The Iconic Man's: Core Workouts
The Top 5 best Core Workouts for men
Remember Baywatch? Everyone on the beach in each episode looked effortlessly good. It’s easy to sport your body around when you are toned, but nothing is more appealing than the confidence you get when you feel comfortable in your own body - regardless of having really toned abs or not. Sure, most of us dream of a six-pack and super toned abs. Truth is you can absolutely achieve that look if that’s what you want because ultimately, we all have abs. They’re just hiding under layers of skin (sometimes fat) waiting to be revealed.
Tightening your midsection or working on carving out your abs isn’t terribly hard. As with everything body-related, it requires consistency and hard work. The six-pack, eight-pack, washboard, or whatever you want to call it, is an attractive feature of your body. But it also has other benefits, such as making you a better runner, helping you reduce your risk of injury, improving your breathing and digestion, benefiting your heart health and correcting your posture.
There are endless core workouts you can do to tighten your midsection. But you might be wonderign which one is the best one? Below is a list of the top five core workouts that will help you in becoming an iconic man:
1. Cable crunch: This one is not only fun, but it also makes you look like a pro. The kneeling (or standing) cable crunch helps you to train your core against strong resistance, strengthening this muscle without aggravating the lower back. You can perform it at the beginning of your routine when you’re fresh to help prevent injury. When doing this exercise, I’ve noticed in the past that it feels like you’re not accomplishing much. Just wait until the next day, you’ll be feeling all your core muscles - even the ones you didn’t know were there!
2. Barbell side bend: This move is great to develop spine mobility. It also engages your obliques, abs (obviously) and lumbar spine. By adding a bit of eight, this will also help you strengthen all the engaged muscles. Be careful to watch your movements carefully. Only lean sideways and don’t let your body to twist too much. Also, don’t bend sideways too far as this could cause injury. I love this move, but in the past, I’ve bend sideways too far and really felt it in my obliques and lower back the following day.
3. Flat bench lying leg raise: You wanted abs? You better work, man! This move will surely get you there. You can either use your body weight or add weight by strapping weight bands around your ankles, holding a dumbbell between your feet or having someone push your legs once you’ve raised them. This workout can be performed anywhere, regardless of you having access to a gym or not. Leg raises are also good because they specifically the ab muscle group. Happy leg raising!
4. Reverse crunches: Full disclosure, these are not fun. However, they’re one of the best ab workouts you can perform. Plus, there are a lot of benefits. These include strengthening your abs, correcting lordosis, strengthening and toning the lower abs muscles, preventing kyphosis, improving posture and contributing to less back and neck discomfort. Based on my experience, the best piece of advice I can give you is to prepare for the burn!
5. Jackknife sit-up: This is a strength-based exercise that utilizes your body weight to target the abdominal muscles, tone the obliques, strengthen your back muscles and engage the entire core. It also works your quadriceps and hamstrings at the same time. You will need to be somewhat flexible for this exercise. If you’re not flexible (like me), you can always bend your knees a little bit but not too much, you want to make sure you’re still working against resistance.
Your dream core is right around the corner! Core is important, but so is focusing on other parts of your body that will substantiate results. So be sure to implement other workouts that target other muscle groups, like biceps and legs. Also, don’t forget that diet is key! Can’t think of any ideas? We got you covered with a list of the top five healthy snacks for weight loss you can start with. Be ready, you’re on your way to becoming an iconic man!
Found this article to be helpful? Are there any workouts we left out that are helpful to you? Share your tips by leaving a comment below, we want to hear from you!
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Writer. Photographer. Traveler. Looking to inform and inspire through words. If I’m not on my laptop scouting for the next story, I’m in a park running or at a restaurant enjoying free time with family and friends.