You may think that crunches, reverse leg raises, or planks will give you a strong core, and you may be right. But an expert personal trainer has revealed that he believes basic exercise doesn’t get the love it deserves.
Before you think that the basic exercise, which comes courtesy of British personal trainer James Smith, who reviews all the fitness advice posted online, is going to be as scary as the weighted leg crunches we reported the other day, you can let go of your worries. This one is much easier.
Taking to Tiktok, James says his most underrated basic exercise is called “stir the pot” or “stir the pot,” depending on who you listen to, but they both refer to the same exercise.
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Essentially a variation of a plank or extension plank, the pot stir exercise requires you to have an exercise ball. If you don’t have an exercise ball, but do have access to a Bosu ball (which looks like an exercise ball cut in half), then it can work just as well.
To perform the pot-stirring exercise, James said, “Put your forearms on the ball, bring your hands together, or keep them wherever you want.”
He, “Get into a high plank position. Remember, you don’t want it to sink in, you don’t want it to spread. If anything, you’ll want to tuck your tailbone in a bit.”
“From there you are going to imagine that you have a wooden spoon and a pot, hence the name, stirring the pot. Get on top and you’re going to make very little stir in the pot.” It may seem simple enough, but the stirring pot exercise will seriously set your core on fire, as not only does it require you to activate it to stabilize while balancing on the unstabilized exercise ball, but the stirring motion will recruit your entire core region.
But, you can make it harder if you want. How exactly? Let James explain,
“To make it harder, you’re going to make the pot or spoon stir more. So, at the top, tailbone slightly tucked. larger circles. For those of you who have a slightly weaker core, start small and then work up from there.”
When you get to the stirring pot exercise yourself, start with 6 full rotations in both directions. As you get more confident with it, you can start to increase the number of rotations it does.
Why does James like the stirring pot exercise so much? He explains that at the beginning of his video, “In a lot of basic exercises, we look at anti-extension. I look to prevent it from spreading. If you’re doing things that are over your head, that’s a great idea. But for any of you who are maybe into other sports or just want to stabilize your core more, it’s stirring the pot.”
As we mentioned earlier, if you don’t have a full-size exercise ball, you can still perform the pot shake with a Bosu ball. If you’re using a Bosu ball, get into the same high plank position, but instead of resting your forearms on the top surface, grip the Bosu ball from both sides. Hold your hands in this position, think of it as 3 and 9 o’clock on a clock, and use your weight to move the Bosu ball in circles.
It’s important to make sure your body is in the correct plank position when you stir the pot. It can be incredibly easy to allow your hips to drop. If they do, you won’t get the benefits of this great core exercise. It’s also important to make sure you keep the tempo slow and controlled throughout the duration. Don’t speed up just to get through reps.
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