Your core is at the center of your strength, literally and figuratively. From posture to physical endurance, following a fitness regimen that engages your core is crucial. “Poor posture creates many avoidable chronic physical pains and discomforts caused by slump-asana (slumped pose) . A tall posture is easier to maintain throughout the day when abdominal muscles are strong,” says fitness trainer Samantha Parker, “When the skeletal system is supported, the body is able to be more ergonomically efficient, decreasing chronic low back issues, headaches, even knee and hip discomfort caused by sitting at the desk for long periods of time.” One type of exercise that is great for building core strength is yoga—while you may think you need high intensity workouts to see results, even slower workouts like yoga can work wonders for your body, especially your core.
According to Parker, it’s the slowness yoga provides that makes it so effective for building strength. “Throughout the duration of a yoga class, mindfulness is frequently brought to intentional movement and how our actions affect the body. Becoming aware of which muscles are activating or not activating in the yoga poses (asanas) brings awareness of how easily or challenging holding our body in specific ways are for us,” she says, “When we have a better understanding of this mind body connection, it translates off the mat into our everyday lives and how we move through it.” Parker shared four of her favorite yoga poses that will get your core burning.
Plank
Hold the plank pose for 1-2 minutes, being mindful of drawing the belly button towards the spine, keeping the body in a long alignment with hips level.
Downdog
“This helps to create length throughout the entire body. When we are upside down, gravity and the weight of our body gets pulled towards the ground if we are not mindful of activating the abdominal muscles,” Parker says, “Try drawing the belly button towards the spine going from plank into downdog, and imagine using the abs to draw the body into the pose.”
Flowing Tiger Pose
“Going from downdog and float out to plank, pull one knee to your chest and round the spine to the sky like a cat. Being mindful of contracting the abs, this slow deliberate movement is able to create an isometric contraction to enhance muscular endurance.”
Boat
"This challenging pose is able to be modified by keeping feet flat on the floor then progressing to lifting one leg off the ground and alternating.”
Yoga is something you can do at home with minimal space—whether you’re working from home and have a lull in the day between meetings or just want to get up and move a little bit, it’s a great way to stretch your body and build strength. Try these four poses to target your core so that you can improve your posture and get stronger.
