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Thursday, December 22, 2016

Get your core going

Continuing my reading of Muscle Exercises Encyclopedia, I have continued to learn all sorts of things about the body but lately have been more focused on my abdomen and lower back and how to build and enhance that part of my body. An example of this is on page 278 where the author talks about how to do lying leg raises and how much that helps your entire abdomen (rectus abdominis, external and internal oblique’s, transverse abdominal, and iliopsoas) as opposed to just the lower or upper parts of your abdomen (Moran 278). This is a great exercise because you don't need to have any special equipment and you can do it basically and time that you feel inclined to do so. However, there are a few important things you want to note that you are doing correctly in these poses. On page 279 Moran says "Common mistakes: short movements using jerking motions to gain momentum and bounce raising the hips too far so that you are resting only on your shoulders and gaining momentum by flexing and extending the legs" (Moran 279). These things could lead to possible neck and shoulder injuries as well as just not getting the full affects and results of this exercise. Because of Moran I have now expanded my horizons and feel much better doing my other exercises because I have a much stronger core. He has shown me how to strengthen my core without needing a bunch of different machines and equipment and now i have an exercise i can do where ever and whenever i want which will help me to make sure that i actually am working out my core more than i have been. Having a strong core is vital because it helps with all aspects of not only sports and weigh training but also in daily activities. Do you see yourself using this exercise as part of your normal workout, why or why not? 


 In this picture i am in the starting position where my hands are flat under me to provide support so that I can start doing the lift.
In this picture I am demonstrating what the lift looks like when you are fully extended and as explained earlier this is a good lift because it activates and helps to strengthen all parts of your core. 



Moran Oscar. Muscle Exercises Encyclopedia. Cape town: Meyer & Meyer Sport, 2012. Print.    



2 comments:

  1. i feel i could use this exercise as a normal part of my workout, I need to start working on my core more and this seems like a good way to get started. One thing you can attempt to do is hold the pose halfway through the process. So before you are completely up in the positon. Stop yourself and hold for a few seconds.

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    1. This indeed would be a good way to get started, I feel as if it is easy enough especially since like you said you need to get started, it is simple enough to understand and get right to work. Thank you for the suggestion and I think I will try that next time to get in a better workout and engage my core more than i already do with my current ab routine.

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