Core or Ab Exercises: What’s the Difference?

However, there are a few key differences between your abs and your core. Simply put, your core includes your abs, but your abs do not encompass your entire core. And while strong abs are important, it’s not enough just train your abs and neglect the rest of your core.

To better understand the nuances between core exercises and ab exercises and get step-by-step instructions on how to strengthen both, we spoke with two fitness professionals.

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What is your core?

Your core encompasses everything from your hips to your lower chest, says Mathew Forzaglia, certified personal trainer and functional strength coach, CPT, CFSC, founder of Forzag Fitness. “We’re talking about your pelvic floor, your internal and external obliques, your transverse abdominis, your rectus abdominis, and your spinal erectors,” he explains.

You can think of your core as a corset or weightlifting belt, and it also includes the quadratus lumborum muscle in your lower back, says physical therapist and certified strength and conditioning specialist Grayson Wickham, PT, DPT, CSCS, founder from Movement Vault. “When we think of the core, we think of all the muscles that surround the midsection,” he explains.

The core is a source of support and stability. It protects your organs and spine and allows you to maintain an upright posture and manage pressure in your abdomen. Your core muscles are also involved in flexion, side bending, extension and rotation of the trunk. In other words, twisting, leaning to the side, arching, and rounding your back are all possible thanks to the core.

What are your abs?

Most people use the term “abdominals,” short for abdominal muscles, to refer to the rectus abdominis. “These are the ‘six pack abs’ that you see from the front of your body,” says Forzaglia. Your abs work to flex your spine and protect the internal organs behind them.

Technically speaking, your abs are not limited to the rectus abdominis and also include your internal and external obliques, your transverse abdominis, and your piriformis, a small muscle meant to tighten the connective tissue that runs down the middle of your rectus abdominis .

Like your core, your abdominals provide support, stability, mobility, internal pressure regulation and protection.

“We have to remember that everyone is an athlete. Everyone needs to move throughout their day. —Grayson Wickham, PT, DPT, CSCS

The difference between your core and your abs

Although your abs are a part of your core, your core contains your abdominal muscles and all the other muscles that make up your midsection, including your pelvic floor muscles, spinal erectors, and quadratus lumborum. Essentially, “core” is a broad, generic term that refers to the entire midsection, and “abs” refers to a specific muscle group within the core.

The Benefits of a Strong Core

If you think of your body as a house, the core is its framework, says Forzaglia. “If your body is weak, the rest of the house will tend to collapse,” he says, noting that an unstable core can lead to imbalances and movement compensations that can lead to injury.

A weak core can also lead to feelings of tightness in other parts of the body, particularly in the hips, says Wickham. “Your body is always looking for stability. “So if you don’t have stability in your body, it’s very likely that the next available joint will be stolen,” he says.

Strengthening your core will not only protect you against inefficient movements, pain and injury, but it can also help improve your posture by counteracting hours spent sitting or slouching. And research¹ shows that a strong core can strengthen performance by optimizing athletes’ power and movement control.

“And we have to remember that everyone is an athlete,” Wickham says. “Everyone needs to move throughout their day. Everyone must perform some type of athletic movement, whether it’s bending and twisting to pick up a 10-pound box or snatching a barbell from the ground.

The Best Core Exercises to Add to Your Workouts

Stimulate your entire abdomen during your next strength workout with these core exercises, demonstrated by Forzaglia. Choose a few to incorporate into your routine or perform them consecutively in a core-focused circuit. You’ll need a large exercise ball and at least one set of dumbbells or kettlebells.

1. Bear exploration

1. Start on all fours in a tabletop position with your wrists directly under your shoulders and your knees under your hips.
2. Keeping your back flat, neck neutral, and core engaged, lift your knees an inch or two off the floor.
3. Simultaneously, step forward with your right hand and left foot. Next, step forward with your left hand and right foot.
4. Continue moving forward using the opposite arm and leg for the prescribed number of steps or distance.
5. Then, step back in the same contralateral movement pattern to return to your starting point.
6. Repeat.

2. Stir the pot

1. Kneel in front of a large exercise ball and place your forearms on it.
2. Lift your knees off the floor and shift your weight forward on the ball so you’re in a raised plank position.
3. Keeping your torso and hips still, circle your arms clockwise to “stir the pot.”
4. Next, circle your arms counterclockwise.
5. Repeat, alternating direction, for the prescribed number of repetitions.

3. Half-kneeling halo

1. Start in a half-kneeling position with your right foot in front of you and your left foot behind you.
2. With both hands, hold a kettlebell or dumbbell at chin level.
3. Circle the weight around your head forming a “halo”: lift the weight outward from your left ear, bring it around the back of your head and toward your right ear, then complete the circle in front of your face at chin level. level.
4. Repeat the halo movement by moving in the opposite direction.
5. Repeat the sequence for the prescribed number of repetitions.

4. Farmer’s Transportation

1. With a kettlebell or dumbbell in each hand, stand with your feet hip-width apart and your arms at your sides. Keep your shoulders back, your chin level, and your core engaged.
2. Walk slowly the prescribed number of steps or distance. Focus on keeping your chest lifted and your ribcage stacked over your hips.

The Best Ab Exercises to Add to Your Routine

For a more ab-focused workout, challenge yourself with these four moves demonstrated by Forzaglia. As with the basic exercises, you can incorporate them into your workout or do all four in a circuit. You’ll need an ab roller, a pull-up bar, and a heavy or stable structure, such as a platform or weightlifting pole.

1. Para deployment

1. Start in a kneeling position. Bend forward at your hips and, with your shoulders positioned directly over your wrists, grasp the handles of an ab roller.
2. Keeping your abs engaged and your arms straight, lean forward at your knees, allowing the ab roller to roll out in front of you. Go as far as possible while keeping your back flat and your neck neutral.
3. Contracting your abs, roll the ab roller back to the starting position.
4. Repeat for the prescribed number of repetitions.

2. Hanging knee brace

1. Grip an overhead barbell with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, palms facing your body.
2. Lift your feet off the ground to hang from the bar.
3. Keep your core engaged and your shoulders tucked in (don’t let your shoulders raise around your ears) and bring your knees toward your chest.
4. Lower your feet, but don’t let them rest on the floor.
5. Bring your knees toward your chest again.
6. Repeat for the prescribed number of repetitions.

3. Dragonfly

1. Lie on your back and raise your arms straight above your head. Hold a heavy weight or the base of a stable structure, such as a pole or weightlifting platform, for stability.
2. Keep your lower back in contact with the floor and lift your feet an inch or two off the floor with legs straight. (If your lower back arches, lift your legs higher.) This is the starting position.
3. Lift your legs so that your knees and ankles are directly above your hips, then use your abs to lift your hips off the floor.
4. Slowly lower your hips and legs until your feet are an inch or two off the floor or more.
5. Repeat for the prescribed number of repetitions.

4. Hollow socket

1. Lie on your back and raise your arms straight above your head.
2. Engage your core and lift your shoulders, arms, legs, and feet off the floor. (The closer you keep your legs and feet to the ground, the harder the exercise.) Keep your neck neutral and your legs straight and together.
3. Maintain a hollow body position for the prescribed duration.