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Core exercises are an important part of any workout routine. The abdominal muscles play an important role in the overall physical fitness and physique, which means core strength is absolutely important.
A primary reason why you should focus on core strength is that it helps with balance and stability during compound movements, such as squats, shoulder press, bench press, etc.
Core Exercises for Strength and Endurance
Here are six exercises men should include in their workout routine to work and develop their abdominal muscles:
1) Hanging Leg Raise
Hanging leg raise is an intense core workout that can leave your abdominal muscles burning.
To do this exercise, pull your leg upwards using your core muscles while hanging. That means your core muscles should not only push your leg upwards but also play a role in keeping your upper body stable during the entire workout.
If you don’t have the core strength to do a hanging leg raise, you can begin with a knee raise before progressing to a leg raise.
2) Crunches
Crunches are one of the most common core exercises in workout routines. This exercise focuses in the center of the core muscles, allowing you to burn and exhaust the muscles before they grow back thicker and developed. There are several variations of crunches you can do as your core strength increases.
3) Spider-Man Press-up
The Spider-Man press-up focuses on your obliques. It’s important you work on every muscle in the muscle group for overall development. Therefore, you need to include exercises that focus on your obliques, such as press-ups.
To do this exercise, bring your knee close to your elbows, and go down as much as possible. During the entire workout, your core must be engaged for the boost needed for the muscle group to become stronger and thicker.
4) Russian Twist
Russian twists are core exercises for your obliques. You can do this exercise with or without weights. Usually, a plate is a good way to take this workout to the next level.
You don't need to do it with a heavy weight; a light weight is enough. However, you must keep your upper body stable and straight. You should only twist from your obliques while the rest of your body remains stable.
5) Sit-up
Sit-ups are another common core exercise found in almost every core routine.
During this exercise, let your core muscles pull you and not use the momentum of your body. Keep your hands behind your neck, but do not push your neck upwards to pull your body for the exercise.
6) Plank
Plank is a tricky exercise that requires you to have enough strength to perform it. However, if you can manage planks, you must do them. To increase the complexity of the workout, take a weight plate on your back to increase the resistance.
