 Core exercise equipment will help you strengthen the most important part of your body when it comes to fitness and health
If you're new to fitness, you're probably wondering, what exactly is the core and why is it so important? Well, the core is essentially the belt of muscles around your waistline: the abdominal muscles and the muscles of the mid to lower back. Most importantly, the reason why these muscles are necessary is because they not only help to stabalize the spine, but align the spine, ribs, and pelvis of a person whether in a static or dynamic position. In addition, they provide an individual to withold bowel movements and women need strong core muscles throughout pregnancy, labor, and delivery - scary stuff, I'd say, which is why using core exercise equipment can be so important in developing a strong core.
There are many types of core exercise equipment available on the market such as a common medicine ball, sit-up benches, abdominal crunch machines, slings, straps, and wheels. The most convenient core exercise equipment you could buy, and the one most available at any sporting goods store would be the medicine ball. If you're just beginning to train your core and are looking for core exercise equipment, this is a good place to start. In fact, the exercises are so easy, that you can do them in your own home.
Here are a few medicine ball core exercises provided by the American Council on Exercise:
Pullover to Knees
- Beginning: Lie back with knees bent and hold the ball over head. Pull ball over to chest while keeping lower back on the ground.
- Intermediate: Lie back with knees bent and hold the ball over head. Pull ball over head to hips.
- Advanced: Lie back with knees bent. Pull the ball over head while sitting the body up enough to touch the top of the knees.
Partner Version: Sit-up Pass
- Sit with knees bent, facing one another, about 4 to 6 feet apart. The person with the ball lies back with ball overhead.
- Bring the ball overhead and throw the ball and contract the abdominals as you sit up.
- Aim for just above your partner’s head. As the ball is caught, the partner lowers back to the ground.
- Continue to throw back and forth.
Hip Crunch
- Beginning: Lie back with knees bent and ball between the knees. Contract the abdominals and pull knees toward chest; lower feet back to the ground.
- Intermediate: Prop up the upper body on the elbows and continue as for beginner.
- Advanced: Leaning back on hands, continue as for beginner.
Partner Version: Oblique Throw
- Stand four to six feet apart, each facing forward.
- Holding the ball with both hands, bring the ball to side opposite partner and toss across the body.
- Continue to throw the ball back and forth.
As you can see, getting in shape and strengthening your core can be very easy when using core exercise equipment. When searching for your very own core exercise equipment to purchase, there are a few places you can look: your local gym. sporting goods store, or even the internet.
What should I look for in core exercise equipment?
Regardless of whether the core exercise equipment is new or used, there are few key things that you should look at before buying:
-
What exactly is your fitness
goal? Without establishing a fitness goal, you
wouldn't know where to start with what kind of
core exercise equipment you should buy.
-
With any purchase, it's good
to start with a reasonable budget. Even when
purchasing core exercise equipment, it's
easy to get out of hand and start looking for
machines that are simply too
costly.
-
What features do you want, and
what features do you need? Core exercise equipment comes in many form factors, whether it is specifically made to develop your core, or even your entire body.
Ok, so we've
established some guidelines for purchasing
core exercise equipment and we've gone over
a few places where they are made available, but
now we need to find an approach. What do I mean by approach? Well, if you've figured out exactly what kind of core exercise equipment you want, you need to do your research in the different models.
Let's say you want to utilize
the fabulous internet to make a purchase like
many individuals do these days. I'd suggest to
visit your local sporting goods store and see
what kind of core exercise equipment they have. In fact, visit
several places to get a feel of what kind of
items are offered and will suit your needs. Once you've narrowed down your
selection to a specific make and model, you can
then browse the internet for which places are
offering that exact model at a price that fits
within your budget.
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