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Core Strength ExercisesFitness Essentials for Health and PerformanceCore strength exercises are extremely popular these days because everyone wants a defined abdominal area. But developing strong trunk muscles that stabilize your mid-section is essential regardless of your training goals. There are many exercise options that work these muscles, each with advantages for targeting specific goals.
*Bending and straightening (flexion, extension),When your trunk is strong and stable, your posture improves. You also tend to prevent back injuries and maintain more mobility for everyday activities. For sports training, core strengthening exercises are critical. 
There are numerous core alternatives that you can perform without weights, using free weights, weight machines, or other equipment. Many can easily be performed with no equipment at all. 
Flexion-Extension: The curl up, or crunch, is a key exercise for the rectus abdominis muscle used for trunk bending and extending movements. The rectus abdominis is the main muscle used in the crunch. Once your shoulder blades leave the ground, your hip flexors begin come into play. Adding a slight trunk rotation recruits more of the oblique muscles, whose job is to neutralize each other during the crunch when strict flexion/extension. 
Back hyperextensions are performed on a machine that supports the trunk. With the feet locked under the device, the low back, hips, and hamstrings contract to lift the upper body to the neutral position or beyond (hyperextension). Generally, moving beyond neutral into hyperextension is not recommended by health professionals, but for many sport activities hyperextension is part of normal movement (e.g., javelin throwing, gymnastics skills).
Rowing machines strengthen hip and low back extensors, as well as the upper back (when the arms perform a pulling motion). The hamstrings are less involved when the knees are bent during the extension. Rotation: Strengthening exercises for trunk rotation involve placing resistance against the twisting action. Free exercises and specially-designed machines are great for working the rotational muscles. Note: If you place a bar on your shoulders for strengthening the obliques used for trunk rotation, the resistance puts pressure downward--not against rotation. Heavy weights create compression on your spine, making it vulnerable to injuries. The best core strength exercises for rotation should offer resistance against the twisting action. Side bending with dumbbells is one method of strengthening the trunk in lateral flexion. There are many other free exercises that move the trunk side to side. Lateral flexion exercises are important, but are often neglected in core strengthening regimens. It is a common misunderstanding that losing stomach fat comes from performing core strengthening exercises (particularly ab exercises). Stronger, larger abdominal muscles actually replace the location of the fat. Fat, or adipose tissue, is lost by increasing activity and maintaining or reducing caloric intake. See Weight Control Core strength exercises are especially important for Olympic lifters, athletes performing Olympic lifting variations, heavy squats, and dead lifts. The demands of heavy lifting on the low back are counterbalanced by strong abdominal muscles.
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