It's easy to become desensitised to the latest health and fitness news. With all of the information available (and most of it conflicting), it seems you can't trust any 'fact' to be 'fact' for more than a week or two. But when it comes to all the press about your core muscles, this is an issue that's here to stay – and with good reason. Your core muscles are located in your abdomen where you might want a six pack shape to be. This section is responsible for keeping your body upright as well as for protecting your organs from injury. Centred in your torso, these muscles aren't just for peeking out beneath short tops or low jeans, your core muscles are built to help you remain healthy. This is one of the reasons why you and your core need to spend more time in the workout room. Here are three more motivating reasons.

Avoid Injuries Now and Later

What many people don't realise is the back pain can be one of the most common complaints in the business world and one of the most common excuses for calling off work. But this makes sense when you understand how the core of your body works. Since your abdominal muscles are made to pull your back into an upright position, when your core is weakened, it can't support your back muscles, leading to pain and a higher risk of injury.



The business environment is making it harder for your core muscles to stay strong too. Since you're generally sitting at a desk for hours on end, your core doesn’t have to hold you upright – your chair does all the work. Over time, your back muscles and your core muscles become weaker and that's when you begin to have pain. Your two opposing sets of muscles are suddenly out of balance, which causes you to be out of balance too. Strengthening your core muscles will lead to fewer days of back pain and back stiffness.

Your Balance Will Thank You

As we get older, and we all do, our bodies naturally become weaker – especially our core muscles. But if we want to avoid injuries, we need to make sure we are keeping your abdominals tight. This will help us carry out bodies in a more natural position, which allows for better balance and for better coordination. Without a good sense of balance, we might be more likely to have a fall that could result in an injury.
This is often why those who are older have troubles with hip injuries and hip breaks. They aren't as able to control their balance, which leads to unsteadiness. When you can keep your core muscles tight, you can keep your body upright and stable.

Looking Great is a Bonus

Of course, the most often cited reason for improving your core muscles is to look better in your clothing – that's only natural. But slimming down your core has another advantage. When you begin to lose abdominal fat, you reduce your risk of long term diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and even some cancers. Studies have shown that abdominal fat contributes to troubles with all of your internal organs and their functions. Thus, when you add a core muscle routine to a schedule of regular exercise and a healthy diet, you can significantly reduce your waistline and help prevent future health problems.

How to Get Started

There are a number of different ways you can strengthen your core muscles. By simply becoming more aware of your abdominals, you can begin to pull in your muscles whenever you think about it, helping to strengthen them easily and without stepping a foot into the gym. Or you might want to look into abdominal workouts with a personal trainer or a DVD video. This will help you to learn the basic movements to strengthen your muscles.

Some people also enjoy yoga and Pilates workouts as they are fun to perform, but are also very good core muscle workouts. They require that you focus on pulling in your muscles as tight as you can so as to keep your back supported. In fact, you may not even realize you're working out your abdominals until the next day of soreness.

Biking and running can also be good exercises to add to your exercise routine as the proper form will require that you pull in your stomach. Surfing is another fun activity that works your middle, as does dancing of nearly any sort.

Your core muscles are designed to support your body, but what are you doing to support those muscles? By simply adding a few minutes of core muscle work a day and by taking a moment to pull in your core as often as you think about it, you will not only reap the physical benefits, but your jeans will fit all the better.

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