June's Athlete of the Month, Mike Norton performing the "Pilates Hold." Just resting on your forearms and glutes, the pilates hold is a great "CORE" exercise working your entire abdominal complex and stabilizing your lower back. Just don't forget to maintain your normal breathing!!

Katie N. ~ Displaying her body control & core strength during a Pilates Ring exercise for time. This exercise was performed during her In-Season workout in the Fall `06. Katie is actually getting stronger this Fall and breaking PR's in her races. Not a coincidence, Hard Work is Paying Off for Katie!!

A difficult Core exercise - the side plank.

Casey is performing this CORE exercise during a Total Body workout. She is recruiting her abs while she stabilizes her body with her left elbow placed directly under her shoulder.

It is very important for her to maintain proper posture and body alignment when performing this exercise to maximize her ability to stay in this position for 45 seconds, while recruiting her abdominals - specifically her obliques.

This exercise can become more difficult by adding a leg raise during the plank hold.

Katie Nestor ~ Displaying her body control & core strength during a Pilates Ring exercise for time. This exercise was performed during her In-Season workout during the Cross Country season in the Fall 2006.

Katie is actually getting stronger this Fall and breaking PR's in her races. Not a coincidence, Hard Work is Paying Off for Katie!!

A great exercise to do at home!

The 1 Leg Bridge on a Stability Ball is a great core exercise for everyone, not just the Elite H.S. runner pictured above, Katie Nestor - NH Track.

This exercise isolates the hamstring muscle while recruiting your abdominal complex and maintaining proper posture to create core stability.

By balancing 1 Foot on the Stability ball, it forces you to recruit numerous muscles throughout your core and create the dynamic activation of the core and hip complex to help maintain stability of your lower back.

This plank hold on the BOSU requires upper body strength to maintain proper posture along with CORE strength to remain in a plank hold while he performs a leg raise for his hamstring-glute & hip.