Establishing an exercise routine is an incredibly common struggle. In my work as a yoga teacher and personal trainer I hear about it all the time. Overcoming sluggishness to start and maintain a consistent strength training or yoga practice takes discipline and time. However, once a person commits, he or she often tends to practice the same exercises over and over again. Trainings are copy and pasted overnight. This is especially true for core workouts.
While having a consistent workout routine can increase mastery of the poses or exercises, performing the same core-strengthening poses or exercises day after day is actually inefficient and can compromise your results while causing other problems.
Why you should vary your core workouts
Below are some of the disadvantages of repeating the same exercises endlessly, as well as the advantages of changing things up.
1. Avoid strength plateaus
By consistently performing the same core-strengthening yoga poses or abdominal exercises, your body can strengthen the specific muscle groups it targets. However, unless you regularly increase the intensity of the exercise, your body will adapt to the point where the exercise is no longer demanding. This means that your muscles no longer receive the same stimulus that causes an increase in strength or size.
In other words, you will no longer reap the benefits of that practice. But changing things up places your body in unexpected and challenging ways, forcing your muscles to adapt and strengthen.
2. Improve functional strength
What is commonly considered the “core” includes several muscles that work together to stabilize the spine and torso in your posture and in your daily life. Studies show that different core muscles are activated by different types of exercises.
For example, the internal obliques are most commonly addressed with core stability exercises such as Plank, while the deep and difficult to target spine stabilizers such as the multifidus are activated with more targeted core exercises such as stability ball crunches.
By making sure your training targets each of the core muscles, and not just the most obvious ones, through a variety of yoga poses and exercises, you ensure that your core can support all the movements you perform in training or in life, known as functional strength. It’s even possible improve performance in various athletic activities.
3. Reduce the risk of muscle imbalances
Many people tend to focus exclusively on the abdominal muscles they can see in the mirror, namely the upper abdominal muscles (the upper part of the rectus abdominis). However, by neglecting the opposing muscles (the rear extensor group) and the supporting obliques (side abdominal muscles), you will eventually develop an imbalance in strength between the front and back of your body. This can change your pelvic position, leading to poor posture, back pain and reduced functional strength.
Remember, you are only as strong as your weakest link (or weakest core muscles)! Variety in your core strength routine is critical to preventing muscle imbalances. A varied exercise routine not only improves functional strength, but also reduces the risk of injuries during your workouts or everyday life, especially in your lower legs. back.
4. Avoid boredom
Performing the same core-strengthening yoga poses or abdominal exercises every day becomes incredibly monotonous. This can cause boredom, loss of engagement or presence during training, and reduced motivation to exercise.
When you regularly incorporate different yoga poses or abdominal exercises into your workout routine, your brain and body are challenged to focus and engage in a new way. It can be exciting to master a new challenging balancing pose or move from a basic plank to a more challenging option such as the side plank, boosting your self-esteem and enthusiasm for your exercise routine.
5. Reduce the risk of overuse injuries
Performing the exact same exercises in the exact same way on a regular basis can overload the muscles, both the primary core muscles and the more supportive muscles, leading to an increased risk of overuse injuries. The resulting pain and lack of mobility can affect not only your training, but also the way you go about your daily life.
How to vary your core workouts
Plank. Crunches. Boat pose. Are you tired of these and other moves that you rely on over and over again? Here’s how to change things.
1. Add static and dynamic exercises
A well-rounded core workout includes exercises that involve you move both the core and the issues involved to cling static poses to build stability.
For example, you want to train the core muscles to stabilize the body and prevent movement such as with Plank or Chaturanga. But you also want to train them to contract and move the body, such as transitioning from Warrior 2 to Extended Triangle.
2. Prioritize functionality over aesthetics
Instead of setting your goal on getting visible abs, shift your intentions to building a functionally strong core. This means that you want to move through the different exercises more easily. Remember to focus on the back muscles and sides of the core as much as the abdominal muscles during your core workouts.
3. Add external equipment
Don’t be afraid to incorporate medicine balls, yoga stability balls, resistance bands, BOSU balls, suspension straps, or a Pilates ring into your workout if you have access to them at your gym.
Adding weight or extra resistance via bands helps build muscle. Working with balls adds an element of instability which in turn trains your core to strengthen the smaller, hard-to-reach stabilizing muscles of the core.
4. Play with tempo and repetitions
If you have limited access to equipment and don’t want to take the time to learn new exercises or poses, play with the timing and number of reps you practice in your existing routine.
For example, try moving through Bird Dog or another transition as slowly as possible and/or increase the number of repetitions. This forces your muscles to work in a different way and for a longer period of time without rest.
5. Think outside the box (or yoga mat!)
Many people tend to focus solely on targeting the obvious core muscles. However, the best core workouts involve full-body movements in all directions. In reality, studies suggest that several core muscles – including the rectus abdominis, external obliques and erector spinae – are activated more during free-weight exercises such as Bulgarian split squats, lunges and regular squats rather than core-specific exercises such as Planks and crunches.
6. Move asymmetrically
You’ll get the best bang for your buck by doing unilateral core exercises, where you only do something on the right or left side of your body, especially when it comes to movement. This imbalance requires your abdominal, back and supporting core muscles to engage and stabilize your spine and pelvis during the asymmetrical movement.
Many yoga poses, including the Warrior Series, especially when practiced in a flowing sequence, are fantastic for working the core with unilateral and functional demands.
Why yoga is the perfect core-strengthening workout
Please note that yoga classes offer all of the above without necessarily being explicitly labeled ‘Core Strengthening Yoga’. For example, vinyasa yoga classes are all about moving from one pose to another in a specific order. These graceful transitions involve keeping your core engaged to maintain balance, posture and alignment. Many yoga postures, such as the Warrior series, are also fantastic for training the core with unilateral exercises.
Not sure how to get started? Start by incorporating one or two core-strengthening poses into your routine at a time, or try a special 10-minute core workout here.
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