Fabila's Fitness Club

Y ou probably have heard this over and over again, but what really is your core? I find myself saying this countless times to my clients, without stopping to think whether the average person understands me. Your core is a complex series of muscles that extends beyond your abs. It includes all the abdominal muscles, the muscles of your lower back, your pelvic floor, your hips and the diaphragm, a core breathing muscle.

  I n my article "We All Have Six Packs" , I highlighted some benefits of having strong abdominal muscles. Besides looking good physically, other benefits include: better breathing, improved posture, resulting in less back pains, helps a person avoid injury when performing tasks that put stress on the back and torso, and helping the body to heal faster after an injury or surgery to the spine. No doubt, exercise helps strengthen your abdominal muscles. I have highlighted below four exercises which I have found effective. I currently do these exercises at least thrice a week. Long Lever Crunches You start by lying face up on the floor, one leg up and the other extended, just like in the image below, both arms should also be extended. 

Do your triceps jingle when you wave good-bye?  M ichelle Obama is not only notable for being the first black “first lady” of America, or for her classy clothes, she is also notable for her toned arms. Oh yes! “The Michelle Obama arms”. I just love them. Your arms play a major role in your overall physical appearance. For example, you could be a UK size 12 but have fat saggy arms. People looking at you would assume you are much bigger. This is why most women would not take a side-view picture of their arms, so they can hide all the mess.  Toning your arms has other benefits, besides you looking good in sleeveless clothes. In toning your arm, you would have to work your upper body. A strong upper body improves bone density and muscle strength. By strengthening your arms, you increase your capacity to lift heavy items using your arms instead of your back, thereby reducing strain and injury to the back. 

Pic 1. Nil Hands 80 KG Squat s W ho says Nigerians aren't creative? In my article " what's your excuse? " I mentioned that people, no matter how busy they are, would always create time for things they considered important. This article is specifically for those whose reasons for not exercising is because they can't afford gym membership or gym equipment. Below are pictures sent by a friend of mine, who, I would say is a fitness fanatic. As you can see, in the first picture, he is using a barrel made of stones, rusty rods and pipes, In the second picture, he converts his Air conditioner cage to leg supports and in the third picture, he creates dumbbells from rocks and rusty rods. He even uses a friend in the fourth picture to add more weight to his push-ups. 

I  often get asked by guys whether fitness programmes like zumba can help build their muscles, and I always respond by asking “How much?” Zumba won’t make you look like this…  but it would get you toned so you don’t look like this ---------------------> Zumba although mainly targeted at improving your cardiovascular fitness, also incorporates other components of fitness. If you are looking to build muscles like the man in image 1, then in addition to cardiovascular fitness, you should add resistance training. Resistance training, also known as strength or weight training is well established as an effective method of exercise for developing muscular fitness. 

R esistance training, also referred to as strength training is simply any fitness activity aimed at strengthening the muscles. It is any exercise that causes the muscles to contract against an external resistance with the expectation of increases in strength, tone, mass, and/or endurance. The external resistance can be equipment, e.g. dumbbells or your body weight. A complete body workout ideally should include some resistance training to improve bone, joint function, bone density, muscle, tendon and ligament strength, as well as cardio exercise, to improve your heart and lung fitness. Some examples of resistance exercises include: