Boost Gut Health 3x with These Core Toning Exercises and Foods

Part 1: What Are Core Strength Exercises?

As the name suggests, core strength exercises are what you do to strengthen your core or midsection. This region includes your stomach muscles, back, and pelvis. This is one of the most difficult parts of the body to work upon because it often accumulates fat.

If you work on these parts of your body through core strengthening exercises, you can have a stronger midsection and a better posture. These specialized workouts would also help you control the position and movement of your abdominal region.

Why is developing core strength important?

Lower back pain is often caused due to weakness in either the abdominal or the lower back muscles. These cardiovascular exercises focus your energy momentarily on your abdominal muscles, thus waking them up. They can also boost your heart rate and power up your digestive system, thus driving toxic wastes out of your body.

One should do these workouts exercises in the gym or at home. Sticking to a routine of workouts is especially important for people who have a sedentary lifestyle and those battling obesity or excessive weight gain. Changing your eating habits and switching to gut-friendly diets will help you have better health and fitness.

Benefits of having a strong core

Here are the benefits that you can enjoy from having a strong core:

Most fitness experts would ask you to start with the core first because it is the hardest part of your body to work on and you would take some time to get going with it. The key to these benefits is to stay focused and disciplined. As you choose to work out at home or in a gym, you can make personalized fitness plans for your abdomen, lower body, back, and chest, etc.

This is of special concern when you are obese or are overweight, and you are making it worse with an indulgent lifestyle. If you work on your midsection, you can count on nothing less than a well-toned set of abs and chest. Your digestive and immune systems too would start working better.

Core workout routine

It is important to follow a disciplined schedule for doing these workouts, especially if you think you are out of shape. We also recommend that you do these exercises under the expert guidance of a fitness coach to minimize mistakes.

Here is one such workout plan that you can use:

Core exercises for men and women: What body parts should be focused on?

Aerobics offers a similar set of guidelines for any fitness plan, be it for men or women. It is thus important to first consult a fitness coach online (if a gym trainer is not available) and start doing the exercises. We recommend that you first focus only on your abs or stomach and back muscles.

In the next few sections, we would list how you can do this.

Abdominal muscles

Most of the attention that is paid to the abdominal muscles is meant for having 6-pack abs. This group of muscles covers the abdominal cavity and houses the organs from the bottom of the ribs to the navel. This task is assisted by several local muscles to make the midsection stronger.

Pregnant women will experience dramatic distension of this muscle allowing for the growth of the baby. However, the muscle may not return to its original shape and strength post that period. Exercises targeting this muscle can help in strengthening it and returning the core to a flatter shape.

Back muscles

There are many muscles of the back as it is very large and complex. But when it comes to the core, the muscle of interest is the lower back muscle or erector spinae. These are two muscle groups on either side of the spine attaching to the hip bones or pelvis. Pain in the lower back can be due to:

• •  A weakness in the lower back muscles

•  A weakness in the abdominal muscles causing lower back pain

Standing for longer durations may often cause lower back pain, and people with weak lower back muscles are prone to it. You can do some crunches and oblique exercises every day to address this issue:

Crunches:

While lying on your back on a bench, lift your shoulders upwards just a few inches, enough to feel the full contraction of the rectus abdominis or 6-pack. As there are 3 “rows” of muscles forming this group, there are 3 variations to completely work the area and this is based upon leg positioning. This is also a good exercise to strengthen your core at home.

Here are the three variations of crunches:

• •  Forming a 90-degree angle between the upper and lower legs to work the top row

• •  Lowering the legs to form a 45-degree angle will target the middle row

•  Feet flat on the floor targets the lower row

Also read: Best Exercise Routines at Home for a Flat Stomach | MevoLife

• •  You can also do Obliques with the same movement, except that the body should be turned slightly to one side and then to the other. It would also help you tone your core at home.

• •  You can exercise the lower abdominals by lying flat on either a bench or the floor. The beginning position is with the legs together vertically in the air. You should be able to feel your tailbone against the bench or floor.

•  Slowly move your feet over your face while maintaining the legs outstretched. This contracts the muscle when done slowly.

Part 2: How to Improve Gut Health?

One of the best ways to accomplish this is to add lacto-fermented foods to your diet. To improve digestion, one must find a balance between the beneficial bacteria and the harmful bacteria that naturally occur in one’s gut. Such good bacteria are called gut flora and are important for our well-being.

Exercising for your midsection would help you have better metabolism rates and digestion, and this confidence will show in higher energy levels and your willingness to pursue an active lifestyle. The more regularly you work out, the better results you may derive over time.

What is digestion?

The process of food digestion refers to the complex cycle in which solid food is taken in, processed for nutrients, digested, and excreted. Soluble fiber will combine with the mixture aiding in the absorption of the nutrients. Insoluble fiber allows for smooth passage of the mixture through the digestive tract.

This process prevents a build-up of solid waste causing bloating and cramping. And if moving through the GI tract is too slow, it may lead to irritable bowel syndrome and constipation. In some cases, a more chronic condition called diverticulosis may also occur. This may require medical intervention.

What is the function of the digestive system?

Our digestive system is the key to good health and longevity. It has the sole responsibility of digesting the food and drinks that we intake every day. The digestive system carries out the following processes:

1. Ingestion and digestion of foods

2. Secretion of digestive enzymes

3. Breaking the food and extracting energy molecules from it

4. Absorption of the nutrients

5. Removal of waste and toxic elements

We are a society characterized by stress, toxic environments, fast foods, and sugary drinks, some obvious factors that have caused a multifold increase in viral infections and the use of antibiotics. None of these are conducive to good digestive health. Millions of dollars are spent each year trying to avoid bloating and constipation in the antacids, laxatives, enzymes, and fiber we purchase.

You can improve gut health and digestion by making simple diet changes and doing a couple of exercises to strengthen the core. One simple way to get this done is by eating probiotic foods that help in the digestive process to sustain the gut flora or microbiome. Their cumulative effect can help you have better immunity, strength, and resilience.

Foods that improve digestion (or what are gut-healthy foods?)

Some common gut-healthy foods are fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, sourdough bread, kombucha, and milk or water kefir. They increase lactic acid-producing bacteria (found mostly in probiotic supplements). They create an environment that promotes the growth of healthy bacteria. They also help in improving digestion and boosting metabolism.

Here’s why you should add lacto-fermented foods to your diet:

1. Balance the production of stomach acid: Fermented foods ease digestion by regulating stomach acid in the gut.

2. Help the body produce acetylcholine: Acetylcholine increases the movement of the bowel and aids in the reduction of constipation.

3. Beneficial to diabetics: Carbohydrates in lactic acid-fermented foods are broken down, which decreases the burden on the pancreas and improves its function.

4. Produces compounds that destroy and inhibit disease-causing bacteria: Many disease-causing bacteria are sensitive to the acidic nature of lactic acid.

Popular lacto-fermented foods

Sauerkraut and Kimchi:

Contain natural probiotics that improve the immune system and help in digestion. They have many beneficial enzymes and a high amount of vitamin C. Often touted as a superfood.

Sourdough Bread:

Contains a culture of beneficial bacteria and yeasts that naturally occur in bread. It requires hours of fermentation but increases the lactic acid bacteria that promote healthy bacteria in the gut.

Kombucha Tea:

A naturally fermented probiotic beverage rich in living colonies of good bacteria and yeast. Research indicates that it fights candida overgrowth and improves digestion. Kombucha contains antioxidants that boost the immune system and slow down aging.

Milk and Water Kefir:

The two health drinks are rich in probiotics, vitamins, minerals, and micro-and macronutrients. They also promote easier bowel movements and increase bile production to improve the liver and gallbladder.

Drinking enough water and eating the right foods go a long way in improving digestion and promoting good gut health. Adding lacto-fermented foods to your diet will reduce abdominal bloating and discomfort, belching, and other symptoms caused by a stressed digestive system.

Benefits of green tea for melting body flab

You would have also seen that drinking a glass of warm water or a cup of green tea early morning often gets most people started. Hydration of the body is opposite to dehydration. It can reduce the problems with digestion like the retention of solid waste in the digestive system. Drinking enough water removes toxic wastes from the body, thus easing constipation.

None of this reduces the importance of eating right and working out regularly. Both these habits help keep the body in top shape by providing it with enough nutrition and using the stored fat as energy, thus keeping you fitter. We recommend you get in touch with a virtual health professional to get a personalized diet plan for yourself before you decide to work on your fitness.