Rebuilding the core

How time flies. It's been almost a month since my last strength session. We discontinued our membership for the gym at the end of May, and ever since that time I've been busy with my daily life as well as running and biking. All the time I've had it in the back of my mind that I need to do something at the very least for core and abs. That has been moved abruptly to the front of my mind as I've started to get some of those back pains in the last few days that I was experiencing before I started my strength routine.

I found a workout program as I was flipping through a special issue Outside magazine section that came with my normal July issue. There are a couple different workouts created by a water polo coach. I've done some of these or variations of these workouts before. They definitely work. I'm going to start off with the core program and the abs program. They are both short and intense, so I'll just do it first thing in the morning or tag it on to the end of a bike or run workout.

Here are the workouts that I'll be doing. I'm going to start off alternating days. One day I'll do abs, the next core, and so on. I'm going to shoot for at least 2 per week of each, and hopefully 3 per week of each. I just don't want to set my sights to high from the start.

Core

Lower Back Pushes - 2 sets x 10 each - lie on back with legs extended on the ground, tighten stomach muscles and push lower back firmly against floor

Swimmers - 2 sets x 10 each - lie on stomach, with clenched fists & thumbs up, raise & lower opposite hands and feet, hold each rep 3 secs.

Supermans- 2 sets x 10 each - raise both legs and arms, hold each rep for 3 secs.

Front Bridge- 2 sets x 45 seconds each - weight resting on your toes and forearms (hands clasped on the floor), hold in a plank position 45 seconds

Side Bridge- 2 sets x 45 seconds each - Keeping body in a straight line, balance on the sides of feet and right forearm, with left hand reaching straight up toward the sky for 45 seconds, switch sides

Abs

Crunches - 2 sets x 20 each - with feet on floor and hands behind ears, crunch up & hold for 3 secs.

Ankle Touches - 2 sets x 20 each - Lying on back with feet on floor, crunch up & reach right hand toward right ankle, then left hand toward left ankle

Toe Touches - 2 sets x 20 each - Lying on back with legs extended straight up into air, reach fingers toward toes as you crunch upward

Side Toe Touches - 2 sets x 20 each - Like toe touches, but reach each hand toward the opposite foot to work obliques