Simple often means effective. This stands true when it comes to developing the core musculature. Complex exercises are mistakenly considered to be superior to simple exercises, but every strength and conditioning coach knows that 90% of training programmes should be made up of simple and effective exercises. Here we have some of the simplest and most effective core exercises available.

Benefits Of Simple Core Exercises

1. Requires Less Motivation

Sometimes our training needs to be really simple to make it approachable. Complex training can require greater motivation to get started. When you’re having to learn too complex exercises, having to watch videos when you’re not sure how to perform the correct technique, it can be tough to get motivated for your session.

2. Thoughtless

These exercises require almost no thought or skill, this is great for beginners as it allows them to get physical adaptation without putting too much emphasis on skill acquisition. This can be very motivating if you feel like you’re putting in grunt work without having to think too much about it.

3. Simple = Effective Exercise

Just because these exercises are simple, it doesn’t by any means make them less effective. In some ways, simplicity makes them more effective as they can be easier to load or progress.

4. Great For Beginner Core Exercises

Simple core exercises are great to be used as beginner core exercises as well. Due to their simplicity they require no skill learning, meaning they are perfect for beginners.

How to Use Simple Core Exercises

1. You Don’t Always Need To Push Yourself

When we’re looking for simple exercises, often times we,re not in the headspace to push ourselves and go through much physical discomfort. This is fine for some of your sessions. You don’t by any means need to push hard every session to have an effective training programme. In fact, it’s great to have periods of training where pushing yourself isn’t required.

2. Use Different Movement Patterns

When doing core work in general, including simple core work, it’s important you use a variety of movement patterns to build a strong and robust core. As you can see each movement is labelled with a different movement pattern. The four key movement patterns to develop the core are:

3. Use Progressive Overload To Improve Core Muscles

Using progressive overload on your core work can be the difference between having an okay core and a phenomenal core. This involves adding difficulty to a movement over time through adding intensity or volume. Take a Pallof Press, for example, you might start with three sets of 6 each side then progress this to 4 sets of 8. This progression could be continued for a few weeks then the exercise can be changed and the process and be started over again.

More Simple Exercises