Core Strength: 5 Core Conditioning Exercises You Can Do At Home

The core affects every athletic movement, stability, impact absorption, and balance. Fortunately, it can be trained with minimal equipment in the comfort of your home, with just your bodyweight or a pair of dumbbells.

Conditioning, which was earlier called general physical preparedness, refers to physical activity that results in more muscle mass, energy, and most importantly, the ability to perform more work at a higher intensity. It's something fighters and athletes focus primarily on, to increase their work capacity and power output for longer periods.

Note that the core refers to the 360 degree stability of the midsection, which includes the abs, hips, glutes, and lower back. Overall, it consists of around 20 muscles.

In this article, we will examine the top conditioning exercises to improve core strength that you can do at home.

---

Core Conditioning Exercises You Can Do At Home

Here's a look at five such exercises:

1) Plank

The plank is a basic exercise that can help build up the core. It's one of the best conditioning exercises for improving posture, balance, and endurance.

Instructions:

• Place your forearms on the floor or mat, with your elbows resting directly beneath your shoulders. Your hands should be facing forward, while the arms should be parallel to each other.
• Extend your legs while keeping your toes glued to the ground.
• From your shoulders to your heels, the body should be in a single, straight line.
• Squeeze your abs, glutes, and quads while tucking your butt under a little. That will prevent dropping of the hips and lifting off the butt.
• Keep the neck in a neutral position, and focus on your hands.
• Hold the position for as long as possible.

One of the best features of planks is that it's suitable for regular progression.

For the best fat loss variations, click here.

---

2) Split Lunge Jump

Instructions:

• Stand upright with your feet together. Maintain slightly soft knees.
• Explode upward, and land in a lunge with your left leg pointed forward.
• Pushing off with both feet, hop into a lunge, finishing with your right leg forward.
• Jump back to the starting position.
• Repeat.

---

3) Burpee

Burpees are a killer full-body movement that targets the core, shoulders, glutes, and upper back muscles. They are great at melting fat off your frame, as well as building stamina, and coordination.

Instructions:

• Jump and land into a squat position. Place your hands on the floor, and kyour knees wider than the elbows.
• Jump your feet back, and land in a plank position.
• Make sure your body is in a straight line from the shoulders to the heels. Lower yourself into a push-up.
• Jump upwards from the bottom position. Stand upright. Repeat.

---

4) Single Leg Lower

Instructions:

• Lie on the floor or mat. Keep your back flat and legs locked at 90 degrees above you.
• While holding on to the right thigh, lower your left leg towards the floor.
• Without removing your back off the floor, alternate lowering the legs as close to the floor as possible.
• Repeat for higher reps with short rest periods to improve conditioning.

---

5) Sit-up

Sit-ups are a time-tested, highly effective exercise that can be done multiple times a week. In fact, many old-school bodybuilders have developed tremendous core strength and abdominal development by doing daily sit-ups.

Instructions:

• Lie flat on your back with your hands behind the head.
• Keep your legs together, with your knees bent and feet flat.
• Raise your upper body till you're upright. Beginners can work up to this over time.
• Hands and arm remain attached behind the head throughout the movement. Do not bend the neck, or push your head forward.
• Perform weighted sit-ups to progressively overload.

---

Takeaway

You can build up core strength by employing the aforementioned exercises in a circuit or HIIT routine. Make sure to learn the proper form, and keep yourself well-hydrated to avoid cramping.