Strong core muscles are essential for a healthy body. These muscles not only stabilize and support you during movement, but they also facilitate breathing, protect your internal organs, and help maintain your posture and balance.
I love core-strengthening moves like planks and sit-ups, but I’ve grown bored of them lately. Scrolling Instagram for inspiration, I found fitness influencer Fiona Judd’s recent standing core routine and decided to give it a go.
How to do Fiona Judd’s standing core routine
You will need one moderately heavy dumbbell for this routine. My 15-pound dumbbell felt appropriate, but I’d recommend going for something lighter if you’ve just started exercising.
Judd’s routine consists of six exercises performed for one minute each—unilateral exercises should be performed for 30 seconds on each side. The aim is to complete three rounds in total.
- Dumbbell overhead march
- Standing bicycle
- Windmill
- Halo into RDL (Romanian deadlift)
- Woodchopper
- Dumbbell side bend
My takeaways
My obliques were sore the next day
The standing bicycle, windmill, woodchopper and side bend all target the obliques—muscles that frame each side of your torso. Unsurprisingly, these areas were sore when I woke up the next morning.
I never treat soreness as an indicator of a good workout and I know that it doesn’t always correlate with strength levels. However, I do think that the DOMS I experienced in my obliques showed that my core routine needed a reboot.
I loved that a glute exercise was included
The words core and abdominals are sometimes used interchangeably, but in reality your core encompasses lots of mid-body muscles, including the glutes. While these muscles are often lumped in with lower body work, they play a pivotal role in stabilizing your pelvis and protecting your spine.
I was really happy to see that Judd included a glute exercise—the Halo/RDL combination—in this workout. It made it feel like a more comprehensive core routine.
It's best for intermediate exercisers
Judd offers modifications for some exercises, making it accessible to a wide range of fitness levels. But some of the movements are quite advanced, like the Windmill and the Halo/RDL combo. Having a few verbal or written cues could help, but unfortunately, Judd stays silent—you have to rely on her demonstrations for guidance.
For that reason, I think the routine is best suited for those who are already familiar with these moves.
Why vary your core workouts?
When people hear core workout, they often think of mat-based exercises like crunches. These moves are popular for a reason, as they’re great for building strength and stability in muscles like your rectus abdominis (famous for creating the six-pack shape) and the deeper transverse abdominis.
Getting down onto the mat for a few core exercises can be beneficial, but we also rely on our abdominals when we’re standing, walking, running, and lifting. Working the core in various positions and all planes of motion will challenge the muscles in functional ways, building versatile strength and endurance.
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