This 5-Minute Core Workout Will Help You Build Your Strength ASAP

There's no getting around it: Training your core can be a pain in the ass. It doesn't have to be—some people love it and center their workout around it—but more often than not it is, which is rather unfortunate. Our core, which consists of our diaphragm, deep abdominal muscles, and pelvic floor, is perhaps the most important part of our bodies when it comes to movement. Simply put, it controls everything we do. 

So if you're someone who begrudgingly tacks core work onto the end of your workout, or you only do it when you "feel like it," this quick circuit might be your soul mate. You'll spend less time doing this circuit than you would standing in line for the bathroom. (The women's bathroom. Not the men's. Don't even get me started.) 

These muscles are called our "core" because they're at the center of every movement we make. The quality of our core determines our stability, posture, and our ability to safely move our bodies. 

"Our core stabilizes our axial skeletal, or our spine and pelvis," says Sarah Kostyukovsky, DPT. "When our appendages move (our arms and legs), we need to get the stability from our core to efficiently move our body in space. Without a good functioning core, our body is at more risk for injury and our body doesn't move as effectively, no matter what we do—whether that's walking, running, lifting, carrying, or exercising in general."

And as Jaime Schehr, N.D., R.D., notes, having a weak core can also lead to back pain (especially lower back pain), which an estimated 80% of adults experience at some point in their lives. 

Finish your workout with a dead bug pose (yeah, strange name, we know). Start by lying flat on your back and bringing legs to tabletop with arms straight out in front of you. Relax your neck. Lower your right arm and left leg simultaneously (opposite arm and opposite leg) so that they're a few inches above the ground. From here, you have the option to return your arm and leg to starting position, switch which arm and leg you lower, and continuously alternate for a minute, or you can do a static hold on one side for 30 seconds and switch.

Like any other muscle, building a strong core takes time. And with this workout only taking five minutes, it's tempting (and easy) to overdo it in an effort to fast-track your core strength. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that, and as you can imagine, that isn't the healthiest mindset to have. 

"It isn't a good idea to train any body part repeatedly without recovery," Schehr says. "Doing so can increase your risk of injury. That said, because the core is such a large portion of the body, there are ways to train this area without repeating the same exercise or muscle daily."

Kostyukovsky agrees, adding, "Doing specific core exercises on a daily basis is safe and will make us stronger. If you are doing rectus abdominis and oblique muscle exercises to fatigue and you are sore the next day, I would give those muscles a rest from specific abdominal training. Pelvic floor, diaphragmatic breathing, and deep abdominal muscle exercises can be done daily."