6 Ab Exercises to Strengthen Your Core

A core workout is an excellent way to stabilize your spine, increase flexibility, and improve balance. 

Having a strong core is way more essential than six-packs will ever be. This is because you are using core throughout the day; whether you are picking a book from the top shelf or bending to tie your shoelaces. Therefore, now when you go for a gym-grinding session, make sure to add special focus to your core.

The core is basically a group of muscles that comprises abdominals, obliques, pelvic floor, and lower back muscles. Together, they work as a sturdy link between your upper and lower body. 

A strengthened core can help you gain stability in your spine and control your movements. Stronger core muscles keep your posture upright, preventing irksome back pain and hunching. It improves your balance, supports good running form, and makes everyday life easier. 

So, strengthening your core isn’t just a regular exercise but an athletic goal that helps you improve posture, treat back pain and breathe better. 

So, if you’ve not been focusing on your core as much, it’s time to change your training perspective. And we are here to guide you through the way! 

[Related Article: 10 Signs You Have a Weak Core Strength and How to Fix it]

Importance of a Core Slider in Ab Workout

There are so many exercises that require the availability of high-order machinery, preventing you from working out at home. Ab exercises relieve you from the hassle of heavy machinery since your body weight is more than enough to practice them. 

However, if you want to add up some spice to your workouts and make them more challenging, then ab sliders are the best thing to grab on. They are light, portable, and super stimulating to really break that sweat. They have a smooth side and a side with foam. So, if you are working out on a carpet or gym mat, the smooth side is perfect. And if your house has vinyl flooring or floors with less resistance, the foam side would suffice. 

Core exercise sliders are two-sided discs that render an incredible solution to burn fat and strength train yourself. Since they have the word “core” in them, they make sure to engage multiple muscles in your core for a more versatile and efficient workout.

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Since your core supports the other parts of your body, you must pay a lot of attention to it. That being said, it doesn’t mean you have to perform hard-core workouts all the time. These should be simple exercises to keep it engaged, and sliders are just going to take your workout up a notch. 

Before diving into the exercises, let’s have a quick look at why training your core is so important:

1. Improves Your Posture

Ab exercises are an excellent way to improve your posture. When you have a better posture, you prevent unnecessary wear and tear on your spine and allow oxygen to travel in your body to your muscles. Weak muscles lead to slouching, affecting your breathing and overall workout output. The ab workouts will keep your body aligned and diminish stress on your back. 

2. Improves Stability

Core exercises help you stay balanced and stabilized no matter how rugged the terrain you’re traveling in. You’d be able to perform all your day-to-day activities such as walking or running at an optimum level as your core muscles are supporting your body. 

3. Increases Balance

Good posture and core strength ensure your balance is improved. With a solid base, it’s easier to stay upright and prevent your body from stumbling. It helps your body attain equilibrium, which also makes you look taller and confident. 

4. Boosts Power

Your core is the powerhouse of your body. With a strong abdominal core, you drive more power towards your entire body. This verifies the escalation of your athletic performance which would help you achieve your fitness goals more efficiently. 

5. Prevents Pain

Another major advantage of a strong core is the reduction or prevention of lower back or neck pain. When you toil your core, you work on your lower back and fortify your spine, leading to fluidity in movements. This also eradicates discomfort from your life, making you feel a whole lot better. 

Effective Ab Exercises

When it comes to choosing ab workouts with sliders, you need to create a routine. Mix and match these exercises to make the best out of them and pair them up with regular cardio. It will add variety to your workout, allowing you to build strength and different ways. Here are some of the major ab slider exercises that you can practice within the comfort of your home: 

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1. Mountain Climbers

These are an excellent way to activate the muscles in your lower abdomen. Here’s how to do them:

• Lower yourself down on your fours. Place your hand shoulder-feet apart and wrists below your shoulders. 
• With the ab sliders lying under your toes, slide your left foot forward such that your knee extends towards your chest.
• Keeping your core engaged, alternate the movement by bringing the other right knee extends towards your chest.
• Keep a strict check on your back to be straight throughout the workout. 
• The faster the movement, the more challenging it will be. 

2. Body Saw

This is an incredible way to target your core, quads, and butt with a fitness slider.

• Get yourself in the position of a forearm plank. Keep your arms parallel and place your toes on the ab slider.
• Engage your core and use your elbows and forearms to push your body as far back as possible. 
• Then slide yourself back to the initial position without letting your hips sag.
• Repeat.

3. Pike

This is an exciting variation to the plank that targets your core in the best possible manner. Here are the instructions to practice them in the correct form:

• Lower yourself down in the high plank position and keep the sliders under your feet.
• Brace your core and slider your feet towards your hand in such a way that your hips get hiked up towards the ceiling.
• Keeping your hands and shoulders in the same place, slide back to the starting position.

4. Single-leg Knee Tuck

When it comes to ab workouts with sliders, this is one of the most effective exercises to push those abs an extra mile:

• Lower yourself in a high plank position and place your toes on the set of sliders. 
• Brace your core and slide your right foot so that your right knee comes to your chest. 
• Pause there for a second, then return to the starting position. 
• Now bring your left foot forward the same way, pause, then return. 
• Repeat. 

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5. Plank Jack

This core workout can really get things burning:

• Set yourself in a high plank position, engage your core, and squeeze your glutes. 
• Place your toes on the set of fitness sliders and slide your feet in and out. 
• Make sure you don’t bounce your hips.
• Keep your movement swift for more challenging cardio. If you have trouble maintaining the form, keep your movement slow. 

6. Croc Walk

If you want to give your core a ton of engagement, this is the best slider workout to try. Here’s how you can do this:

• Place your toes on the sliders and get yourself in a plank position.
• Keep your wrists under your shoulders and ensure that your neck is in a neutral position.
• Engage your abdomen and put your right hand forward. As you do that, pull your entire body with itself. Then put your left hand forward, doing the same. 

Conclusion

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