{"id":3493,"date":"2018-01-29T22:27:58","date_gmt":"2018-01-29T22:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/blog\/straight-to-the-core\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T20:08:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T20:08:15","slug":"straight-to-the-core","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/blog\/straight-to-the-core\/","title":{"rendered":"Core Progression: Build Your Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>To properly train your core, you have to know why you need to strengthen it in the first place. Gold\u2019s Gym fitness expert Adam Friedman says it has nothing to do with having six-pack abs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The core is a set of muscles and connective tissues that work to provide stability and ability for the spine and pelvis \u2014 bones that protect the central nervous system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf there\u2019s not enough stability \u2014 or too much \u2014 around a joint, another joint will compensate for it,\u201d Friedman says. \u201cThat can stress a disk, which could push on a nerve, and now you have back pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThink of the core as making your central nervous system feel safe,\u201d he says. \u201cIf the spinal cord feels safe, it\u2019s more likely to give love to your extremities to produce force and give you strength.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The first level<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Concentrate on your breathing and posture; being mindful of both will help you engage your core muscles even before you begin to move.&nbsp;\u201cDevelop an endurance about maintaining those first,\u201d Friedman says. \u201cThat will dictate whether or not you can do bigger movements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Posture pointers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When standing, there are two points that will tell you if your body is in alignment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Assess and align:<\/strong> \u00a0Place two fingers on the most prominent part of your breastbone. Place another two on your pubic bone. You should feel the two points lined up vertically \u2014 in other words, if there were a board connecting the two, it wouldn\u2019t be leaning forward or backward.\u00a0If aligned, you\u2019ve got proper posture, and you will immediately begin to feel your core muscles activated.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Maintain: <\/strong>Try to keep proper posture for four minutes straight. If you notice yourself slouching, pretend there\u2019s a string connected to the top of the back of your head and give it a tug. Think also about spreading your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/blog\/7-shoulder-exercises-for-strength-and-stability\/\">shoulders<\/a> to try to touch the outsides of them to walls (but do not pinch your shoulder blades together).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reminders: <\/strong>Set periodic daily alerts on your phone to remind you to sit or stand up straight.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Breathing basics<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Proper breathing involves the diaphragm, the muscle located at the base of the lungs. If the diaphragm isn\u2019t properly engaged, the core won\u2019t work as efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Assess:<\/strong> Place one hand on the chest and one hand on the belly. Take a breath; notice which hand rises first. If it\u2019s the chest, that\u2019s an improper pattern and you\u2019re not making use of your lung capacity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Practice:<\/strong> Lying face down, put your hands underneath your face in a triangle shape with your nose in the middle. Take a breath. You should feel your belly press into the ground and your sides expanding. Do this for a minute, one or two times per day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Core moves for beginners<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Be mindful of your posture and breathing as you do these exercises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Spinal roll<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Lie on your back with knees bent in a sitting position. With your feet firmly planted, slowly tilt the pelvis to initiate the raise of the hips and spine. Lift off the ground one vertebra at a time from the tailbone to the top of the shoulders. Reverse, slowly, back to the starting position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGaining segmental control at each vertebra is deep-level core control,\u201d Friedman says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Cat and cow<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Start in a quadruped position \u2013 on your hands and knees \u2013 and hold a neutral spine for a few seconds. Arch the spine upward (cat), and then return to the neutral position. Then arch the spine downward (cow). Return to neutral spine. Repeat while focusing on breathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay tuned for movements that work the glutes, intermediate-level core exercises and more workout tips from our fitness experts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&lt;p&gt;To properly train your core, you have to know why you need to strengthen it in the first place. Gold\u2019s Gym fitness expert Adam Friedman says it has nothing to do with having six-pack abs. The core is a set of muscles and connective tissues that work to provide stability and ability for the spine [&hellip;]&lt;\/p&gt;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":6592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_subtitle":"These movements can help you safely establish a strong core for your workouts and daily life.","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[244,233,85,94,87],"class_list":["post-3493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-workouts","tag-breathing","tag-posture","tag-strength","tag-stretching","tag-workout"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3493"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10048,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3493\/revisions\/10048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}