Top Exercises to strengthen your Core

Hi, my name is Dr. Austa Roso, a physical therapist here at Ishitani Health Center in Fort Lee. Today, we'll be talking about one of my top exercises to strengthen your core. The core is made up of different abdominal muscles and hip muscles. Today, we'll be focusing on the gluteus medius, which is a major spinal stabilizer and hip stabilizer.

For this exercise, you just need to lay down on a firm surface—a yoga mat or a firm bed.

Alright, I'm going to lay down here. Bend the bottom knee and keep the top leg straight. Make sure the top leg is slightly behind your torso, or almost in line with it; don’t have it forward. Have the toes pointing straight ahead.

In this position, you're going to raise the leg up to about 45°. You don't need to bring it all the way up. Raise it and lower it slowly—up and down slowly. For this exercise, aim for three seconds on the way up and three seconds on the way down. You should feel the muscles burning and activating on the side of your buttocks: your gluteus minimus, maximus, and medius—all engaged on this side.

You'll do this exercise on both sides. Start with two sets of 10 repetitions and work your way up to three sets of 10.

That’s all for today! Thank you. My name is Dr. Austa Roso from Ishitani Health Center. If you have any questions, please give us a call or email us. We'll help you in the best way we can. Thank you!