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Are you training your core the same way week after week? While these simple exercises are foundational for helping many through back pain, without variety and progression, you can leave your core undertrained, which can limit your ultimate performance in the gym and increase risk of injury when the weights get heavy.
So, today I'm revealing 10 highly effective core stability exercises 95% of gymgoers completely skip. That's not allowed. These aren't gimmicks or potentially harmful moves overhyped by social media influencers. >> Don't be a smelly, pathetic loser. Call now so you can have plutonium of abs. They're exercises grounded in science and time-t tested by the world's top strength and rehab professionals. I use them when treating elite athletes with back pain, and they're a staple in my own training routine as well. We'll kick things off with a few more familiar ones, and as we go down the list, they'll get less and less mainstream. In fact, exercise number nine is one you've probably never seen before.
Now, despite what a lot of influencers push today, core stability is not just about your six-pack muscles. It's so much more. In fact, Dr. Punjabi from Yale broke down the spine stabilization process into three subsystems. There's the passive aspect, made up of your bones, discs, and ligaments, things you can't control. Next, there's the active system. These are your big core muscles that surround your torso. And last, the neural system. Think of this like your body's control center. Much like how a sophisticated robot reacts and adjusts suddenly to external forces without falling over, your body's nervous system constantly receives feedback from tiny sensors within muscles, tendons, and ligaments, and instantaneously tells your muscles, aka the active subsystem, how to redispute muscle tension to remain stable. If one subsystem fails, movement quality can break down and injury can occur.
Today, I've got my friend Zero Bounce here, and we're going to have him go through a test live that you should try also at home. We're going to see his carry capacity level, something that most people struggle with, even if they have good gym strength. The test starts with finding 75% of your body weight spread evenly amongst two hands. So, Zero weighs about 185 lbs. We've got 71 pound kettle bells that we're going to use for the test. This is a part of the functional capacity test developed in part by Gray Cook. It isn't testing isolated raw strength of any one muscle in your core. Rather, it's a biioarker for how well your body maintains alignment, posture, and control. Also known as realworld stability. In fact, the only way a strong man can walk with a heavy yoke or an athlete powerfully cut is with the ability to hold the pelvis level and maintain postural integrity and stability in a single leg stance. Let's see how long he could walk while maintaining perfect posture. Timer's on now. Minute 25. Anything on top of minute 30 is extra. Minute 30. >> I could have kept going. >> He hit a minute 30 and still could have kept going. For context, passing of this test is being able to go for a minute and 30 while maintaining good posture and not having to regrip. I want you to try this test at home and tag me on Tik Tok and Instagram using the hashtag squatyouukry test. I want to see what you are able to do and I'll repost some of the best ones.
Now, a failure to reach this mark just highlights hidden weaknesses that many bodybuilding and strength training programs never expose. But to build better stability, we're not going to train the test. Rather, we're going to use single arm carries with the six position carry drill invented also by Gray Cook. First, we need to pick the right starting weight. Choose a kettle bell you can press overhead 12 to 15 times with ease. If you struggle to meet this rep range on one arm, drop the weight. Once you find the correct weight, start your walk with the right-handed overhead carry. As soon as you feel like you're starting to lose positioning in the overhead carry, move to the rack position. Don't wait until you reach complete failure. Eventually, when you start to lose integrity in the rack position, drop the weight to your side into a suitcase position. Eventually, even this will get tiring. But before you reach failure, switch the kettle bell to your left hand and press it overhead. Continue this cycle now on the opposite side of your body, moving to the front rack position and eventually down to the suitcase carry before going back to the right for as long as you want. Gray will have people shoot eventually for 12 to 15 minutes of continuous work with this drill, but ease yourself into that timeline if you need to. Now, if you're having any shoulder pain in the overhead position, you can just perform this routine by moving between the front rack and the suitcase carry. And if you only have access to dumbbells, just perform the suitcase carry.
This next exercise is another great way to train your lateral core musculature, your obliques, erectors, and QL. And hold it long enough, and you'll feel your glute medius on your downside hip working really well as well. This is because the glute medius is a key pelvic stabilizer. And if you watched my video on the best glute exercises, you'll remember this one ranked elite goat level for glute medius activation. To perform, start by laying on your side with your forearm resting on the ground with your elbow directly underneath your shoulder. Stack your legs on top of each other. Then lift your hips from the ground and assume a traditional side plank while keeping your core tight. Then lift your top leg towards the sky. Try to hold this position for at least 10 seconds. This exercise variation has actually been used in research specifically to evaluate and train lateral chain endurance. In other words, it's gold for assessing how well your hips and side core muscles can resist collapsing sideways. Something that plays a huge role in fixing the movement root causes of many injuries rather than just treating symptoms. And if you notice a big difference on one side versus the other, it would be a good idea to have this exercise as a part of your workout warm-ups for now. Just start with four reps of 10-second holds on each side and progress in reps rather than hold time over the next few weeks.
All right, two exercises down, eight more to go. This next exercise is one that I learned from my late friend and physiootherapist Dr. Andrew Lockach, and it's the offset walk. It's been an essential exercise for many of my back pain patients over the years who require enhanced core stability because of its unique ability to stimulate the very deep core muscles. Start by hanging a light weight off the end of a very light bar or PVC pipe. I'm using the lightest monster band from Rogue Fitness today. Place the bar on your back like you're performing a back squat. Then slide the weight away from your torso until you feel your abs kick on to keep you upright. Then without tipping over, stay tall and walk forward five to 10 steps. Then backwards to your start position without losing balance. You'll notice the weight will start swinging and bouncing around while you walk, making it difficult to remain upright. That's the magic of this exercise. The instability of this exercise is designed to enhance the neural subsystem. The bouncing weight stimulates the very deep core muscles that run between each joint like your interpanalis, intertransversary and multipetus. Their small size means their true role is not to create spine movement. Rather, think of them as proprioceptive muscles. They are packed with tiny sensors called muscle spindles that sense joint position changes. When activated, they quickly provide feedback to the body, telling the true larger core muscles how to engage properly to enhance stability. This is why many people with spine instability then experience less back pain after performing them. After a few rounds, slide the weight close to your body to end the set and then switch sides and perform the same amount on the opposite side of your body. I usually start my patients around 10 lbs or 5 kilos and progress with duration of walking, moving from 30 seconds towards 1 minute per set, for example, or with slightly more weight. But this isn't an exercise for most to overload like crazy, especially for those dealing with back pain. So don't try to progress this too heavy.
Another exercise Dr. Lock routinely used to build the core is number four on our countdown, the around the world. To perform, rotate a kettle bell around your body five times clockwise, then five times counterclockwise. Now, this may feel quite easy in a double leg stance, but then switch to one foot and perform the same rotations again five times clockwise and five times counterclockwise. Being in a single leg stance is a far greater challenge to maintain sufficient stability. So, don't be surprised if this exercise is very tough at first. Last, drop to both knees and try to stay tall while again rotating again both directions. Use the right weight for your body and your deep core muscles will fire hard and provide the information needed to maintain spine stability and not twist or tip over.
Next on our list is a common back exercise with a twist that'll smoke your abs, the renegade row. To perform, assume a push-up position on top of a pair of heavy kettle bells. Tense your whole body. Squeeze your glutes. Then press down hard into one kettle bell before then rowing with your opposite hand in a slow and controlled motion. Do not allow your body to sag, twist, or your hips to shoot up in the air. Anti-rotation is our goal with this exercise. For programming, shoot for several sets of just three to five reps per arm, and you'll definitely feel the burn. Master kettle bell instructor Pavle recommends doing these with a 70 lb kettle bell. So, if you can't do that amount of weight with perfect technique yet, there's two options. First, you could drop weight and do these with a more stable dumbbell, as a very light kettle bell could tip over and risk injury. You can also stick to a light kettle bell, but rest your opposite hand on a more stable object, like a stack of plates.
All right, this next exercise is one that really challenges your abdominal strength and control, the ab wheel roll out. To perform, start by moving your pelvis forward, the motion of hip extension, until your torso is in one straight line. Don't focus on moving your arms just yet, only the pelvis. Once you've assumed a straight line with your torso, then move the arms. This exercise turns your core into a bridge that transfers force from your shoulders through your torso and into your hips and vice versa. That's how the core works in real life, stabilizing while force moves through it. Now, if you don't have an ab wheel, you can also place two small weights on a barbell and you'll get the same feel. And if you find yourself rounding your back or letting your hips sag to the ground excessively, it just may be a little too difficult at this time for you. So, a variation I'll sometimes use in clinic for my patients is a regressed ball roll out. Again, focus on moving your hips into a straight line with your torso and then rolling the bar out as far as you can before coming back in. Another variation you can try that doesn't require any equipment is a walk out from a push-up position. Assume a normal push-up stance. Stiffen your core before then slowly walking your hands out as far as you can before coming back in. Try as hard as you can to keep your back in a flat position the entire time. And as possible, walk your hands out farther and even try holding the end position for 5 to 10 seconds for a greater challenge.
Moving on to exercise number seven. The stir the pot is an exercise elite powerlifter Brian Carroll used to build his core to support his spine under a world record lift of 136 pounds in 2020. It is an outstanding exercise that integrates the entire anterior core musculature as well as your lateral obliques to limit torso twisting or bending. Start off in a front plank with your elbows on a ball and your feet about shoulder width apart. Now, a rigid start position is key. So, as you get onto the ball, stiffen your core, squeeze your glutes, and push your upper back away from the ball slightly to really lock in the desired full body stiffness. If this is your first time trying this, see if you can just hold this plank position for 30 seconds. Once you can do that, you can now progress to drawing tiny circles clockwise and counterclockwise while keeping your torso completely still. Here's how Brian likes to program and progress these for different individuals. progressions are going to look like like this. Front plank, front plank on the ball, small circles. You can go north, south, east, west on it. Eventually, sets of 25, sets of 50, sets of 100, but I've seen people be able to increase from doing about five or 10 at a time to within the end of the summer doing 100 at a time.
>> Okay, only three more exercises to go. This next one uses a cable machine. The chop and lift patterns are powerful functional core drills that build stability in three planes of motion through distinct spiral and diagonal movements key for realworld movements, injury prevention, and transferring power from the lower body to your upper body. To perform the chop, set the cable pulley at a high position. Assume a half kneeling position perpendicular with the cable machine. Your knee closest to the machine will be up and your stance should be fairly narrow to challenge your balance. From a side view, your front knee should be at a 90° position and your back knee should be stacked directly under your hip, torso, and head for a tall stacked alignment. Your cues for this movement are pull to center and push away. If using a tricep rope attachment, begin by pulling it to your chest with your lower arm and then pushing it away towards your downside knee with your upper arm. The cable should stay close to your body and move at a constant angle the entire motion while your torso remains tall. All of the motion should come from your arms while your core and hip muscles create a stable base. Eventually, you should start to feel co-ontraction of your ab and back muscles before your arms move. This process of reflexively stabilizing is how your body naturally creates efficient movement. Core stability precedes arm and leg movement. In those with poor stability, the contraction of their core muscles is delayed and the initial movement of the cable pulley easily causes the torso to sway side to side. Another common mistake is to flex the hip or trunk forward. So to limit this problem, focus on creating a gentle stretch in the front of your thigh and maintain that throughout the entire movement.
Now if you take your cable attachment and lower it to the floor, you can now perform the lift variation. Your base of support remains the exact same except your inside knee will now be in the down position. Taller people will need to elevate that knee on a small 4 to 8 in step to maintain the desired vertical angle of pull while maintaining a slight stretch in the front of your down thigh. Use the queue. Pull to center and push away. With your palms down, pull the rope to your chest, beginning with your outside arm, and then press it away with the inside arm. Again, this is an arm movement on a stabilized trunk. Any trunk twisting should be limited. Chops and lifts can also be performed in a tall kneeling position, which is especially helpful if you're someone with a squat technique problem. Common form breakdowns such as an excessive out towing, knee cave or vgus, or excessive back rounding can all stem from a lack of hip and core stability. When doing chops and lifts in tall kneeling, you're locking your body into a symmetrical hip position and forcing your core to work hard for direct carryover to better squats. FMS founder Greg Cook actually recommended Tim Ferrris perform these in his best-selling book, The 4Hour Body, as a way to expose and clear up hidden muscular and movement imbalances. See how many quality reps you can do in each of the four quadrants. If you find one is significantly weaker or more unstable, perform just that one direction of chop or lift during your weekly training and you'll soon see massive improvements in all of the patterns as they're closely related. A tip for training these exercises is not to perform a set of 10 reps in a row, but rather 10 sets of one rep. This means you should try to separate each repetition with a small pause. Take your breath, feel your core engage, and then move your arms with perfect technique. Remember, we're trying to train reflexive stabilization, not strengthen your core stabilizers.
This next exercise is one that I learned from Milo Gorgv, who coaches one of the best weightlifters in the world today. It's simply called the Milco bench press. Position your body perpendicular on a bench with only your lower back in contact. Lock your feet into the ground. Then, keeping your core engaged, lift your upper back and chest slightly to lock in your torso. Next, perform a controlled twist through the upper back as you punch one hand as high as possible. Then, twist in the other direction. Now, punching the other hand to the sky. Really focus on turning from the shoulders while you keep your pelvis horizontal and the low back glued to the bench. Here's a clip of Olympic and world champion Carlos Nisar performing these with a light dumbbell. Perform just five reps on one arm before switching sides. Now, all of our exercises up until this point have been isometric in nature, except for this last one. You see, the abdominal wall also functions as a spring, storing and releasing energy in many athletic movements and therefore should be trained this way. If you're really looking for a comprehensive abdominal training program, start with your feet perpendicular to a brick wall. Shift your weight into your back hip and then quickly rotate through the hips and release the ball towards the wall. As soon as you catch the rebound, absorb the force and immediately toss it back like a game of hot potato. Keep your hands in close and minimize torso motion while focusing on generating explosive force from your hips. With this approach, the exercise becomes a true short range plyometric drill for the abs.
All right, guys. If you've had back pain with any of these exercises, be sure to go check out my injury fix book, Rebuilding Milo, on Amazon.com right now. I'll have it linked in the show notes below. But that's it for today's video. Let me know in the comments below which of these 10 exercises I shared today are your favorite. A big thanks to my man Zero Bounce for being included in this video. Be sure to go follow him on YouTube right now. See you guys.