The CORE is such an overused term in fitness but for good reason. It is the foundation of your body, the beginning. It is where everything stems from and gets it's support. Without a proper and solid CORE you are setting yourself up for some issues in your body and muscles in the future including pain, joint disfunction, and potential serious injury.
In terms of everyday functional activities and enjoyment in life, your CORE plays a vital role in your level of general comfort and 100's of movements throughout your entire body.
First, a brief overview of what the CORE of your body literally means. The CORE is not just your abdominal muscles, especially the ones that look pretty, like the well known rectus abdominus. The CORE is your deep inner abdominal muscles such as the transverse abdominis and others such as the multifidus muscle, internal obliques, external obliques, and erector spinae.
In terms of your true CORE of fitness, I am not talking about the CORE described above. Now even though the above is very true and I am a firm believer in working on your foundation or CORE as an important aspect of your fitness training for success. I am using the term CORE here in a completely different context.
By CORE of fitness I mean a well rounded fitness plan. I almost might go as far to say that it is a Holistic approach to fitness. This plan includes consistency in your nutrition habits and workout routines. It means hard work 4-5 times each week while you are accomplishing your workout. It means getting enough sleep at night and providing enough recovery days between your workouts. This recovery might include a stretch day or a day of yoga. Maybe it is a rest day. Either way, recovery and giving your body a break is just as important as the workouts themselves.
Flexibility and mobility are another huge part of your true CORE fitness in terms of staying injury and pain free. Without the proper flexibility and mobility you are going to at some point in your fitness routine, experience pain or injury. If you don't, then you are one of the lucky ones. So, make sure to implement flexibility and mobility exercises into your daily and weekly fitness workouts.
And don't forget the most important things in life. You know....life, love, friends, family, vacations and happiness. Whatever it is you enjoy doing make sure you get around to it and set apart time. You may be surprised how much happier and more productive we are when we take some time to look in the mirror and ask what we want. Life is so busy and demanding most people forget about the little things that make our lives complete. Don't make excuses or wait, plan something for you! even if it's just a few days to sit back and take a breath of fresh air in this beautiful upcoming fall season.
So remember, strengthen your CORE muscles but don't forget that the true CORE of fitness is not just in your abs but in a well rounded fitness and life plan that takes time, dedication and uses the most powerful muscle of all, your mind.