FOCUSED STRENGTH WORKOUT: CORE

Dreaming of spring time days to come. Taken by PKSenagore February 27, 2018. All rights reserved.

ABDOMINAL OBLIQUE MUSCLES TO BE SPECIFIC. Lauren Mazzo features a routine by trainer Kira Stokes that provides a tough workout designed to build core muscle strength. 
 
Runners and walkers following the Earned Runs HALF MARATHON with ‘Saints Days” 5k & 10k Training Plans may wish to change up the scheduled (Wednesdays) back and abdomen strengthening exercise (Dead Bugs) with others in this routine.  Like Dead Bugs, the exercises “done lying face-up” are meant, per Stokes, to be performed while pressing the lower back into the floor to engage both abdominal and back muscles simultaneously. 
 
In the article for SHAPE.com, "The Hardest Obliques Workout Your Abs Will Ever Experience". Stokes indicates key to developing “core and spinal stabilization” important in running, squatting, and other movements is the strengthening of the internal and external oblique and transverse abdominis muscles. These muscles, “act like a corset to cinch up your stomach” Stokes says.
 
Below is a listing of the exercises, which are demonstrated in a video:

• Isometric bicycle hold
• Rotated bicycle pulse
• Straight-leg diagonal pulse
• Cross-body X
• Side-plank pulse
• Side plank hip drop

 
Mazzo provides other directions per Stokes instructions, a reason to read the full article.
 
Those who enjoy watching TV shows to relax in the evenings or transition to action in the mornings may find that the “face-up” exercises can be performed fairly easily at these times. I was surprised to find that this positioning (as for bicycle and Dead Bug moves) is more back-friendly than slouching in a chair or lounging on a sofa prior to bed time. Seriously. 
 
RUN & MOVE HAPPY!
 
https://www.shape.com/fitness/videos/intense-obliques-workout-abs