Side plank

The side plank conditions core stabilizers, especially the muscles that support the shoulder girdle and lower back.
Use caution if you’re prone to shoulder discomfort.

Getting set
Recline on your left side, left hand palm down under your shoulder. Place your top right hand in front of your body. Keep your torso perpendicular to the ground, relax your shoulders, and pull in your abdominals.

The exercise
Push into your left hand and lift your hips up into a side plank position. Work up to a 30-second hold.

Do’s and don’ts

• DO keep your shoulders down and neck lengthened. Don’t hunch or collapse into your shoulder.
• DO continue to breathe normally as you hold the position. Avoid holding your breath.
• DO move smoothly and with control.
• DON’T collapse your chest forward or lean backward. Keep your torso perpendicular to the floor.

Other options
Modified side plank (easier): Start with your right elbow under your shoulder and with your lower leg bent at a right angle at the knee. Keep the top leg long and straight.

Side plank lifts: Instead of holding the elevated position for 30 seconds, lift and lower your hips and work up to 12 repetitions.

One-legged side plank (harder): When you reach the elevated position, pick your top leg off the floor and hold it straight at hip height.

Plank Exercise

The plank is a basic core stabilization exercise that works your abs, back, glutes, and shoulder stabilizer muscles.
Do the easiest version if you have any shoulder discomfort.

Getting set
Lie facedown with your knees bent. Place your elbows under your shoulders. Slide your shoulders down and lengthen the back of your neck so your ears are in line with your shoulders. Gently pull your abdominals inward. See photo A.

The exercise
As you exhale, curl your toes under and push up onto the balls of your feet.
Avoid arching your upper or lower back. Work up to a 30-second hold.

Do’s and don’ts

• DO keep your abdominals pulled in so you feel more tension in your abs and so you don’t overarch your lower back or pop out your ribs.
• DO keep your shoulders down and your neck lengthened. Avoid hunching your shoulders.
• DON’T lift your butt in the air and rest your weight on your legs.

Other options
Plank on knees (easier): Lift up on your knees, keeping your abs and glutes tight and your spine lengthened. Supporting a shorter length is easier for the core stabilizers.
One-legged plank (harder): Keep your torso parallel to the ground. Lift one leg. Work up to a 30-second hold. To make it even more difficult, pick up and extend the opposite arm as you also hold up one leg.

Avoiding Mistakes When Training Your Core

Most of us are weak in the core, so we need to pay particular attention to form and quality of movement.
Keep these tips in mind to get the most out of each of your core exercises:

• Avoid looking like an old donkey. When you forget to tighten your abdominal muscles, particularly the deepest layer (the transversus abdominis), your back sags in the middle. When Shirley was guest teaching at a resort in Jamaica, she saw an old donkey — the perfect example of this curved posture. Now, when she teaches core exercises, she always reminds her students not to look like old donkeys. To avoid donkey posture, draw your abdominals in toward your spine as you exhale and keep your abdominals contracted for the duration of the exercise.
• Don’t pop out your rib cage. Another good way to check whether your deep abdominal muscles are active is to look at the position of your rib cage. Draw your lower ribs in snug toward your spine. If your ribs flare up and out, your deep trunk stabilizers aren’t active. Tighten them up.
• Don’t stick your butt up in the air. When you’re training your abs and back in positions like the plank or a push-up, you need to rely on the strength of your core muscles and not your legs. You can always tell that you are cheating by relying on your leg strength if your butt is sticking up in the air. Make sure that it is no higher than your shoulders.
• When you exhale, always lift your pelvic floor up and pull your abdominals in toward your spine. The best way to activate your deep abdominals and pelvic floor muscles is by exhaling actively as you lift your muscles up and in. Exaggerate your exhalation as you do your core stabilization exercises to make sure that you’re using these muscles.

Getting a Core Workout

To get a great core stabilization workout, you need to focus on keeping your torso solid. Because the objective of core training is to improve muscle endurance, instead of sheer strength, isometrically held exercises such as the plank are effective training methods. In addition, core exercises train your body’s stabilizer muscles to work together. For example, preventing low back pain isn’t simply about strengthening your abs. To provide optimal support for your spine, your abs, back, pelvic floor, and hip muscles all need to work together. Unlike other exercises that isolate and target a specific muscle or muscle group, core stabilization exercises challenge your whole body to work together. Form is critically important. Always stop doing an exercise when you can no longer execute it with perfect form.
Unlike the mover muscles that are closer to the surface of your body, your deep stabilizer muscles are made up of almost 100 percent slow twitch fibers. In other words, these muscles aren’t designed for short bursts of strength and power. Instead, these muscles are meant to be working at all times that you’re in motion. Therefore, unlike strength training exercises that require you to push yourself to fatigue and then rest for at least 48 hours, you can do core stabilization exercises daily. In fact, daily core stabilization exercises remind you to use your postural muscles as you sit, drive, stand, run your errands, or work at the office.
Last, but certainly not least, core exercises improve your sex life. As you tone up your pelvic floor and your deep abdominals, regain mobility in your spine, and improve control over your pelvis, your sex life gets a great boost. Shirley, as a health and wellness educator, assures you that research evidence shows that a healthy sex life is definitely good for your overall well-being. As if we need studies to tell us that.

Enjoying a Strong Core

Core stabilization exercises aren’t sexy, but they’re critically important to enjoying everyday living.

• Real-life benefits: A strong core supports good posture and proper joint alignment. Good posture not only makes you look and feel better but also prevents back pain. A strong core allows you to stand for long periods of time without pain or survive sitting at your desk and working at your computer for long hours.
• Injury prevention: Good posture places the least amount of stress on your joints. Strong stabilizers keep your neck, shoulders, hips, and knees properly aligned to minimize wear and tear on your body. Strong stabilizers also let you use the strength in your arms and legs. For example, if you don’t have a stable shoulder joint, regardless of how strong your arms and back are, lifting items like a suitcase without hurting your shoulder may be tough.
• The “Feel Good” factor: Nothing boosts your confidence like great posture and moving from the center of your being. Standing up tall; facing life straight on. That’s what it’s all about.

Toe lift

If you’re prone to shin splints and ankle problems, adding the toe lift to your repertoire is a must.

Getting set
Stand with your feet as wide as your hips and your legs straight but not locked. You may hold onto a sturdy object for support. See photo A.

The exercise
Keeping your heels firmly planted into the floor, lift your toes as high as you can. Feel the tightening through the lower part of your shins. Lower your toes. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

• DO lift only the part of your foot that’s in front of the ball of your foot.
• DON’T rock back onto your heels.

Other options
Seated toe lift (easier): Do the toe lift while seated with your knees bent.
Exercise sequence (harder): Do the toe lift immediately following calf raises.
Band toe lift (harder): Do the toe lift while seated, but wrap a band around the back edges of your toes. You’ll feel resistance both when lifting your toes and when lowering them. (Don’t use the band to help lift though.)

Standing calf raise

The standing calf raise hones in on your calf muscles.

Getting set
Stand on the edge of a step. (Or, if you have a step aerobics platform, place two sets of risers underneath the platform.) Stand tall with the balls of your feet firmly planted on the step and your heels hanging over the edge. Rest your hands against a wall or a sturdy object for balance. Stand tall with your abdominals pulled in. See photo A.

The exercise
Raise your heels a few inches above the edge of the step so you’re on your tiptoes. Hold the position for a moment, and then lower your heels back down. Lower your heels below the platform in order to stretch your calf muscles. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

• DO lift as high as you can on your toes.
• DO lower your heels down as much as your ankle flexibility allows.

Other options
Standing calf machine: Stand with your shoulders snugly underneath two pads and your heels handing off the edge of a platform. The standing calf machine isolates the gastrocnemius. If you want to get your soleus into the act (and you do if you do a lot of activities that involve walking, running, or jumping), look for a seated calf machine. Your knees fit underneath a platform and your heels again hang off the edge.
Add a dumbbell (harder): Holding a dumbbell in one hand adds resistance to this exercise and also forces you to balance more because you won’t be able to hold onto something with both hands.
One-leg calf raise (harder): To work one calf at a time, bend one knee behind you and raise the heel of your other foot up and down. Do the same number of repetitions with each leg.