Here are some achievable landmarks to begin your core training journey

Three beginner exercises for core endurance training

Core endurance is the ability to hold a position, or to use a muscle, or group of muscles, over a period of time while resisting fatigue.

There are three basic exercises that I always recommend for building core endurance. These are the plank, the side plank and a single leg bridge. Let’s just say your goal is to hold a plank for a minute, a side plank for 45 seconds and a single leg bridge for 45 seconds each side.

Of course you won’t necessarily be at that stage at the moment, that’s where we want to get you to. That’s a kind of marker in the sand, if you like.

You might think that the first step would be to hold the exercises for as long as you can, ensuring you have the correct position and technique and gradually building up to the desired durations above.

But actually, we find that’s not necessarily the best way, or the most efficient, to go about increasing core endurance.

By far the best way to build core endurance

Instead, try this – let’s concentrate on the plank for a moment. First hold the plank for as long as you can. Let’s say that’s 20 seconds. Instead of next time trying 30 seconds, then 40 seconds, then 50 seconds etc. up to a minute, there is a great way to sort of fast track the process. And that’s to do the plank for the full minute – or as close to that as you can get - but to do it in intervals.  

So between each 10 seconds in the plank position, you’ll rest for five seconds. That looks like coming up into the correct position, holding for 10 seconds, then dropping for five seconds, coming back up for 10, dropping for five. The great news is if you can do that three or four times, you’ve essentially held a plank for 30 to 40 seconds, which is likely more than you could have done without the intervals.

So what’s happening?

Well, put simply, it’s those five second breaks in between the planks that are actually helping to build the endurance. They’re giving the muscle time to clear the waste product, and in doing so you’re building the infrastructure within your muscle to clear the waste product more efficiently in the future.  That way, when you then go back to holding for 30 seconds, or 45 seconds, you've got that infrastructure there to ready to clear as you're doing it. Hence you can hold position for longer.

You can approach the side plank in exactly the same way.  So find your resting position then come up into a controlled side plank position for 10 seconds, then drop the knee down to rest for five seconds. Build that endurance by holding up for 10 seconds, down for five, up for 10. Down for five and get the muscle clearing that waste.

And finally the single leg bridge. If you want to get to the stage where you can hold each side for 45 seconds,  you could start with the double leg bridge. Watch from around 3:10 in the video above for a demo. Lift up and squeeze then come down as needed allowing the waste product to clear and the infrastructure to build. And then when you’re ready, hold the single leg position on one side for maybe five seconds, alternating between sides when you can.  Build endurance by increasing to 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, ensuring the muscles know how to activate. And not only that, that they’re able to clear the waste product so we can then keep them activated for longer.

This is the foundation to how you build core strength fast.

Need more support? Take a look at our 12-Week Beginner’s Core Training Online Course. We’ll guide you step by step on your journey to a stronger, healthier core. Anytime, anywhere and all at your own pace.