How to Build Core Strength: 9 Core-Strengthening Exercises

Core strength refers to the ability to control and exert power from your midsection, aka your core muscles. Your core contains multiple muscle groups, including your abdominal muscles, back muscles, and the muscles surrounding your hips and pelvic floor. Core workouts are designed to build strength in your erector spinae, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, obliques, glutes, pelvic floor, and hip flexors and adductors.

Many core exercises are bodyweight exercises (strength-training, cardio, or HIIT exercises that use your own bodyweight to build muscle), so you don’t need any equipment and can easily do them at home. But if you’re looking for an extra challenge, add kettlebells, dumbbells, or barbells to increase the intensity of the workout. Core exercises improve stability and posture and tone your muscles, and are a central component of pilates, strength training, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT).

Core strengthening isn’t just about getting six-pack abs. Although core exercises do include toning ab workouts, there are several other notable benefits to building core strength.

1. 1. A strong core improves stability. Your core is responsible for a wide range of motion that makes daily movements and athletic performance possible. A stable core protects the body from injury, provides greater power to the upper body, and can increase speed in the lower body.
2. 2. A strong core leads to better posture. A weak core is unable to provide the necessary support to the lumbar spine and shoulder blades, resulting in slouching and poor posture. Developing a stronger core can help you keep your back in a straight line.
3. 3. A strong core can reduce lower back pain. Lower back pain can be caused by a weak pelvic floor, hip flexors, or lumbar spine. Building strength in these core muscle groups can improve the quality of soft tissue in your back muscles, leading to less pain over time.

Here are some of the best core exercises for building core strength.

1. 1. Abdominal crunch: Crunches are among the best ab exercises for building core strength. Perform crunches by lying face-up with your feet hip-width apart. While keeping your lower back on the floor, lift your upper back and shoulder blades off the floor. With proper form, this abdominal exercise will target your entire core.
2. 2. Sit-ups: The sit-up is a bodyweight exercise that targets your abdominal muscles. Perform a proper sit-up by lying face-up with your back flat on an exercise mat, and your knees bent at a 90-degree angle. Place your feet firmly on the floor, engage your core, and lift your upper body off the mat towards your knees. Pause at the top of the movement before slowly returning to your starting position on the mat.
3. 3. Push-ups: Push-ups are a compound exercise that work muscle groups throughout your body. Perform push-ups by placing your palms slightly wider than shoulder-width apart on the floor and holding yourself in a high plank position. While keeping your back and legs in a straight line, lower your body toward the floor, then push back up to the starting position.
4. 4. Bird dog: A bird dog is a great bodyweight core exercise. Perform bird dogs by getting on all fours on an exercise mat, placing your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. While keeping your head and neck in a neutral position, lift your right arm in front of you and your left leg behind you. Switch sides on the next repetition, lifting your right leg and left arm.
5. 5. Side plank: Perform side planks by balancing on your side with your right elbow directly under your shoulder, touching the floor with your forearm and the side of your foot. While activating your core muscles, lift your hip until your body forms a straight line. Try straightening your supporting arm, lifting your top leg, or reaching your top hand above you to add an additional challenge for your stabilizer muscles.
6. 6. Dead bugs: Perform dead bugs by lying face-up on an exercise mat. While engaging your core and keeping your low back in contact with the mat, lift your arms up and extend them straight above your shoulders. Lift your legs until your knees are over your hips and your legs form a 90-degree angle. With a controlled movement, lower one arm toward the floor while extending the opposite leg toward the floor. After returning to the starting position, repeat the movement with your opposite arm and leg.
7. 7. Barbell deadlift: Place a barbell on the ground and stand behind it with feet shoulder-width apart. Bending slightly at the waist and keeping your back straight, bend your knees and reach for the barbell. Straighten the legs and pull the barbell to waist height, keeping your shoulders back. Bend your knees and return the barbell to the ground.
8. 8. Lying leg raise: The lying leg raise is a bodyweight exercise that targets your abdominal muscles, particularly the lower abs. Leg raises work muscle groups throughout your body, including the rectus abdominis, hip flexor muscles, hamstrings, and lower back muscles.
9. 9. Superman hold: The superman exercise, also known as the superman hold, is an isometric bodyweight exercise that can improve your back and core strength. Perform superman exercises by lying facedown on an exercise mat with your legs extended and your arms straight in front of your head. Keep your neck in a neutral position as you lift your chest, arms, and legs a couple of inches off the ground. Hold this position for the desired amount of time.

If you have a previous or pre-existing health condition, consult your physician before beginning an exercise program. Proper exercise technique is essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of an exercise program, but you may need to modify each exercise to attain optimal results based on your individual needs. Always select a weight that allows you to have full control of your body throughout the movement. When performing any exercise, pay close attention to your body, and stop immediately if you note pain or discomfort.

In order to see continual progress and build body strength, incorporate proper warm-ups, rest, and nutrition into your exercise program. Your results will ultimately be based on your ability to adequately recover from your workouts. Rest for 24 to 48 hours before training the same muscle groups to allow sufficient recovery.

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