Karen writes: Core...what?

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My 'core' is back on the agenda.  No amount of protesting that I haven't got one, that I've "done OK without one until now" and that old favourite, "I don't have any desire to wear a bikini" gets me out it. A quick scan of the first few of over 7 million Google results (I queried 'importance of core strength' hoping for something to say I didn't really have to worry) and it seems that not one of said results has anything to do with apples.  What there is however, is excessive use of words like 'crucial', 'fundamental', or 'vital' when talking about this core thing as related to all exercise disciplines, so my excuses are sounding more and more pathetic.

6 weeks of Tai Chi and I can stand on one leg better (actually I feel better in all sorts of ways including appearing to have mislaid the grumbling ITB problem), but I seem no closer to figuring out what and where my core is, I'm still convinced it is a myth.  Oh dear, this may mean I need to think about FOLLOWING EXERCISE INSTRUCTIONS in order to track it down.

Will 2013 be the year I finally get a core?  Who knows, it looks like I cant be trusted to just get on with it myself and need outside motivation, incentivising, or perhaps I should just take another look at some of those horrible photos from previous events showing me stuffed, apparently coreless (or core-surplused), into a wetsuit?

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