Core Strength: Lat Pull-Downs, Russian Twists, & Crunches

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(Your Glossary of Exercise Essentials)
CORE STRENGTH

*Click on images to enlarge

		Cable Wood-Chop 1. Stand with your left shoulder facing a weight-machine cable. Positioning the handle up high, grab with both hands.

		2. With knees slightly bent, pull down from upper left to lower right in one controlled movement. Keep your leading arm straight throughout the motion to focus the work on your core. After completing a set, switch sides and repeat.

		Straight-Arm Lat Pull-Downs 1. Stand either away from or facing a cable-machine lat station. With your arms straight, knees slightly bent, grab both ends of the bar and hold it about head high in front of you.

		2. Engage your abdominal muscles and without tipping forward push the bar down in a vertical plane with straight arms until it reaches your legs. Then slowly release the bar back upward, keeping your arms straight.

		Russian Twists with Stability Ball 1. Rest your upper back, shoulders, and head on a stability ball, with your hips parallel to the floor. Grasp a medicine ball in both hands with your arms straight out above you.

		2. Rotate your trunk from the center to the right, back to center, then to the left, so the stability ball rolls beneath you. Do it swiftly enough that you roll onto your shoulder on each side. Don't let your hips drop. Try to keep your chest, hips, and knees in a straight line.

		Resisted Stability-Ball Crunches 1. Lie with your back draped over a stability ball. Let your head relax toward the floor and anchor your feet under a fixed object. Hold a medicine ball under your chin.

		2. Keeping your tongue on the roof of your mouth, (to activate the neck flexors) curl forward just far enough to tighten your abs; then slowly let your self back down.