The 'Core' area is the abdominal muscles and lower back which are directly related by their positioning and jobs. These muscles support each other, you cannot have strong abs without a strong lower back and training for those abs will not be as effective unless your lower back can endure the job it has of support. In turn you cannot effectively train your lower back without your abs assisting in this movement.
Here are a few key exercises that will work on both of those areas. These are some new and creative alternative to your regular core training. This is not for those with present lower back injury, should be injury free and consult a physician prior to starting any new exercise programs.
Ball Busters - using 2 body balls, lift them both for a period of 5-20 seconds, slowly lower and repeat.
Ball Toss Crunch - using a basket ball or plyoball for more resistance, slowly lower the ball as seen in first picture, then crunch up and toss, catch to repeat.
The Proper Crunch - to do a clean crunch it is nice to keep the feet up and knees bent to a 90 degree angle this way you can keep your tranverse abdominus in check which always gets ignored. This also prevents injury to the lower back. I used a step to prop my legs for this photo but you can use a bench, chair and any other item which is at the right height.
You should blow out on the way up and make sure your chin is off your chest. You must keep face parallel to the ceiling Don't worry about the height of your crunch, as long as it is slow and controlled even an inch will give you a workout. Work on getting the rib cage up, keep the lower back stuck to the ground and move in a slow controlled manner.
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