I recently had a chance to interview Kathleen Pagnini, certified personal trainer and author of the new DVD, “Pilates and Chocolate.”  (Who doesn’t love that title!)

As you may or may not know, a strong core is important for many reasons. Not only will it help you look hot in a bikini this summer, if that indeed is your goal (sorry guys, I’ll put in speedo here as well in case you are reading and want to look hot at the beach – though I’m not prone to speedos!), but a strong core:

• Helps prevent injuries
• Improves balance
• Assists in day to day balance and life activities
• Keeps the back area strong
• Protects our spine

Oftentimes people belive that 200 daily crunches will do the trick, but as Kathleen points out, “It is really understanding where the core muscles are and how to fire the appropriately and efficiently to move about in day to day life with efficiency.”

You see, the core is not just our larger abdominal muscles, but it is the entire area between your neck and your pelvis, including small muscles you probably don’t know that you have! These muscles need to be targeted not just by crunches, but by a variety of exercises.

Our bodies are comprised of two groups of muscles, says Pagnini: The locals and the globals. In Pilates and on exercises that focus on the core you are working your smaller muscles, or the locals. You don’t feel these muscles as you do the larger muscles, or the globals, such as your biceps or your abs. Yet in order to strengthen the core they need to be worked correctly to prevent injury.

Even more importantly, Pilates and core work concentrates on keeping the spine stabilized so that when you complete an exercise, such as a leg lift, you are doing so in a manner that will not change your pelvis and spine position and create an imbalance in muscle development.

So what can you do to strengthen the core?

This slideshow from Mayo shows some great core moves. Practice them three or four days a week after your running routine – or anytime during the day – to help strengthen your core.

And leave a comment to enter our giveaway! That’s right, mamamarathoner is feeling quite, well, generous, and is going to give one lucky reader the chance to win “Core Training,” by Sara Rose, which shows a plethora of great exercises you can do to strengthen your core and back muscles.

Cover of the book core training

All you have to do is a leave a comment to today’s post. Tell me one (or all!) of the following:

• How often you exercise the core
• If you want to do more, why aren’t you?
• If you are exercising are you seeing results?
• And finally, what is your favorite core move? You can leave a link here if you want, or just describe it for us.

Today’s Run –

Today’s run started out rough.

It is cold here, and I’m kind of rady for some warmth. I also find I hav a tough time some Wednesdays, because i run three days in a row. For some reason that middle day, Wednesday, is the hardest. I can get through Tuesday’s long run and Thursday’s mid run but Wednesday, well, I’d rather sleep in!

I do sprint on Wednesdays and I enjoy that, so it is something to look forward to. I got into the 6s today.

When I started off I wasn’t ‘feeling it’, so I went backwards along my route to switch things up! It worked! I did the four miles, with half of the last mile spent sprinting.

Have a great day of running!