Easy Core Exercises for Beginners Video – Home Routine

This core exercises for beginners routine is ideal for regaining control over your core muscles.

Physiotherapist guided routine suited to:

• Women with pelvic floor problems
• Rehabilitation from lower back pain
• Recovery after childbirth
• Firming and toning your lower abdomen

Please scroll below this video for more information about these core exercises for beginners

Strength & Core Workout for Women (Download or Hard Copy)

Strength & Core video is a pelvic floor friendly core exercise workout with Physiotherapist Michelle Kenway

This whole body workout that strengthens your core abdominal and pelvic floor muscles in addition to whole body strength and posture training.

Strength & Core Benefits

Strength & Core Workout includes exercises designed to:

• Exercise safely and avoid injury
• Train core abdominal muscles
• Strengthen pelvic floor muscles
• Strengthen and tone hips, butt and thighs
• Improve posture
• Strengthen back muscles
• Body weight management

Benefits of Core Exercises for Beginners

Core exercises are designed to improve the function of the core muscles that wrap around your trunk.

These core muscles include your deep abdominal, spinal and pelvic floor muscles along with your diaphragm.

Core exercises have a number of potential benefits including:

• Improving support for the spine and pelvis (for lower back rehabilitation) ¹
• Postural strengthening and support ²
• Coordination of the deep abdominal and pelvic floor muscles ³
• Toning and firming the lower abdomen (after pregnancy, with menopause, abdominal surgery or weight loss)

Core Exercises Demonstrated in this Video

A. Lying Down Core Exercises for Beginners

Starting Position

• Lying supine with both knees bent and feet flat on the floor
• Arms resting comfortably by your sides
• Head and neck supported with a pillow or cushion if required

Heel Slides

Action

• Feel your deep abdominal muscles just inside your pelvic bones
• Gently engage your deep abdominal muscles
• Slide one heel away from your buttock
• Avoid tilting your pelvic and maintain the neutral curve in your lower back throughout
• Slide your heel back towards your buttock when your pelvis starts to tilt forwards
• Breathe normally throughout
• Repeat up to 10 times each leg

Single Leg Raise

Action

• Gently engage your deep abdominal muscles
• Raise one foot off the ground keeping the knee bent at a right angle throughout
• Maintain your deep abdominal muscle contraction
• Keep your pelvis neutral throughout
• Return your foot to the ground
• Breathe normally throughout
• Repeat up to 10 times each leg

Bent Knee Fall Outs

Action

• Gently engage your deep abdominal muscles
• Lower your bent knee out to the side of your body
• Stop when you feel your pelvis rotate outwards
• Raise your bent knee back to your original starting position
• Breathe normally throughout
• Repeat up to 10 times for leg

B. Kneeling Core Exercises for Beginners

Kneeling Arm Raise

Starting Position

• Kneel on all fours (knees beneath hips and hands below shoulders, elbows slightly bent)
• Maintain the normal inwards curve in your lower back

Action

• Gently engage your deep abdominal core muscles
• Breathe normally
• Extend one arm in front of your body
• Raise and lower your hand to and from the ground
• Maintain your deep abdominal muscle contraction throughout
• Repeat up to 10 exercises each arm

Kneeling Leg Raise

Action

• Gently engage your deep abdominal core muscles
• Breathe normally
• Extend one leg out behind your body
• Keep your toes pointing down and
• Raise and lower your foot to and from the ground
• Maintain your deep abdominal muscle contraction throughout
• Repeat up to 10 exercises each leg

How to Progress Core Exercises for Beginners

It’s important to start out doing the number of exercise that feels manageable for your body while maintaining good form. There’s no benefit repeating core exercises if you’re unable to maintain the correct neutral spine posture and pelvic tilt throughout your exercises.

Start your core exercises doing a couple of repetitions of each exercise.

To progress your core exercises:

• Increase the number of repetitions using the same arm or leg
• Alternate limbs during each exercise
• Increase the number of repeated exercises with alternating limbs

The quality of your core exercises is far more important than the quantity. Doing the appropriate number of exercises using correct form is the best way to progress core exercises, especially if you’re a beginner.

More Information

» How to Properly Fix Core Dysfunction (Breathing and Posture Included!)

» Ultimate List Of Unsafe Core Exercises For Prolapse

» 3 Core Stability Exercises to Safely Strengthen Your Core

References

1. Suresh, R. and Einstein, J. (2015) Effects of Core Stabilization Program and Conventional Exercises in the Management of Patients with Chronic Mechanical Low Back Pain. International Journal of Physiotherapy, VOL 2, ISSUE 2.

2. Standaert C. et.al. (2008) Evidence-informed management of chronic low back pain with lumbar stabilisation exercises. Spine J. 2008;8:114–120.

3. Sapsford, R. et al (2001) Co-activation of the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles during voluntary exercises. Neurourology and Urodynamics, Vol.20(1), pp.31-42.