- Core exercises tend to come in and out of fashion,
but I think by now we all realise
that actually it's a very important part of training.
Doesn't just make you more efficient,
but it helps the injury prevention,
especially if you're training for triathlons.
Though it's a good idea to strengthen this area
before a problem occurs.
But if you're anything like me,
it's one of those exercise that often comes
to the bottom of the list when you're trying to balance
three sports and everyday life.
So to get you started I've chosen five of my favourite
core exercises.
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Side plank rotations are the first part of this.
It's important to get a really good solid side plank.
So I'm gonna use my forearm and elbow and lie that
on the mat at 90 degrees to my body.
And then gonna lift my hips up.
So the endpoint of contact will be my forearm and my feet.
Can either have one foot in front of the other like so.
I personally prefer it with one foot on top
of the other like this.
Now you should be completely at 90 degrees to the ground,
so facing a wall if you were looking at one.
From here this is where the rotation part starts,
so with your upper arm, in my case my left,
I'm gonna touch through behind my elbow,
touch the ground,
reach up to the sky.
Follow your hand as well so you rotate your head
and it just puts a little bit more challenge
on the rotation.
Back down, all the way up.
First time just try and do five of these.
Concentrate on doing them really well rather than
lots of them,
and then obviously you're gonna rest
and swap to the other side.
And I want you to try and manage three sets
for the first time.
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A common misconception with core is it's about
having a six-pack or it's just working the front
of your stomach.
But actually it's the whole band around
this middle part of your body,
including your glute muscles.
And this exercise is gonna work your glutes.
And if you're anything like me,
they might be a bit lazy and they need a firing up.
So lying with your knees bent, on your back,
90 degrees roughly here.
Looking straight up,
and the important part is squeeze your glutes
and lift your hips up towards the sky.
Making sure you have a straight line from your knees,
hips, to your shoulders.
And then take your arms off and you've got the control,
and you want to do this nice and slowly
so you're focusing on getting it the correct movement,
10 times, then have a rest.
And do that three sets.
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This exercise is as it sounds.
You're on your front.
You're gonna be walking out with your hands.
So to start you need to get into a press-up position,
little bit like a plank, but on your hands,
keeping everything nice and straight and controlled.
From here, you're gonna walk out with your hands,
taking small steps until you get to the point
where you feel you can just still hold it,
and then from there small steps back in
until your hands are underneath your shoulders.
Make sure you alternate with which side you start
just to keep things even.
And then come back again.
To start off with, do five sets, five times out and back,
and then rest and do that three times through.
If you start getting tired or you're losing your form
or you're wiggling around too much,
then you can just drop onto your knees.
And it's still challenging.
You can probably find you can go a little bit further.
So you're still working that core.
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Well this exercise is again pretty much what it says
on the tin.
You're trying to make your body into a V shape.
So you're gonna lift your feet up,
and you tilt your upper body back slightly.
But you wanna try and still keep nice and tight here
and not cheat with your shoulders.
So I don't wanna see any round like this.
Keeping your shoulders nice and open.
You can use your hands just to help counterbalance.
Think you're trying to make a nice clean V shape.
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for this exercise you can use a kettlebell,
a medicine ball, or even just something heavy
that you can hold with both your hands,
and it's all about rotation,
so strengthening the full part of your core.
So from here pick up whatever it is you're gonna use,
in my case a kettlebell.
Roll back, and you're basically trying to be
in a slightly crunched position.
So you see my head and shoulders off the ground,
my feet are off the ground.
From here, I'm gonna rotate, touch the ground on my left,
lift it up, rotate to the other side.
I want you to do 10, and by 10 I mean
this is one, two,
three, so 10
or five if you just count on this side.
Have a rest and repeat it three times.
Core exercises are often the silent part
of triathlon training.
You don't necessarily have to get hot and sweaty,
but having a strong core not only makes you
more efficient in all three sports,
it'll also help prevent you getting injured.
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If you want another body maintenance type video,
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