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This Is the Most Common Mistake People Make When Trying To Strengthen Their Core

This Is the Most Common Mistake People Make When Trying To Strengthen Their Core originally appeared on Parade. If you've landed on this page, you've likely been thinking about strengthening your core. Maybe you've always wanted six-pack abs, or perhaps better posture and a pain-free back is the goal. Whether you scroll through TikTok for fitness tips and advice or search the web, you've probably digested a bunch of information and don't know how to parse out what will actually make a difference and what's just another trend. What if we told you that one of the most commonly shared core tips might be doing little to actually strengthen your core overall? It's a bummer, but it's also never too late to start new and more well-rounded core strengthening tapped personal trainers to learn more about the most common mistakes people make when trying to strengthen their core and what you should do instead to deliver results while avoiding injury and exhaustion along the way. Ready to get your training core-ect? 🩺SIGN UP for tips to stay healthy & fit with the top moves, clean eats, health trends & more delivered right to your inbox twice a week💊 The Most Common Mistake People Make When Strengthening Their Core, According to Trainers Alexis Iannuci, NASM, CPT, a New York City-based certified personal trainer, warns that people need to stop focusing on only one or two core-strengthening moves.'One of the most common mistakes is heavily relying on just traditional ab exercises like crunches or sit-ups, [as] this isn't going to help engage your deep core muscles,' she explains. 'Many people associate visible abs with core strength and assume that more crunches equal better results. It's also what's often portrayed in the media and what would be considered traditional core exercises." In a nutshell, just because you see something on social media doesn't make it true. It doesn't help that people like instant gratification, and the results from crunches are more visible. 'It's easy to do a crunch and feel direct correlation with the muscles that you want to 'tone,'' says Maggi Gao, NASM, CPT, head kettlebell coach at Bell Mechanics. 'And it's the muscle that we tend to see the most improvement in definition in, so naturally we would want to just do what we think has a physical effect." Related: Trainers Are Begging You to Stop Making This Super-Common Exercise Mistake While it's not bad to want to tone your rectus abdominis or 'six pack' muscles, it's important to remember that training your core is important for a variety of reasons. 'If you don't practice exercises that hit all the muscles and functions of your core, then you'll have a higher chance of injury from an uncontrolled daily movement,' Gao explains. However, you don't have to go overboard to strengthen your core. Other Common Mistakes Trainers See Jane VanderVoort, NASM, CPT, CFSC, certified personal trainer and founder of Movement & Mindset, notes that another common mistake people make is rushing through their core exercises. You know what they say: Slow and steady wins the race. 'Slow down and move with more intention,' advises Vandervoort. 'It's better to do five amazing reps than 20 sloppy ones.' Keith Hodges, NASM, CPT, a Los Angeles-based performance coach and certified personal trainer, adds that another mistake people make when it comes to core exercises is doing them incorrectly and not seeking help if or when needed. Related: This Is the Best Workout Move for Core Strength, No Crunches Required What Should You Do Instead? This isn't all to say that you should completely cut out sit-ups and crunches from your exercise routine (or overcomplicate things), but instead ensure you're doing these moves correctly, slowly and in conjunction with additional exercises that target muscles other than the rectus abdominis, such as obliques, pelvic floor workouts, lower back exercises and moves that target the transverse abdominis.'Start with two or three exercises you like and get in tune with your core,' says Vandervoort. '[Ask yourself] 'How does it feel?' Can you feel when you lose the tension? Keep it slow, keep it intentional. Once you've mastered those, play around with a couple of other exercises and try to recreate that same feeling.' Related: 'I'm a Personal Trainer and This Is the One Workout I'll Never, Ever Do' 'In addition to your crunches, make sure to include planks, rotational movements (think cable rotations), and anti-rotational movements (think Pallof Press, a core exercise where you resist rotation while holding a resistance band or cable attached to an anchor point.),' advises trainer at Form Fitness Brooklyn. 'Also, don't forget how much your core can help you when squatting, deadlifting, etc.' Dead bugs are also popular (and effective). Along the same lines, maintaining proper form when completing core exercises is key. If you don't feel as though you're able to properly execute core exercises by yourself, seeking guidance from a professional such as a personal trainer can help. Stephen Holt, CSPS, personal trainer at and the owner of 29 Again Custom Fitness and Holly Roser, NASM, CPT, certified personal trainer and owner of Holly Roser Fitness Studios in New York City and San Francisco, emphasize the importance of stabilizing your core which is unlikely to happen if you're doing your core exercises incorrectly (and may even cause issues in the spine and lower back). Up Next:Sources: Keith Hodges, NASM CPT, a Los Angeles-based performance coach and certified personal trainer. Holly Roser, NASM CPT, a certified personal trainer and owner of Holly Roser Fitness Studios in New York City and San Francisco. Keri Harvey, NASM CPT, a trainer at Form Fitness Brooklyn. Alexis Iannucci, NASM CPT, a New York City-based certified personal trainer. Stephen Holt, CSPS, personal trainer at and the owner of 29 Again Custom Fitness. Jane VanderVoort, NASM CPT, CFSC, a certified personal trainer and founder of Movement & Mindset. Maggi Gao, NASM CPT, a head kettlebell coach at Bell Mechanics. This Is the Most Common Mistake People Make When Trying To Strengthen Their Core first appeared on Parade on Jul 20, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 20, 2025, where it first appeared.