Your core muscles have a lot of influence on how your tummy looks. It’s important to keep them strong, not for getting that six pack to flaunt (women don’t do that anyway) but to have a strong core that will be a nice addition to the rest of your strengthened body parts. So, without further ado, let’s get started and have a look at some of the exercises to get that stronger core:
1. Side Balance Crunch: To perform a side balance crunch, start by keeping your left knee and the left hand on the floor with your right leg straight and slightly parallel to the left foot and the hand being straight up. Then, pull your right knee towards your torso and your right elbow towards the knee. Bring them back to the original position and keep alternating every 10-15 reps per set.
2. Oblique Reach: Doing an oblique reach might seem difficult but once you get the hang of it’s obviously quite easy. Start off by sitting with knees bent and feet on the floor. Then straighten your right leg and bring your body to a C-curve, extend your right arm whilst keeping your left hand behind the head. Next, twist your body to the left, roll back a bit more, and then come up. Switch sides after 5-7 reps.
3. Knee Fold Tuck: You will have to use a medium-sized ball for this one (a playground ball will do just fine). Begin performing the knee fold tuck by sitting upon the floor with knees bent, hands to the floor and squeezing the ball between your knees. Next, lift the knees by so that the shins are parallel to the floor, then extend your arms in a manner that they are in the opposite direction that your knees are facing. Keeping your upper body still, bring the knees towards the shoulders and bring them back to the initial position. Have 15 to 20 reps of these per set.
4. Crunches: Yeah, crunches. You know why, because sometimes you just do not have the time to try out these exercises which you’ve probably never heard of. So if you have to leave early or just can’t find the time to try something new, crunches will keep your core strong just fine and even those who haven’t been to the gym know crunches, so no learning curve required.
