One of the things I've constantly struggled with through my entire fitness journey is training my abdominal muscles. I've had an anterior pelvic tilt since I was a child, exacerbated by being mostly sedentary and having poor posture. Crunches and situps were absolutely a nightmare during P.E class, even with assistance. After starting my fitness journey, I avoided workouts with ab specific exercises, planks were also very difficult due to my weak core. Though I kept getting better in terms of overall endurance and strength, my core strength wasn't improving at all, which made me overcompensate in exercises involving the core. For whatever reason, I just felt physically unable of engaging my core.
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As of late last year, I decided to focus on improving core strength. I've heard many buzzwords about deep core strength and crunches not being ideal, but even beginner core exercises seemed too intimidating. After much browsing without result, I chose a standing ab workout without equipment by Mr and Mrs Muscle.
This particular workout is short and low impact, so I did it for a few nights while watching TV. I tried to engage my core as best as I could, though I didn't notice much of a difference from similar workouts. Not satisfied with my improvement, I gave mat Pilates a chance, in hopes of connecting with my core muscles once for all. The first few Pilates videos made me realize that I was bracing my abs, but not engaging my core properly. How to embrace the core is thoroughly explained in this detailed short class by Flow with Mira, the importance expanding your diaphragm while breathing is emphasized at the beginning of the video.
After learning how to properly engage the core muscles and breathe accordingly, standing ab exercises feel far more effective than before. Another important element of standing core workouts is trying to maintain your stability during every move as much as possible. In this workout by coach Denise Austin from the AARP channel, single leg work is present in pretty much every move, helping to target the obliques and the pelvic floor.
While standing core exercises don't have the same gravity aided resistance as floor exercises, it is possible to add resistance by holding weights. In this workout by Caroline Girvan, light weights are used to challenge both the upper body and the core. Engaging the core while performing weighted exercises is crucial to avoid swaying or wobbling, therefore activating the core muscles.
Controlled movement, balancing and stabilization is the key to standing ab workouts. Movement variety is also fairly important, helping to target all the different muscle groups part of the core. This low impact workout by Sydney Cummings is aimed to target all the superficial core muscles and the deep transversus abdominis muscle that provides stabilty to the torso and pelvis.
An alternative way to connect with your core while standing is dancing. Dance styles like belly dance and Caribbean Soca often require isolated moves from the waist, thus serving as a fun way to familiarize with your core. This belly dance workout from Leilah Isaac combines regular standing ab exercises with belly isolation movements, teaching basic moves requiring lots of core.
Much like Pilates, the emphasis on correct posture and balance from barre makes it a good practice for strengthening your core without lying on the floor. In this short class by Sleek Technique, the importance of engaging the core to perform ballet positions and stable movement of the limbs is the main lesson. The controlled and slow moves of ballet require a fully controlled core.
If you struggle with traditional ab exercises, I definitely recommend giving standing core workouts a try. Besides being accessible to individuals with spinal issues or postpartum mothers, they're a great way to get to know your core muscles without additional strain. Learning to breathe and engage your core from the pelvic floor up to the upper abs is the main goal, so take it at your own rhythm. If you're ready to progress, add resistance with weights and use progressive overload to elevate the challenge.
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