I've been working out consistently for over five years and I've always incorporated core exercises into my routine. At first, admittedly, the motive for this was to develop visible muscle in that area of my body. But after discovering the many functional benefits of a strong core — including better posture and less back pain — my motivation to make time for core work has only grown.
For the past few years, I've relied on popular core exercises, such as sit-ups, crunches and planks, all of which provided that infamous core "burn" while I was doing them. Adding a core finisher to each of my workouts a few times a week meant that I assumed I had pretty good strength in this area of my body. However, I recently tried classical Pilates and realised that my core muscles weren't as strong as I thought. Minutes into the class, my entire body was shaking and my core was being challenged in an entirely new way, as I was having to stabilise my muscles with control while moving.
