Stronger Core & Hip Flexors Workout By Yara Freiha

Exercise is therapy for your body! Your muscles express themselves during your workout and relieve the stress you had inside you. Each exercise targets a different part of your body.  Focusing and repeating the same exercise might leave other areas of your body unchallenged. ‘These exercises are a great place to start especially if you're aiming to eventually work on inversions’, says Yara Freiha, Calisthenics, and Fitness instructor.

The best part of this exercise is that you can do it right at home with almost no equipment! All you need is a yoga mat, and you’re good to go. 

What is Calisthenics?

At the most basic level, calisthenics is resistance training with your own body weight. It's designed to improve strength, flexibility, agility, balance, coordination, and aerobic conditioning-just about every skill you need to be a fit human being.

It is an art form of using your own body weight as a means to maximize human power and athletic ability. The fundamental goal of calisthenics should be mastering control over lifting and moving your body in space. Squats, push-ups, lunges, crunches, dips, jumping jacks, broad jumps, handstands are all calisthenics.

And, considering it's the simplest form of exercise with no fancy equipment necessary, it's been around for a really long time. Even though calisthenics is being talked about today like it's a new phenomenon, it has been around since the Greeks coined the term ages ago, from the words kallos, which means 'beauty’ and sthénos, meaning 'strength’.

Why are core and hip flexor exercises important?

While not everyone can have hips as agile as Shakira, we can all benefit from strengthening the muscles that support this ball-and-socket joint. Our hips aren’t only responsible for the rocking dance moves we bust out on occasion, but they’re also a vital area for runners, bikers, and nonathletes alike.

Sitting for much of the day — something almost all of us are guilty of — contributes to tight hip flexors. Tight hip flexors can cause lower back pain, hip pain, and injury.

Time to work out! 

Make sure to repeat each circuit 3 times with minimal rest in between exercises, and up to 1 min break after each round.

Exercise #1

1. Sit on the floor with your back straight and your feet spread apart.
2. Place both hands on the ground on each side of your right leg.
3. Raise your leg up and down without touching the floor 10 times.
4. Repeat with your left leg.
5. Go back to the start position and place both hands in front of you.
6. Raise both legs at the same time. Repeat 10 times.

Exercise #2

1. Sit down on the ground with your arms extended in front of you and your feet above the ground slightly bent at the knee.
2. Begin the exercise by simultaneously bringing your knees toward your body so that your thighs end up perpendicular to the ground, while also crunching forward and reaching toward your heels with your hands at your sides.
3. Reverse movement back to starting position. This completes one rep.
4. Repeat 10 times.

Exercise #3

1. Sit down on the ground with both palms on the floor aligned with your shoulders. Extend your legs in front of you.
2. Hoist yourself up on your hands and hover over the floor while lifting one leg at a time, then set it down on the ground. Repeat for the other leg. This completes one rep.
3. Repeat 10 times.

Exercise #4

1. Start by sitting on your legs and placing both palms firmly on the floor aligned with your shoulders.
2. Lift yourself up using your hands and keeping your toes touching the ground. Then come back down.
3. Repeat 10 times.

Exercise #5

1. Sit on the floor with your back straight and your feet spread apart.
2. Extend your arms above your head.
3. Lower your upper body towards the floor without touching it.
4. Go back up again. This completes one rep.
5. Repeat 10 times.

Check the video above to work out with Yara! 

Wasn’t this fun?! If you tried this workout or have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.