What's up with this core training that everyone's talking about? Well, the core is actually the word for a lot of the muscle groups in your torso and pelvis. They all combine to form a unique structural system that supports all of your daily activities like walking, running or even just staying in a standing position. Advanced core work happens when you put your body in more stressful positions, or use weights to get greater resistance for your muscles to work against.

Some basic fitness activities are top choices that trainers and others frequently give their clients for the best chances at core training and greater overall body capacity. Here’s a list of 10 top core training activities for your fitness menu, as identified by some top training experts.

1.    Supine Crunches (bicycle crunch, etc.)
2.    Raised Knee Lifts
3.    Vertical Leg Crunches
4.    Fitness Stability Ball Crunches
5.    Reverse Crunches
6.    Crunches With Arms Extended
7.    Crunches With Heel Push
8.    Plank
9.    Ab Rocking
10.    Ab Rolls

Did you realize how many of these are just modified versions of the simple “crunch”? These are extremely popular for working your core using your abdominals, but for some, the ab crunch is uncharted territory. Here's what one of these might look like:

Lying  back, make your knees form a 90-degree angle. Propping yourself against a fixed wall or object if necessary, use your abdominal muscles to get your upper body up off of the floor, holding the raised pose several minutes before releasing your upper body back down into a lying position.

Others of these popular core activities are alternate ways to work the abdominals, which are such a key part of the core muscular structure. Ab rolls and ab rocking represent basic ways that individuals work their abs with minimal equipment for a long term set of workout sessions that will gradually build more strength into the body’s basic response systems.

Some benefits of a stronger core
Because of the way that the body carries its weight, a stronger core can alleviate lower back pain that many Americans are feeling due to insufficient support for their spine. Core support also helps in limb strength training; it's no good having bulked up arms if your spinal column and torso can't support them. These are just a couple of reasons why regular core work is integral to most fitness routines, whether they are for body building, cardio power, or light resistance training.