Did you start exercising with a goal in mind? Perhaps you wanted to lose weight, or simply to get fitter and healthier. Or maybe you want to change the way your body looks for the better. This could mean losing an inch or two from around your waist and starting to develop a six-pack. But working on your abs isn’t just for aesthetics. Actually, there are a number of positive health benefits, too.
Strengthen your core, strengthen your back
Everyone suffers with back pain at one time or another. But what’s surprising is how many people suffer with it long-term. Perhaps the chief cause is our sedentary lifestyle. We drive to work, sit at a desk all day, drive home then sit front of the TV in the evening. All that sitting causes your core muscles to get weaker, while your back muscles have to work harder. So, by working on your core, you can redress the balance, strengthening the front of your body to take the pressure off your back.
Stand taller
If your core is weak, you tend to slouch, both when you’re sitting and when you’re standing. That’s not only bad news for your posture, it has a negative impact on the way you carry yourself, too. Slouching with hunched shoulders makes you look defeated and unhappy. By contrast, standing tall with good posture helps you exude confidence. So, working on your core is a good way to help you stand up straight and face the world with a positive mindset.
Improve your balance
The core of your body is there to help keep everything in alignment. When it’s strong you have good balance and movement. When it’s weak, you become clumsy. If you like to play sports, it’s a really good idea to focus on your core strength. That way, you’re better able to balance and move gracefully around the football pitch or tennis court or doing whatever sport you enjoy.
There’s more to your core than toning
It’s easy to think that toning your core is just about working on your abs. But there’s more to it than that. Depending on the kind of exercise you do, you can actually give yourself a good cardio workout whilst working on your core. Squats, for example, are useful for strengthening your core muscles, but will also help you work up a sweat and get your blood pumping.
No need for fancy gym equipment
What’s great about working on your core, is that you can do it with no equipment of any kind. There are lots of simple exercises you can do with little more than a bit of space to move around in. Exercises such as sit-ups, planks and press-ups are all excellent for working the core, and all can be done indoors on your own.
If you want to take your core workout up a level, we’d recommend you check out the Ab Doer 360 and WonderCore Smart. These genius indoor fitness machines are cleverly designed to zero in on your upper, middle and lower abs and your obliques. Not only do they offer the ultimate body-shaping workouts, the machines come with their own Training and Nutrition guides, detailing precisely how you can hit your fitness goals in no time at all.
The Ab Doer 360 & WonderCore Smart are so compact that you can fold them away for easy storage. Yet they also replicate a number of different fitness machines. You can use your Ab Doer 360 & WonderCore Smart to do scissor kicks, crunches, bridge exercises, arm workouts, sit-ups, press-ups and a lot more besides.
Discover more about the Ab Doer 360, WonderCore Smart or other Thane Fitness products here.
