Putting Together Back Health and Balance Routines

Core training has a different emphasis than training for strength. Follow these tips to maximize the effectiveness of your workout routines.

• Always warm up: Because these are shorter workouts, you can do your warm-up as part of your workout with core specific and balance exercises. Active exercises that warm up your muscles and challenge your core stabilizers include lunges or squats, particularly one-legged squats. You can even use push-ups. Don’t work at an all-out level, but instead work at a level that is appropriate for a warm-up.
• Focus on endurance: To improve core stabilization, your focus is on increasing muscular endurance. Do anywhere from 12 to 20 reps depending on the specific exercise. Do two to three sets as time permits.
• Thirty-second rest periods: Your rest periods should be shorter because you’re focusing on improving endurance.
• Use good form: Don’t continue to perform an exercise past the point where you can execute it with good form. Because these exercises are also for the purpose of improving your movement efficiency, it’s critical that you use good quality movement in every repetition.
• Listen to your body: You want to be particularly careful to avoid any strain to your lower ack or to your neck. Listen to your body. If any exercise causes you pain, don’t do it. If you have specific back issues, follow the instructions of your healthcare provider.
• Always stretch: To be more efficient, you can incorporate stretches either directly after particular exercises to use the time during the rest period, or you can do a series of stretches at the end of your workout. For best results, always include stretches to enhance balanced muscle development and promote flexibility and ease of movement.