looking for suggestions on a good core workout routine. i know there are tons of different exercises and things out there to do but i'm looking for 4-5 exercises that you can put together to get the full effect (i.e. to balance all muscle core muscle groups).
try this one... find a curb or blocks and then balance on one leg, slowly squat or bend the knee of the balance leg, not totally and then come back up, basically doing knee lifts while balancing, make sure to ankle flex or get on your toes, 10xleft 10xright....
Go to Letsruns favorite website, runners world. In the video section there are many core workout videos from Cox, Teg, and others.
I do this with some of my runners...make sure when you are squating down that your hips remain perpendicular with the ground. you shouldn't have to squat down very far, only about 8 inches or so. also works the vmo pretty good. you can also do the same exercise without bending your balancing knee, but dropping your hips to let your heal touch the ground (the opposite of what I just told you). works some different muscles
i used to do a lil routine almost daily after my workouts before cooling down that consisted of like 2x40 meters or so of high knee lifts, ankle flex, on toes, skipping with highknee lifts, bounding with high knee lifts, karioke or cross overs with and exaggerated knee lift, lunges touching knee to ground, then 3x 80 to 100 meter strides....I preferred to do these drills on level grass or on a track...
In order: 1 minute plank, 24 x Russian Twist, 50 x crunch, 15 x jacknife. Do 3 "super sets" and then burpees until failure.
you mean parallel to the ground?