After I published an article titled “5 most important exercises” clients started asking me why we spend so much time doing exercises that aren’t as “important.” That’s because there are some exercises that are even more important than the “5 most important exercises”…believe it or not!
It’s true…there are 3 specific exercises that help correct many of our muscle imbalances and lay the foundation for almost every exercise we will ever do. These exercises might not be exciting, they might not be flashy, but they are the 3 exercises that will be the most fundamental to your long-term success. These exercises help us develop core strength and help us to “wake up” the muscles that need to be doing more work.
These 3 exercises are the plank, the bridge, and the cobra.
1) Plank
Lie on your stomach with your feet together and forearms placed on the ground. Clench your fists under your shoulders, draw-in your navel and contract your glutes. Lift your body off of the floor and raise up until your body forms a straight line from head to toe. Hold the top position for a few seconds.
2) Cobra
Lie on your stomach with your arms extended alongside your body, palms facing the floor. Draw-in your navel, contract your glutes and pinch your shoulder blades together. Next, lift your chest and hands off the floor at the same time, keeping your arms straight. Hold the top position for two seconds. Slowly lower yourself down to the starting position.
3) Bridge
Lie on back with knees bent, feet flat and shoulder-width apart. Draw-in belly button and squeeze butt muscles. Lift pelvis off floor until knees, hips and shoulders are in line, pushing through heels. Lower your pelvis to floor.
The plank is simple, but one of the best core exercises out there. The cobra gets those lower traps going and helps to improve your posture. The bridge activates the glutes, helping to significantly reduce the chances of knee or lower back pain. I recommend doing all 3 near the beginning of every workout!
No comments:
Post a Comment