It’s Home Exercise of the Week time and this week I have another great core exercise for you to try.  I like to call it Around the World but I’m sure other people call it by different names.

The Around the World exercise is challenging and definitely not a beginner exercise so make sure you are ready for this one before trying it.  If you can do Side to Side Leg Raises with little difficulty then you will know that you are ready to go Around the World!

You will be working your lower back, lower abdominals, obliques, and hip flexors with this exercise.  As always, proper form is key to working the targeted muscles effectively and safely.  Let’s take a look at the key points to doing the Around the World properly.

• lay on the floor face up with your arms extended out to your side to stabilize yourself
• raise your legs straight up so they are perpendicular to the floor
• keeping your legs straight, lower both feet down to your side until they are almost touching the floor then swing them out in front of you and continue on to the other side and back up to the starting position
• repeat but go the other direction this time and keep switching directions for each rep
• throughout the whole set make sure that you are driving your belly button down towards your spine to keep your abdominals engaged and your lower back flat against the floor
• if you find that your lower back is hurting from this move then don’t lower your legs as far and if that doesn’t help then discontinue the exercise

So there you have the Around the World.  Add a couple sets of 15 to 20 repetitions to your ab routine or throw it in to a superset with your other workout routines.  It’s a challenging exercise but over time you will get stronger and your core will thank you.  Also, as with the Side to Side Leg Raises, you can hold a light dumbbell between your feet to really up the intensity!  Happy traveling!  😉