"Staying fit / Core exercises."

Staying fit is the goal and remaining fit at all times means being determined to exercise all parts of the body. Fitness is a journey and on e one embarks on this journey, one needs to be consistent.

In this week's learning challenge, we are presented with the opportunity to exercise our core region. Core exercises are those exercises that target the abdomen, the pelvic, the lower back and the hips. It it meant to help us achieve stability, flexibility, posture and balance. It also helps to reduce risk of injury, improve our athletic performance and making every day activities more easier and efficient.

We are presented with 3 major exercises that help to work the core region which include the Inverted mountain climber for upper and lower abs, the Dorsiflexions for lower back and the Oscillations for oblique abdominals, all are targeted at the core region.

the Inverted mountain climber for upper and lower abs

Unlike the traditional mountain climbing where one needs to face downwards and let your body weight rest on the arm while moving the knees in alternating ways to meet with the elbows, the inverted mountain climbing is achieved by lying and facing upwards, placing your palms at the back of your head and bringing the knees to meet with the elbows of the alternate hands as you raise your upper body and stock in your Tommy.

This requires coordination and balance. The pain is usually felt at the lower and upper abdomen especially when one undertakes the hard level. As a relatively advanced fitness student, I decided to go for hard level which is 40 repetitions of 20 at each sides. After the first 40 repetitions, I rested for 10 seconds and repeated the 40 repetitions again as requested.

the Dorsiflexions for lower back

This particular program is like stretching the abdomen. It helps is achieved by lying and facing downwards, the using the arms as a support for the face, lift the upper body up and down as you stretch the abdomen. This is works the abdomen as well as the lower back where the whole burden is felt. I also chose the hard level of 20 repetitions, rested for 10 seconds and did another 20 repetitions as requested. This is really hard for me to complete but I had to endure. Yes, endurance is the key to success in fitness.

the Oscillations for oblique abdominals

This is the type of core exercises that helps to stretch the sides of the core region. The name, oscillation is gotten due to the movement of the body. One stands straight, place hands sideways, then bends one side of the body sideways, letting the hand to touch either the tigh or below the knee depending of how far you can stretch. You do that in alternating way as you move side by side as if it is an oscillation. I chose the hard level as in other ones above. That means that I did 80 repetitions, rested for 10 seconds and did another 80 repetition and that means 40 at each side.

You are going to do the three exercises explained at home.

I have just done the 3 exercises as explained above..the picture above also shows the actions as I move.

Select a level in each one

Exercise	Repetitions	Rest	Repetitions
Inverted climbing	40 reps	10 seconds	40 reps (20 on each side)
Dorsal flexions	20 rep	10 seconds	20 reps
Oscillations	80 rep	10 seconds	80 rep (40 on each side)

My demonstrative video below includes all 3 exercises as instructed, using the table above as a guide