People often refer to their core as their general stomach area.
While this is partly true, your core muscles account for more than just your stomach muscles.
Building a strong core requires creatine supplements and whey protein as well as a variety of different core exercises.
Building a strong core helps our entire body, giving us power and strength to perform everything from everyday tasks to high intensity sports.
Playing sports without good core strength will leave you highly vulnerable to injury.
Your core is actually made up of several central muscles.
These include your Transverse abdominals, Obliques and Rectus Abdominus in the stomach, your Erector Spinae in your back, and the Ilio-psoas, Glutius Maximus, Medius and Minimus in your hip.
As you can see, these muscles are found right the way through the midsection of your body.
Your transverse abdominals are the deepest muscles in your stomach.
They help you twist and flex from your waist, they protect your organs and most importantly create a strong core link between your upper body and lower body.
They are often thought of as the most important muscles when it comes to developing a strong core.
Your obliques are found to the side of your waist and link up to your ribcage.
They let us twist and tilt, which along with the transverse abdominals, give us our full range of motion in our waist.
The rectus abdominus is the correct term for the six pack and is found on the top of the stomach, covering the area from the centre of the rib cage down to the pubis bone.
It keeps the pelvis in line and helps protect the spine.
Moving downward to the hip muscles and the Ilio-psoas which are found at the top front of your leg.
They join in the top of the thigh and extend up through the pelvis and in to the lower spine.
The purpose of these muscles is to raise the upper leg.
Because of the amount of time we spend sitting down, these muscles are quite short, and because they extend to the lower spine, they can cause discomfort in the lower back.
That is why it is important we give these muscles the exercise they rarely get, to strengthen them and prevent lower back pain.
The glutius muscles - maximum, medius and minimus, are found in your rear.
The glutius maximus is one of the large muscles in the body.
The function of these muscles is to help move your legs in different directions.
These muscles are often very weak and should be exercised to improve posture and general core strength.
The key to a good core is both strength and suppleness.
By developing the strength of each muscle you will be able to access this strength and your body will be able to function to the best of its abilities.
The key to good core exercises is to apply an opposing force to your upper and lower body, and to force your core muscles to want to twist in opposite directions.