How do you "strenghten your core"?

[Cesare Cardinali]

Hey Bro's,

I never posted on this forum before but since learning that my pal prosemont has become a moderator, I've decided to throw some business his way....so here goes....

I just returned from a harcore hiking trip and my conditioning was pretty good. The only problem is with balance going down extremely steep peaks.

My hiking buddy who's a hardcore Alpha Male dude told me that my problem is that I need to "strengthen my core". He said that the core is what keeps your body powerful and stable. He said stuff like doing ab work on a ball and doing squats on a ball would help but he did not elaborate.

These activities to me seem ok to do, but kind of boring and not really a complete workout.

Do you guys know what other excercises I could do to improve my hiking abilities? I need more power in my legs (squats, lunges), I need a more powerfull core (not sure what to do besides the above), and I guess I need a stronger lower back and hips (not sure what to do here either).

Are any of you guys hikers? I'd love to hear about how you train to become better at this.

Thanks.

Cesare Cardinali

 

[sonick182]

The core is basically your abs and back muscles... allt he mucles around your torso in that area.

Some core workouts i know of:

Bridge - Lie on the floor with your stomach on the ground. Prop yourself up on your elbows, then lift your back so your entire body is supported by your toes and your elbows. Hold that for awhile

Alternate one-legged pushups- When doing a pushup, when you push-up, lift one leg off the ground. Lower the leg when you lower yourself down. On the second pushup, lift the other leg.

Some kind of pushup- Get a basketball, or a medicine ball or something. Do pushups like you would do regularly, except put the ball uinder one of your hands, so you push off of the ball, wich is on the ground. Try using balls on both if you're feelin ballsy

Similar pushup to above- Instead of a ball, use the dumbell (is that the name?) that you'd use with the preacher bicep curls. Put some weights on that so your knuckles dont scratch the floor. Then prop yourself up onto the dumbell, and do your pushups. Be careful though, one slip and you're gonna be missin your front teeth

 

[Templeton]

Good advice Sonick.

 

[Phrozen]

Do free weight exercises to build stabilizer muscles and strengthen your entire body.

If you really want to have good balance do ballet and yoga. Then you can tiptoe, hop, and skip down the mountain while sticking your tongue out at him.

 

[prosemont]

Post Closed.

Just kidding. Holy sh!t batman, Cardinali posted on the H&F Forum!

Strength and balance generally comes from "core" body
strength. Most of "core" body strength comes from your
torso area. Sonick's post is a good one. Other
exercises, using weights, to strengthen your core are:

deadlifts
rows
squats
ab workouts
heavy back exercises

Btw, squats aren't just for legs. They engage almost all
major muscle groups and are therefore a great core
exercise. With core strength, you will be stronger generally.
That means that any other exercise or movement you do,
you will be stronger. For example, heavy squats will increase
your benchpress. Ask Diesel or Templeton, I'm sure
they'll agree.

Peace brother.

Oh yeah ... thanks for the business.

 

[Ian1983]

By doing the 3 power lifting exercises (dead, bench, squat), you use the biggest muscles in your body, plus you incorporate the most number of muscles fibres (dead lift being a key example, works everything). This in turn stresses the body the most, which in turn releases the most amount of testosterone (ever seen a small PL, didn't think so...an no, don't mention a umpa lumpa type guy), to allow the body to adapt most, which is why if you do the squats, your bench will go up, more overal muscle growth.
For the lower back, do stiff legged DL with your feet on a low bench, don't over do it at first, trust me, it works and over doing it ain't a nice feeling, you sound like a old man groaing every time you get up.
Try and do DB bench presses off one of those swiss ball things, with one foot on the ground. You'll look bloody stupid, but I guarantee, the first time you do it, 1 foot or not, you'll be all over the bloody place. Use light weights at first,I don't want to be responsable for someone caving in their heads...again

 

[DJ Girevik]

I'm surprised nobody suggested olympic lifts yet. Those are great for that. If you know how to do those, make use of em. Same with overhead squats and SOTS presses (military presses while in the squat position)