, a major core burner you can do anytime, anywhere. “The teaser challenges both balance and core […] The post Fire Up Your Entire Core With the Pilates Teaser appeared first on BODi. Kayne Toyosato{authorlink}https://www.beachbodyondemand.com/blog/pilates-teaserBODi BODi is a Health Esteem platform to help you embrace the person you are today so you can take action to achieve all your health and fitness goals. https://bodiblog.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/plugins/bod-blog/assets/vendor/beachbodydigital/wordpress-core-plugins/beachbody.png

How to Do a Pilates Roll Up The Pilates roll up is one of those sneaky strength moves. It looks simple and straightforward — you’re sitting up and lying back down. But when executed with proper form and mechanics, this foundational exercise will humble even the most advanced Pilates student. “While it is considered a staple, it is not a beginner exercise,” says Lauren George, certified Pilates instructor and founder of Lauren George Fitness. “You can modify it to be beginner-friendly, for sure. But it’s definitely challenging.” However, the benefits are worth the effort. If you want a strong, stable core, improved spinal flexibility, and a sculpted midsection, the Pilates roll up exercise belongs in your fitness routine. To help you get the most out of the ab roll up, we’ve included step-by-step instructions, expert-backed tips, and modifications for everyone from the fitness newbie to the Pilates pro. So, grab your mat and get ready to fire up your core with the Pilates roll up! Pilates Roll Up: Step-by-Step Instructions You don’t need any equipment to do a standard Pilates roll up, but you may want to grab a yoga mat for comfort. Sit up tall on your sit bones with your legs together and extended and your toes pointing forward. Extend your arms in front of you at shoulder height and take a deep breath in. On an exhale, scoop your belly inward by drawing your pubic bone toward your navel. Maintaining a C-shaped curve with your spine and arms extended, lower your back to the ground one vertebrate at a time, starting with your lumbar spine (lower back) and ending with your head, then allow your arms to come overhead. Take a deep breath in, and on your next exhale, extend your arms back out in front of your shoulders as you lift your head and tilt your chin toward your chest. Draw your navel toward your pubic bone, and gradually lift your back off the mat, one vertebrate at a time. Return to a tall seated position and immediately begin the next rep. Tips for Performing the Pilates Roll Up Proper form and mechanics will ensure that you’re maximizing the benefits of the roll up exercise while avoiding injury. Here are a few pointers to keep in mind. Move slowly enough to articulate each individual vertebra. “Imagine that you’re putting down a strand of pearls, and you want to put it down one pearl at a time,” George says. The same goes for rolling back up to a seated position; think about lifting one pearl at a time. If you’re throwing your arms forward or finding that your feet lift off the floor as you roll up, you’re probably relying too much on momentum and not properly engaging your core. Lifting the arms overhead and to the floor requires significant shoulder mobility and core strength. If you notice that your rib cage flares out as you roll down, raise your arms to chest height or just slightly overhead. Benefits of the Pilates Roll Up The roll up exercise offers a myriad of benefits for practitioners of all abilities and levels of experience. Here are some reasons why it’s worth incorporating into your workouts. 1. Strengthens the core The roll up engages the superficial and deep core muscles, which are critical to good posture and help support and stabilize the body as it moves. But, George clarifies, proper form is critical. “To get the most out of it, especially for the deep core muscles, it’s important to roll up and to roll down with control versus speed,” she says. 2. Improves spinal mobility Because the roll up moves the spine through a wide range of motion, it can help improve and maintain spinal mobility. Being able to move your spine freely without feelings of stiffness or pain can affect everything from your ability to get out of bed to participating in your favorite physical activities. 3. Supports back health Regularly performing the roll up strengthens the muscles of the lower back. This may help alleviate back pain, prevent injury, and lead to better posture and stability. 4. Adds definition to the midsection If it’s six-pack abs that you’re after, you’ll definitely want to add the roll-up to your repertoire. The roll-up targets the rectus abdominis, the top layer of abdominal muscles that provides shape and definition to your midsection. “The roll up is above and beyond a basic crunch,” George says. How to Make the Pilates Roll Up Easier If you struggle with the standard roll up, there are a few ways to make it easier and more accessible. Bend your knees Instead of keeping your legs straight during the movement, bend your knees so that your feet remain flat on the floor, as shown in this modified version of the roll up by XB Pilates creator Andrea Rogers. Put some elbow into it “You can use an elbow on the way down or on the way up to give yourself a boost while still keeping that slow and controlled range of motion, which is what helps you get the most out of it,” George says. Go halfway “You can do a half roll down, just rolling down until your lower back or sacrum is on the ground, and then roll back up,” George says. “It’s better to do a half roll up with really great control than to go all the way up and down with momentum.” Hold onto your thighs Placing your hands on your hamstrings and using a bit of arm strength to help lift and lower your torso will help you maintain the integrity of the exercise and build core strength. Use an exercise ball George recommends placing a small exercise ball between your thighs. “Your inner thighs are connected to your pelvic floor, and when you’re engaging your pelvic floor, it’s going to be easier to engage your abdominal muscles,” she explains. You can also place a small exercise ball behind your

Are You Engaging Your Core Correctly? Here’s How to Tell You’ve heard the term bandied around at the gym, in yoga classes, or maybe even from your personal trainer: “engage your core.” But what does it really mean? Understanding how to engage your core helps not just with workouts but with your daily activities as well. But before we delve deeper into the how, let’s clear up the what. Your core refers to a complex series of muscles; many are hidden beneath the exterior musculature people typically train. Knowing how to correctly engage these muscles can have a profound impact on your strength, stability, and overall fitness. What Does It Mean to Engage Your Core? Engaging your core means tensing all the muscles of your midsection so they can stabilize your body, allowing you to carry out a range of movements. During physical activity, it’s akin to providing a sturdy central link in your body, assisting with balance and stability. This is fundamentally different from simply flexing your abs, where you are just tensing your abdominal muscles. Even though the abs are a significant part of the core, they constitute just one aspect of it, explains Theresa Marko, PT, DPT, MS, a board-certified orthopedic clinical specialist, owner of Marko Physical Therapy in New York City. She suggests that you think of your core “like a box in your midsection” with a front, back, top, bottom, and sides. If your abs are only one side of that box, flexing them is engaging the muscles on only this side. To “engage your core” means to recruit all of the muscles in this box — but the transverse abdominis in particular. “The transverse abdominis is horizontal from the back to the front and can be thought of as a belt in that it helps stabilize our midsection,” explains Marko. Core muscle anatomy Your core isn’t made up of one single muscle. Instead, it consists of various muscles that function together to support your spine and allow you to move your body: Rectus abdominis: This muscle resides in the middle of your abdomen and is typically what people think of when they talk about abs. Marko explains that the rectus abdominis helps you flex or bend your torso, essentially working in a head-to-toe direction. Transverse abdominis: This muscle wraps around your body horizontally and helps stabilize your spine. Marko likens it to a hug for your inner organs. They’re also your deepest core muscles that “keep your pelvis and lower back stable,” adds Rachel Butler-Green, CSCS, founder of Fit Mindful Body Club. External abdominal oblique: These muscles sit on the side and front of your abdomen. Not only do they play a crucial role in stabilizing your core, but they also allow you to twist and side bend your trunk. Internal abdominal oblique: Lying just below the external oblique muscles (as you go deeper in your body, not down toward your legs), these muscles assist in many functions: stabilizing the core, flexing and bending the trunk, and even maintaining intra-abdominal pressure when you go to the bathroom. Understanding this anatomy is key to implementing effective core engagement. By working in synergy, these muscles contribute to your overall strength, posture and balance during workouts and everyday tasks alike. Tips for Engaging Your Core Activating this section of your body down to the deep muscles of the core is a single movement. Here are some cues for proper core engagement, as recommended by Marko and Green. Start with a quick cough If you’re a bit unsure what it feels like to engage your core, Green suggests you “do a quick cough.” Even if you’ve only just started working out, your body knows how to engage your core and naturally does it when you cough. When you cough, pay attention to your core. “The squeeze at the end of your cough is your core engagement,” Green explains. Brace for a punch When you cough, that core engagement is quick to happen and quick to release. But once you understand it, you can move on to replicating that engagement in a slower, more conscious way. To engage your core, “squeeze your abs like you’re bracing for a punch in the stomach,” suggests Green. What you’re looking to do is “prevent it by tightening up,” says Marko. Add your hand “I also have people put their hands on their stomach to feel these muscles,” Marko explains. Feeling your ab muscles engage with your hand can also help train the movement until it becomes muscle memory. Practice other core movements Sometimes people don’t know how their muscles move during three basic core movements — pushing out, sucking in, and tightening. Marko suggests going through all three movements (with your hand on your stomach if it helps) to feel the difference in one session, which may help differentiate them. How to Engage Your Core Step by Step Now we can put all these techniques together for a five-step procedure on how to engage your core: Find a comfortable stance: Stand or sit upright. Ensure that your feet are shoulder-width apart and your spine is in a neutral position. Breathe appropriately: Exhale deeply, letting your belly deflate. Inhale slightly, allowing your abdomen to swell. This is a fundamental process, intended to get you familiar with the “feel” of your core. Take a deeper diaphragmatic breath: Make sure you’re taking in a “belly breath,” which forces your stomach to swell, instead of a shallow breath that causes your chest to rise. Pull your stomach to your spine as you exhale: As you let out your breath, imagine pulling your navel to your spine. Hold for a second: Maintain this engagement for at least a second before you relax. If you find it difficult to maintain an engaged core, you can slowly add time to the final step each time you practice. Ideally, you should be able to take another breath without losing the engagement of your deep core muscles. Benefits of Core

How to Do the Crab Walk If you were the MVP of your “crab soccer” team in elementary school, you’re in luck — the crab walk exercise is back. Dust off those crab-walking skills and see how this old-school exercise can give you a great total-body workout. Crab Walk: Step-by-Step Instructions Sit on the ground and bend your knees so the soles of your feet are pressed against the ground. Your feet should be about hip-width apart. Reach both hands behind your waist and press your palms against the ground with your fingers facing forward or to the side. Use your glutes and core muscles to lift your hips so that you’re creating a “tabletop” position with your torso and thighs. Only your palms and the soles of your feet should be touching the floor. Keeping the hips lifted, step forward with your right foot and left hand, followed by your left foot and right hand. “The key to performing the crab walk correctly is to use a ‘cross-crawl’ movement pattern,” says Trevor Thieme, C.S.C.S., BODi’s executive director of fitness and nutrition content. Continue to walk forward with opposing hands and feet for the specified number of steps before reversing the movement and returning to the starting position. Benefits of the Crab Walk Exercise Besides conjuring up fond memories of the playground, the crab walk exercise offers a number of fitness-related benefits: 1. It works your entire body “The crab walk works your arms, shoulders, core, glutes, hamstrings, and quads,” says Thieme. The move engages nearly every muscle from your shoulders to your toes — so you don’t have to do as many exercises to work your whole body. Total-body movements also create a bigger oxygen demand than isolation moves, which means they burn more calories per minute. That kind of efficiency is important to anyone who’s pressed for time (i.e., all of us). 2. It’s an upper-body burner If your goal is to increase strength in your biceps and triceps, the crab walk exercise is a smart addition to your workout routine. While many cardio movements focus on the lower body, the crab walk exercise improves upper-body endurance — and your arms will be shaking (in a good way) long before the rest of your body. 3. It doesn’t require weights If you’re looking to build strength, but you don’t have easy access to weights (or you’re just not into pumping iron), animal-inspired movements like the crab walk exercise are a great option, as they use your body weight for resistance. What Muscles Does the Crab Walk Work? The crab walk exercise is a full-body exercise, but it’s especially taxing on the upper arms, upper legs, and the core. The crab walk exercise predominantly works the following muscles: Triceps: The triceps, which are made up of three heads, are located on the back of the upper arm. The triceps extend the arm at the elbow and outwardly rotate the arm. Rectus abdominis: Often referred to as the six-pack, the rectus abdominis runs the length of the abdomen. The rectus abdominis flexes the torso and works with other core muscles to generate intra-abdominal pressure. Glutes: Your butt muscles — the gluteus maximus, the gluteus medius, and the gluteus minimus — work to stabilize the pelvis, extend the hips, rotate the leg, and lift the leg out to the side. Quadriceps: The quadriceps, aka the “quads,” are located on the upper front portion of the leg. The four muscles that make up the quads — the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius — work together to extend the knee. Hamstrings: You’ll find the hamstrings located below the glutes on the upper section of the back of the leg. In addition to flexing your knees, the hamstring muscles extend your hips and rotate the legs. Calves: The crab walk engages the soleus muscle, which points your toe when your knee is bent 90 degrees. Pectorals, front shoulders, and lats: These muscles work together to stabilize the shoulder during this exercise. One final caveat: Not everyone’s shoulders are happy in the crab walk position. If you try the move and yours get cranky, switch to the bear crawl — it’s not the same move, but you’ll get many of the same benefits. The post How to Do the Crab Walk appeared first on BODi. If you were the MVP of your “crab soccer” team in elementary school, you’re in luck — the crab walk exercise is back. Dust off those crab-walking skills and see how this old-school exercise can give you a great total-body workout. Crab Walk: Step-by-Step Instructions Sit on the ground and bend your knees so the […] The post How to Do the Crab Walk appeared first on BODi. Kayne Toyosato{authorlink}https://www.beachbodyondemand.com/blog/crab-walk-exerciseBODi BODi is a Health Esteem platform to help you embrace the person you are today so you can take action to achieve all your health and fitness goals. https://www.beachbodyondemand.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/bod-blog/assets/vendor/beachbodydigital/wordpress-core-plugins/beachbody.png

How to Do the Dead Bug Exercise Social media is rife with crazy, seemingly physics-defying ab circuits that promise a chiseled midsection in 15 minutes. While those circuits likely won’t work against your goals, all you really need for a strong core is a handful of simple, yet effective moves like the dead bug exercise. “The dead bug is one of the most effective ways to train the core,” says Allison Tibbs, NASM-certified personal trainer. It’s also great for training proper spine extension to avoid anterior pelvic tilt. Learn how to do the dead bug exercise and how you can benefit from this core-builder. Dead Bug Exercise: Step-by-Step Instructions While performing the dead bug, press your rib cage toward the floor to focus on keeping your core engaged. Lie on your back and seal the space between your back and the floor by tilting your pelvis downward. Lift your feet from the floor and bend your knees so your legs form a 90-degree angle. Reach your arms straight up to the ceiling. Lower your left arm behind your head as you simultaneously extend your right leg long in front of you. Hover both your arm and your leg off the mat. Return back to the starting position. Alternate sides to complete all reps. To modify, keep your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Raise your arms halfway overhead. Draw one knee and the opposite arm toward one another at the same time. Muscles the Dead Bug Exercise Works When performed correctly, the dead bug exercise works the following muscles: Rectus abdominis (your six-pack muscles) Obliques (the muscles that help you twist) Transverse abdominis (the deep muscles that help compress your abs) Dead Bug Benefits The dead bug may not look like a challenging exercise, but it provides lots of benefits. 1. Strengthens your entire core “The dead bug exercise is one of my all-time favorite core exercises because it truly focuses on working those small abdominal muscles,” Tibbs says. “It will fire up your abdominal muscles because you have to really stabilize through your core, which is difficult for most people.” 2. Easy on the body The dead bug is low impact and scalable, which means it’s fit for anyone — especially if you experience pain or discomfort with other exercises. “This is one of the best ab exercises for anyone with back pain or people who struggle with shoulder discomfort when doing planks or neck discomfort during crunches,” Tibbs explains. 3. Warms up the body According to Tibbs, dead bugs are a great move to help prepare the body for dynamic movements. Because it requires full-body coordination and stability, the exercise can benefit not only traditional compound lifts like weighted squats or deadlifts, but also movements like running, cycling, and skiing. How to Make the Dead Bug Harder 1. Straighten your legs You can also perform this exercise with straight legs for a greater core challenge. Have the movement come from your hips rather than lifting your ribcage off the floor to keep your abs engaged. 2. Press your hands into a wall Build up core tension and utilize the wall for your dead bug exercise. Lie down and press your palms overhead into the wall, arms bent, until your palms are flat against the wall (your arms should make a 90 degree angle). Press your ribs down and alternate your legs in the traditional dead bug style. Or make it even harder and do it with your legs straight. 3. Add resistance One way to add resistance is to loop a resistance band above your knees during the exercise. You can also hold onto a stability ball for more core resistance (as demonstrated above). The post How to Do the Dead Bug Exercise appeared first on BODi. Social media is rife with crazy, seemingly physics-defying ab circuits that promise a chiseled midsection in 15 minutes. While those circuits likely won’t work against your goals, all you really need for a strong core is a handful of simple, yet effective moves like the dead bug exercise. “The dead bug is one of the […] The post How to Do the Dead Bug Exercise appeared first on BODi. Kayne Toyosato{authorlink}https://www.beachbodyondemand.com/blog/dead-bug-exerciseBODi BODi is a Health Esteem platform to help you embrace the person you are today so you can take action to achieve all your health and fitness goals. https://www.beachbodyondemand.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/bod-blog/assets/vendor/beachbodydigital/wordpress-core-plugins/beachbody.png