Following my last blog I have found the students have been sitting more upright within class, at least for the first session. A couple students have quizzed me on what is a basic effective way to strengthen the core. Read below…

Moving with the times we have also developed our easy-to-use website store, enabling the public to purchase a comprehensive number of carefully selected and scientifically sound, health and fitness products and resources. IHF students will soon be able to get discounts on all products within the shop, stay tuned.
 
Congratulations to the following recent graduates:

Certificate III in Fitness
Robert Farrugia

Certificate IV in Fitness
Tai Tran
Nathanial Levett
Andrew Ian Brenton
Christine Jones
Lee Matheson

And also well done to students that recently sat their exams with 100% passing the practical and 95% passing the theory exams.
 
Try this core exercise…
Core stability training begins with learning to co-contract the Transverse Abdominis (TvA) and Multifidus (MF) muscles effectively.

• Start by lying on your back with knees bent (~100 degrees). Your lumbar spine should be neither arched up or flattened against the mat, but aligned normally with a small two finger gap between the floor and your back. This is the ‘neutral’ lumbar position.
• Breathe in deeply and relax all your stomach muscles. Breathe out and, as you do so, draw your lower abdomen inwards as if your belly button is going back towards the floor. Pilates teachers describe this as ‘zipping up’ – as if you are fastening a tight pair of jeans.
• Use your fingers on either side of your abdomen to feel the tension, hold the contraction for 10 seconds and stay relaxed (continue to breathe in and out), allowing yourself to breathe in and out as you hold the tension in your lower stomach area. Remember return to the neutral position each repetition  
• Repeat 6-10 times.

Ensure that you don’t let the whole stomach tense up or your upper rectus abdominals bulge outwards, as this means you are not contracting TvA.

Once you have mastered this exercise lying on your back, practice sitting and standing. Try to implement this exercise at work, give your self a minute break at work and practice this.

The ultimate aim of core stability training is to ensure the deep-trunk muscles are working correctly to control the lumbar spine during dynamic movements, such as lifting children or jogging.

Yours in health & fitness,

Chris Alexander

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