The core of your body includes not only your abdominals, but your back and pelvic region as well. The reason why the best personal trainers in NYC often focus on strengthening these muscles is because every movement that you make throughout your lifetime will depend on strength in the core. Stronger core muscles reduce your risk of injuring your back or hips during every day activities, through exercise, or when participating in sports and other activities.

The following are the top 6 core exercises often used by personal trainers to strengthen the core.

1. Plank

Go into push up position with arms bent at 90 degrees and flat on the ground. Make sure arms are parallel to each other and shoulder width apart. Make sure your elbows are in line with shoulders and prevent your buttocks from pushing up toward the ceiling. Your weight should balance on your toes and arms with your body in one straight line. For an easier modified version some personal trainers may allow you to lower your knees to the ground.

2. Superman

Lie on your stomach with your legs together and arms stretched out above your head straight. Lift arms and legs all up together, arching your back to bring them up. Hold for a few seconds and then lower to the ground and repeat.

3. Swimmers

Lay face down on the floor and raise opposite arm and leg up at the same time. Hold for a few seconds then lower and repeat with the other arm and leg. Keep your head in a comfortable position and don’t strain to raise it with your limbs. Personal trainers will often combine this movement with the superman pose.

4. Ab Twists

Stand up straight and hold your arms out at your sides. You can also do this one holding a large exercise ball in your arms in front of you. Twist from the waist, bringing one arm all the way over to meet the other arm (second arm doesn’t move) and then rotate back in the other direction. If using a ball, simply twist it side to side with the movement coming from the waist. Your hips should remain stable throughout the movement.

5. Ball Crunches

You can do standard crunches on the floor, but it is a lot safer and more comfortable to perform them on an exercise ball. Lay across the ball to perform regular crunches with hands on your temples so that your don’t pull on your  neck. Focus on working your ab muscles.

6. Unstable Motions

Here’s a trick that personal trainers use but which most people never think of doing. You can build up strength in your core while strengthening other areas of the body if you stand on an unstable surface while doing it. For instance, you can do bicep curls with dumbbells while standing on a Bosu ball or push-ups with one arm up on a higher surface. These movements put your body off center and your core muscles will have to work to keep you stable.

These exercises should get you started toward your personal fitness goals, but there are many secrets of personal training that can only be discovered by working with a personal trainer. If you want to see real changes in your body in as little time as possible, consult with one of our top personal trainers at our private personal training gym in NYC for more info.

Summer is on its way and you’re desperate to tone up your muscles and get that definition going . Besides enlisting the help of our top personal trainers in NYC, what can you do to make sure you have the best bod on the beach or sunning by the pool?

It actually doesn’t have to be difficult to tone up for fun in the sun. Consider these five tips from some of the best personal trainers in NYC, all of which can easily be implemented into a busy lifestyle.

#1: Never just sit there.

If you have a job that requires you to sit at a desk most of the day, vow never to just sit there for more than an hour at a time…and no, typing on the keyboard doesn’t count! If you have a private office you can get up and do some simple strengthening moves such as tricep dips off the edge of your chair or table (make sure it’s sturdy!). At the very least get up and walk around the office a little every hour to keep your body from getting stiff.

You can also use a Physio ball or Swiss ball as a chair instead of a regular office chair ( see above picure.) This will allow you to engage your core muscles while you’re working.

At home, you can do push-ups, squats, crunches, and butt raises while watching TV. Vow to do something to reach your goals during every commercial break.

#2: Don’t downplay the importance of weight training.

Many people looking to tone up or get better definition in their muscles often downplay the importance of weight lifting circuit workouts. Such as a circuit of lunges, chest presses, and bicep curls. Many of these exercises burn off fat even after you have finished your workout.

Remember, you have to get rid of the fatty layers covering your muscles before you will actually be able to see them. If you are already at a healthy weight and just need to tone up some, weight training will help keep you from gaining fat by increasing your metabolism.

#3: Skip the sugary treats and stick with veggies and lean protein.

Foods and treats loaded in sugar are more likely to be stored directly as fat since they process through the body so fast and are less likely to be burnt off before they are deposited in your fat cells for storage.

Instead, stick with lean proteins and low starch unprocessed carbohydrates. Salads with grilled chicken, turkey or fish are great as the weather gets warmer.

#4: Eat every four hours or so.

Don’t go for long periods of time between meals as your metabolism will drop, you will burn less fat, and you will be so hungry by the time you do eat that you are more likely to eat unhealthy foods that are easier to grab. Keep some healthy snacks on hand such as raw veggies with humus or red apples with raw almonds when you are away from home so you will not get so hungry and be tempted to make a bad choice.

#5: Try one of our top personal trainers here in NYC.

If there is every a time to get help from one of our top personal trainers, it is just before summer. Our top personal trainers know exactly what you need to do to tone up and will be able to tell you the fastest way to see the results that you are looking for.

Our private personal training gym is located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas ( 6th Ave at 53rd st) New York City , NY 10019. But we can also come to your home for in-home personal training here in NYC.

You can can reach us at 212-255-5842 to schedule a trial session at the reduced rate of $50 but hurry summer is right around the corner.

Are you currently in the process of trying to get in great shape for summer?  If so, then I would highly recommend that you look into hiring personal trainers to assist you with your weight loss and fitness goals!  A personal trainer can be extremely helpful for a wide variety of reasons.

One reason that having personal trainers can be really helpful is that they often give you a real sense of accountability.  Maybe you had a long day at work and are tired, or perhaps you just feel like relaxing and watching your favorite TV show.  These reasons as well as others might cause you to skip your workout.  However, if you know that your personal trainer  is expecting you to meet up with them at a specific time then chances are that you will be less likely to miss your workout.  Not only because you do not want to disappoint your personal trainer but also because you do not want to waste your money by not showing up to your personal training session! 

Another reason that it is great to have personal trainer is that they can help create the fitness plan that is best suited to your current level of fitness as well as the timeline for which you would like to reach your goals by.  It’s not always easy to come up with a plan like this on your own, especially if you are someone that is fairly new to working out.  More often that not, personal trainers can also help out by giving you some excellent guidelines for healthy eating which will then in turn help you with your weight loss goals. 

Many times people stop doing their workouts because they get bored of doing the same things over and over again.  Therefore, another advantage of having personal trainers is that they often can come up with some truly great ideas of how to mix things up in order to keep your workouts fresh and interesting.  Just let your personal trainers know what type of workout activities you think you might be interested in, and they can then easily customize workouts that will not only be really effective but fun as well!  This is great because it prevents boredom from creeping in which means that you will be much more likely to actually stick to consistently doing your workouts. 

If achieving your health and fitness goals is really important to you, then hiring a personal trainer is well worth the investment.