Sculpt your stomach and save your back with one genius move.
by David Zinczenko
Walk into any gym in any city, and you’ll see the same thing: Lots of men and women doing lots of reps of exactly one abs exercise: the crunch. This classic move is excellent for increasing the size of your midsection muscles, but it comes with an inherent drawback: To do it, you must round your lower back. Repeatedly. And that repetition increases the strain on your intervertebral discs and the wear and tear on your spine, …

Everyone everywhere is talking about core fitness and for good reason. Modern fashions show off the abs, sides, back and butt like never before. Now is the time to get familiar with a fitness technique that not only helps create a toned, sexy midsection, but offers serious health benefits, too, “core training”. The core—the muscles and connective tissue supporting the spine and midsection—is the key to a healthy-looking, athletic body and essential for efficient, pain-free movement. Optimal core development requires that you take the best components of a variety of …