Strengthening the core muscles of the abdomen garners more attention than exercise for any other part of the body. Everyone wants a stronger core, and everyone also has an opinion on how to get one.
I think the most utilized core strengthening exercises are crunches and sit ups. While many people do benefit from doing core exercises on their backs, these are truthfully baby exercises. And I mean that quite literally. In the first months of development, babies lie on their backs flailing their arms about and kicking their legs. This is all in service of strengthening their trunks so that they can move on to more advanced movements such as the roll, “tummy time”, the crawl, and then pulling themselves up to walk. We adults are no different than a four-month-old when we lie on the ground moving our legs and arms about for core exercise. Although, unlike an innocent baby, our main motive is most likely to become more attractive.
In my mind, adult core exercise begins when we do core strengthening in other positions. Any lifting or carrying of heavy weights with good posture is a core exercise.. Also lifting your body weight in various positions such as hanging from a bar, standing, or on all fours will work.
Any of us may benefit from the baby exercises done while lying on the back to achieve good engagement and form. When possible, the adult exercises will be best. They more closely resemble what we will do in real life. I think they are much more interesting, too.
