Your core muscles lie close to your spine and support your back and pelvis. A strong core enhances your posture, improves your balance and movement quality and protects you from injury. While your local fitness center may offer an endless variety of high-tech core exercise machines, resistance tubes provide portable, affordable and effective core-training exercise.
Benefits
Rubber resistance tubes resemble jump ropes with handles on each end. Their handles, which provide ergonomic exercise, as well as their shape, distinguish them from the wide and flat exercise bands. Manufacturers color code their tubes according to their level of resistance, but since they are relatively inexpensive, you can purchase an entire set and stay well within your home exercise equipment budget. Exercise tubing benefits extend beyond budget. Tubes provide resistance in multiple planes of motion. This is essential for core exercise, which involves flexion, extension and rotation. When purchasing exercise tubes, buy the small attachment devices that allow you to secure the tube to a stable object.
On the Ball
The stability ball imposes a balance challenge, which requires you to engage your core muscles to maintain postural alignment and balance. Substitute the ball for a weight bench during your tubing core workout to increase the benefits. Secure the tubing to an attachment point at waist height. Sit on the stability ball with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor and your right hip parallel to the attachment. Grasp both ends of the tube at chest height, and slowly rotate your upper torso to the left. Perform 12 repetitions and switch sides. Sit so that the attachment is behind you. Walk down the ball until your lower, middle and upper back are against its surface. Bring each tube handle to your upper chest and perform crunches by flexing your upper torso so that your ribcage moves toward your pelvis. Perform 12 repetitions.
Partner Exercise
Tube training with a partner increases the fun and efficiency of the workout. Intertwine the tubes by crossing one over the other. Partners face each other, holding the both handles in their right and left hands. Move away from each other until the tubing is taut. Then, stabilize your lower bodies and use your obliques to rotate your upper body to the right. Return to center and repeat to the left. Perform 20 repetitions or 10 to each side.
Woodchopper
Attach the tubing to a low point on the floor. Stand with your left foot parallel to the attachment, holding both handles with both hands. Walk away until the tubing is taut. Bend your knees and rotate your upper torso so that you reach for your left foot. Then, extend your spine, pivot your left foot and rotate your upper torso toward the ceiling. Perform 10 repetitions on each side.
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