3 Core Workouts You Need To Try To Strengthen Your Abs

Posted by aurofit on March 12th, 2020

The harsh truth: desirable, beach body perfect abs of steel do not form overnight. The silver (or steel) lining: by strengthening your core through ab workouts, you will improve your body’s overall functionality. Ab workouts improve balance, posture and stability. They make it easier to perform various everyday physical activities such as lifting your little one whilst trying not to burn your pasta sauce or carrying your heavy loads of shopping.

So how do you actually start to strengthen your core? Simple, here are 3 easy exercises you can try.

Plank

If sit-ups and crunches strain your neck, try planking instead. It’s a simple yet effective exercise that doesn’t require any movement, just pure abdominal strength combined with a focused mind.

Planking is great for your core as it trains your abdominal muscles to maintain a neutral spine position that is essential for improving posture. Unlike crunches that only focus on spinal flexion, planking activates different parts of the core such as the rectus abdominis, obliques and transverse abdominis.

How to do it: Get on all fours and extend your legs, with your hands shoulder-width apart and your feet hip-width apart. Engage your core muscles while holding the position for as long as you can.

Leg Raises

This exercise is a serious game-changer. Not only does it strengthen the rectus abdominis muscle and the internal and external oblique muscles but it also targets the iliopsoas (the anterior hip flexors). In simple terms, by working the hip flexors it supports your core and lowers the risk of injury by strengthening that muscle.

How to do it: Lay on a mat with your arms by your side and lift both your legs off the mat and to the ceiling. Keep your back and shoulders fixed to the ground throughout this movement.

If you would like to increase difficulty, try adding a butt-up when your legs reach the 90-degree angle.

Bicycle Crunches

Bicycle crunches are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your ab muscles. It works the rectus abdominis, hips and obliques - it’s the all around corecrunching- chaos.

How to do it: Lay on a mat with your lower back pressed flat into the floor and your head and shoulders raised slightly above. Keep your hands at the side of your head at a 90-degree angle. Lift your leg off the ground and bend your knee towards your chest, twist your core so the opposite elbow meets your opposite knee. Repeat on the other side.

To increase difficulty, keep both legs off the ground throughout the movement so all your focus and strength is coming from within your core.

So there you have it, 3 exercises to strengthen your core, improve posture and reduce the risk of injury. To help guide you through your workouts, download the leading audio fitness app Auro, which is home to hundreds of workouts suitable for all fitness levels.

So whether you’re an ‘ab assassin' or an ‘ab avoider’, the perfect workout is only a simple click away. Start your 14-day free trial and see just how effective audio fitness can be.

About the Author:

Auro is an audio fitness app that provides access to hundreds of on-demand audio workouts for at home, the gym and outdoors. We offer an extensive range of workouts synced to music that you love, including HIIT, running, spin, yoga, and more. New classes are added every week, so you will never get bored. We also offer 12+ structured training plans ranging from easing into exercise as a fitness newbie to training for a half marathon. You can even work out offline by downloading the classes. Simply grab your headphones and enjoy our on-demand training and guidance from world-class fitness experts.