I am happy to be doing a Fit4Friday again! Today's subject is strengthening your core- I cannot stress to you enough how important it is to perform core strengthening exercises when beginning to exercise. 
Weak core= Weak results.

The benefits of a strong core:

Having a healthy back- By doing core exercises you will relieve back pains.
Balance- Having a strong core means that you can stay balanced for longer this could mean a decrease in the amount of times you fall.
Posture- It is so important to hold a good posture and by strengthening your core you're engaging muscles that result in a better posture. 
Everyday activities- Whether this be cleaning, bending down to tie your shoe laces, playing a sport etc. having a strong core can assist you in doing these activities.

Every so often I will be sharing with you a new core exercise for you to try out. These exercises are easy to do at home.

Today we're going to attempt a simple balancing exercise. 

(I had to draw this myself- hopefully in the future I will demonstrate the stretches and exercises myself!)

This exercise will test your balance and engage the core.

You want to place your feet together and engage your core. To engage your core you need to tilt your pelvis (meaning that your maintaining a strong hold instead of wiggling about) and you suck in your tummy for extra strength. 
Pick a side- left or right. Pick up the leg of your chosen side as high as it can go (or as high as you feel comfortable), keep your leg bent at a 90 degree angle. When you've gained a stable balance lift up the arm of the same side and stretch it as far up as you can, making sure that you're also stretching out your fingers. Hold this for around 5-25 seconds on each side.

As you get stronger, the length of your hold will increase. 

Good Luck if you give it a go!

Thanks for reading & sorry for the weird diagram!

Take care.
xx