Thoughtful Thursday…core strength exercises …week 2
Welcome to Thoughtful Thursday. This GreenNote Fitness newsletter mindfully gathers and distills useful information that is supportive to our journey. It is my mission to educate, inspire, and propel you into action that moves you towards your goals and life of purpose. Take control of your journey today.
Enter week 2 for core strength exercises. If you missed week 1 core strength exercise, you get that here. Before we get to this week's exercise, let’s learn a core fact. Core Fact from Healthbeat Health.Harvard.edu Good posture - weak core muscles contribute to slouching…it [good posture] lessens wear and tear on the spine and allows you to breathe deeply. Good posture helps you gain full benefits from the effort you put into exercising. Speaking of benefits, let’s reveal the core exercise of the week! Core Exercise of the Week Single Arm Plank (and a bonus exercise...)
Why did I select the Single Arm Plank? We all have done a standard plank, either on elbows or hands, and held for any length of time. That’s great and if you haven’t done a plank before now is the time. To advance our core strength, it needs to be challenged. Look no further than completing a plank with a single arm. This is a good exercise for overall core strength as well as shoulder stability, postural alignment, motor control, and anti-extension. The set up:
Begin on both elbows and feet on floor, engaging or bracing your core muscles
Once set, slowly lift one arm off of the floor, keeping it straight along side your body
Resist rotating the body or leaning to one side
Be sure not to tip head up (that strains the neck and puts pressure on the lumbar spine, causing hips to sag).
Focus on keeping a tall, elongated neck throughout
Hold for time and repeat on other side
Single-Arm Plank Variation - Bird Dog on Elbows To make things more challenging, I will perform a Quadruped Plank (Bird Dog) on elbows.
The set up:
Begin on both elbows and feet on floor, engaging or bracing your core muscles
Once set, slowly lift one arm off of the floor, keeping it straight out in front of you
Slowly lift the opposite leg off of the floor so that both arm and leg are off the floor and extended
Be sure not to tip head up (that strains the neck and puts pressure on the lumbar spine, causing hips to sag).
Focus on keeping a tall, elongated neck throughout
Hold for time and repeat on other side
These are both great to incorporate into your training. Stay tuned as we will discover a different core exercise next week. If you enjoyed this newsletter and would like to see more like, let me know! Enjoy your journey, Lisa Schaffer GreenNote Fitness You wouldn’t happen to know just one person that would benefit from this information? Please forward it to them! Did you miss last week’s newsletter on core strength exercises…week 1 ...? P.S. Check out my Facebook page for inspiration. P.P.S. Discover GreenNote Fitness recommendations for books, podcasts, and more on body, mind, and spirit.
