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Strong to the Core

Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

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10 Comments

  1. Deb roby

    Ah, your “arm and leg” often called the BirdDog. It’s a fabulous exercise that forces the natural coordination between one upper body side and the opposite lower body. (right arm/left leg) through the core. That difficulty balancing highlights the weakness of this coordination. It works a lot of the back core muscles, and the obliques and will be much harder if you fail to engage the stomach muscles. It’s one of the very best injury prevention moves out there, IMO.

    Make sure your hips remain parallel to the floor.

    How I strengthen my core? Pretty much similar to you (minus the toe touches).

    1. Lisa Eirene

      How long do you hold the BirdDog pose?

      Thanks for explaining it! That’s cool. I know that my glutes and hips are issues (hence my injuries) and I’m trying to fix those with weight lifting and physical therapy. I’ve made some progress but not 100% yet.

  2. Michelle @ Eat Move Balance

    Planks are a great way of strengthening all aspects of your core. Traditional, side, and up-down planks are part of my regular routine.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I’m trying to do them more often. They aren’t my favorite!

  3. Mellissa

    Thank you! This post really inspired me to try more things with core strength. Thanks for taking the time to write about it, very helpful!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Thanks for reading Mellissa.

  4. Deb

    I’ve seen several of the individual exercises you listed in some yoga classes- they really do work your core and can be tough when you first start! I’m definitely weak in that area and really need to work on it. Have some great yoga/pilates combo vids that I should be doing while I am home sitting around. 🙂

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I keep telling myself I need to do core exercises while I’m watching TV and just never get to it…. 😉

  5. Suzanne @WorkoutNirvana

    Nice job. For someone with a propensity for back strains, I’d recommend against a lot of rotational exercises (Russian twist) or crunches (V-up) until they’re stronger. Focus on isometric holds, anti-rotational exercises, and low-back strengthening. P.S. I love the way you Support others with your own experiences without claiming to be an expert!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Thanks for your input, Suzanne! Yes, good point about the back. My friend Robyn has back issues that flare up from time to time and she said she can’t do the Russian Twist because of it.

      I can only share what worked for me. 🙂

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