Welcome everyone to this edition of our interview series with wonderful health practitioners from the local Boroondara area. And today I’ve got Cordy here because Cordy is a personal trainer. She loves getting people strong and fit and uses all sorts of techniques, functional fitness, Pilates concepts, weight training, all that sort of stuff. Welcome Cordy.
Thank you for having me.
So I really wanted to do this interview because I wanted to get specific on core strength. how does that help people? Why do we want to do it? But also folks we’re in for a treat because Cordy is going to take us through a core strength workout that you can do at home to help you out. So Cordy, why core strength?
Core strength Is important for all movements in the gym, all movements at home. So you need your core, it’s your power house and your core strength, including your glutes. So your core, your ads that we know your glute strength, also your lower back and your shoulders, that’s the basis for all of our movements in life and at the gym. So you need a strong core.
Got it. So if you’re thinking that I need core strength because I’m an elite athlete or, I want to have a six pack, – it’s not about what you’re looking like, folks, it’s how you’re functioning and that concept of functional fitness is so critical because there’s no point just having a big bicep, if it doesn’t help you in life.
And your day to day life. So no point in just, um, you know, as you said, growing that bicep, if you don’t have the stability and mobility to grab a load of shopping out of the car and bring it down in one load without putting excessive strain on your back. Yeah,
Absolutely. And look, I’m, I’m always banging on to patients about – it’s about efficiencies. If our body is working and moving and functioning efficiently, we’re going to be healthier and we’re going to go longer in life. And we’re going to have less problems, less break downs, but we’re also going to have more power and more effectiveness in life. And I think that’s what we’re going to get into today. so it involves the abs the low back the glutes, right through there. So are there things that we should do shouldn’t do in order to get the best out of our core?
Absolutely. So with Pilates, it’s all about the rib to hip connection and also the breath. So you’re using the breath to control that movement. Also about that ability to stabilize through the pelvis. So not just doing a hundred sit-ups and working through your superficial muscles, but working through those deeper core stabilizing muscles, which of course helps us with our day to day life.
Got it. So then, so it’s a real focus on combining breath with movement. Is that, is that a principle there of pilates?
Yeah, absolutely. And that ability to stabilize and control your core.
Gotcha. And so does that have to be done in a gym setting? Or what, what, what’s needed?
No, I, so my speciality is mat Pilates. So I like to incorporate mat Pilates with almost all of my clients at the gym, whether they be new to strength, training, new to the gym, they might have some muscle imbalances or some injuries, or they may be quite experienced in the gym. So working through your mat Pilates, which means of course you can just do it at home on the floor, incorporating that into your day to day life or in the gym setting.
Got it. And how often should someone be doing their core exercises?
Well, that’s a good question. I would be doing a specific core exercise at least two or three times a week. However, it doesn’t need to be a 45 minute core session. It can just be incorporated at the start or the end of a gym workout or just 10 minutes, three times a week at home is totally fine. But the other thing that I’ll mention is that with every movement that we do in our day-to-day life or at the gym, the core is always turned on. So it’s not about just focusing on the core when you’re doing your AB exercises, but for every exercise and hopefully through day-to-day life as well.
Got it. So having, having a core that’s switched on, it’s going to help you at midweek tennis competitions, it’s going to help you as you slip the shopping out of the car, it’s going to be getting kids in and out of cots or out of the car, So, so just as little as 10 minutes, it can be a great core workout.
Absolutely. Yeah. If, um, and I’ll show you, so we’ll be building up our core exercises. So it will be, you won’t be able to do much more than 10 minutes to be honest.
She’s going to work you so hard at the end of that 10 minutes. Ooh. you going to be feeling the burn, the burn? I love that burn. I’m a little bit scared, but Hey, let’s, let’s, let’s get into the workout. What do people need to look out for? Like, what are some of the potential dangers or red flags maybe about doing a core workout?
Yeah, absolutely. So any pain through the lower back is a no-no. We don’t want to feel that we don’t want to feel any excess of tension through the shoulders and the neck or the upper back. So we just want to feel planted, intense, uh, feeling of the muscles, working through the core, perhaps the lower core, but that’s all.
Got it. Then you go folks. So this is something that is super important, but it’s super important to do at your pace. Not at Cordy’s pace, or if it is Cordy’s pace, you’re doing pretty well, but remember this is all scalable. So what Cordy is going to take you through is going to be a buildup, starting simple and we’ll move to more advanced. So don’t overdo it, but you’ve got to strain your body a little bit to get it to grow and to get it to get strong.
Yeah, absolutely. So I’ll be building on with this core workout and giving variations for some of the exercises. Well, so you can pick your level.
Brilliant. Well, let’s get into it. We are going to throw over to the floor and we’ll get into this core workout.
Oh, there you go. There, you have it folks. Thanks Cordy for that wonderful core strength, Pilates workout, you don’t need any equipment you really just got to get started. So if you’re looking for a way to strengthen, to stabilize, to prevent problems coming in the future, or just to give you that little bit more ease doing your day to day activities, then get stuck into that exercise. Get stuck into that routine that Cordy just went through. And as she said, two, three, four times a week would be awesome. And as always, if you have any drama or any problems with it, please let me know next time we catch up, but just an awesome workout.
We thank Cordy and look, jump onto her website, if you need some training, then she is the one to go to. So till next time, love doing these interviews. If you’ve got any suggestions, please let me know. Otherwise go visit www.aschiro.com for more.
See you soon.
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