10 Ways To NOT Train Your Core

Toned abs are often seen as the symbol of a fit body and healthy lifestyle. Great abs can help boost your confidence and there are plenty of people that show them off, proud of the results they’ve achieved and eager to let others know the fruits of their labour.

Sadly, no matter how hard you work, there are a couple of common mistakes that people always make when they train their core. In this article, we’ll be going through 10 of the biggest blunders that you should avoid.

1. Avoid Twisting

Your core isn’t actually designed to twist too much. In fact, it’s the opposite; your core opposes twisting because it helps to keep your spine safe and posture correct. Instead of twisting your core, brace it to keep your form when doing your workouts.

2. Avoid Bending

Much like twisting, your core isn’t really meant to bend all that much. Situps and crunches flex your core a little too much, and it’s better to focus on exercises where you actively prevent your core from bending, such as planks and jackknifes.

3. Too Much Focus on Six-Pack

Your core isn’t just a six-pack, it’s so much more than that. Take a look at your obliques, your pelvic floor and your transverse abdominis. If you’re serious about your fitness, then you should take a look at your whole core and not just your rectus abdominis. Here’s an article by Runner’s World explaining the other muscles in the core: https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a20835506/learn-the-muscles-of-the-core-com/

4. Bad Breathing Technique

It’s incredibly important to control your breathing during sets. You should be focusing on inhaling and exhaling correctly during your exercises, with emphasis on your diaphragm instead of your chest.

5. Positioning Mistakes

All core exercises rely on good positioning and posture. If you do exercises incorrectly, you’ll be targeting the wrong muscles.

6. Not Changing Angles

When you do something like a plank, you work your abs and train your core. However, your core can also be trained from different angles, such as side-to-side or diagonally. If you’re going to add planks to your workout, add side planks as well to give your abs a great workout.

7. Focusing Only on Your Core

If you’re avoiding total-body exercises then you’re ultimately going to limit your weight loss and body strength. Exercises like deadlifts and squats can build strong abs as well.

8. Bad Diets

We’ve all heard the saying that abs are made in the kitchen, and it couldn’t be truer. Aim for a calorie deficit to eventually get a flat tummy and pick lean sources of protein like chicken breast. Check out this blog post on 6 SIMPLE steps to reduce your calorie intake: https://yourbodyfitness.co.uk/reduce-your-calorie-intake/

9. Staying Stagnant

Your body will eventually get used to something like planking, so the benefits you get from it are severely reduced. It’s important to shock your body a little by upping the intensity and practising different movements.

10. Not Taking Breaks

Training every day doesn’t get you faster results. If you train your abs every day, they have no time to recover. Give yourself some breaks throughout the week and train your abs every other day instead of every day.