There are lots of core exercises out there.  Doing any of them is better than doing none of them.  But some are definitely better for runners than others.
 
A strong core—strong abdominal and low-back muscles—enhances running performance and may reduce injury risk.  The best core exercises for runners are those that mimic the specific ways the core muscles are required to
work during running. Here are three moves that do just
that.
 
1.  Supine March 

Why it’s good for runners:  Core stability begins with the transverse abdominis, a deep abdominal muscle that needs to hold the right amount of tension to prevent excessive movement of the pelvis and lumbar spine during running.  The greatest challenge this muscle faces in running is maintaining  appropriate tension while the legs move freely and alternately. The Supine March is a great exercise for runners because it administers that very challenge in a controlled way.

How to do it:  Lie face up in the floor with both knees sharply bent and your feet flat on the floor.  Press your low back into the floor.  While concentrating on keeping your low back pressed into the floor, lift your left leg until your left foot comes even with your right knee.  Now lower the foot back to the floor.  Repeat with the right leg.  Continue until you begin to feel an uncomfortable burn in your tummy, up to 20 reps per leg.


 2.  Standing Trunk Rotation with Cable

Why it’s good for runners:  One of the important jobs of the core muscles during running is to control rotational forces.  Among the biggest energy wasters in running is excessive rotation of the hips, pelvis, and/or spine.  The Standing Rotation with Cable isolates and intensifies this particular
challenge.

How to do it: Stand with your left side facing a cable pulley station with a handle attached at shoulder height.  Grasp the handle with both hands and both arms fully extended.  Begin with your torso rotated toward the handle and tension in  the cable (i.e. the weight stack is slightly elevated from the resting position).  Rotate your torso to the right while keeping your arms fully
extended and the handle in line with the center of your chest.  Keep your eyes focused on the handle as you rotate and your hips locked forward.  Return to the start position without allowing the weight stack to come to rest.  Complete 12 repetitions, then reverse your position and repeat the
exercise.


3.  Suitcase Deadlift

Why it’s good for runners:  Running is all about moving against gravity in an upright position.  Most core exercises don’t mimic this fundamental element of running. The Suitcase Deadlift does.  In particular, it trains the oblique muscles on the sides of the torso to do what they are asked to do
during running, which is to keep the torso vertically in line with the legs against resistance.  The low back muscles are also challenged in a running-specific way in this exercise.

How to do it:  Stand with your arms hanging at your sides and a dumbbell in one hand. Push your hps back, bend the knees, and reach the dumbbell down as close to the floor as you can without rounding your lower back.  Now stand up again.  Don’t allow your torso to tilt to either side while
performing this movement.  Complete 10 repetitions, rest for 30 seconds, then repeat the exercise while holding the dumbbell in the opposite hand.

Read more:  http://www.theactivetimes.com/3-best-core-exercises-runners

Whether it's your first month or you have competed in a couple of bodybuilding shows, these exercises need to be in your routine.  These three exercises strengthen your core and we all know, the stronger the core, the stronger the person.  Get the most out of your time in the gym.  The more muscle you activate, the more calories you will burn during the workout and the more muscle you build, the greater the 'afterburn' effect.

Train smart, train hard...

1.  Front squat to press

You can do this exercise with a pre-set barbell or, if you don't have the flexibility in the wrists and forearms, you can do it with dumbbells.  This exercise activates the core by having the load in the front of your body, your body will  activate more muscle throughout the glute,hip complex, pectorals, delts and lats.

2.  Deadlift (Barbell or dumbbells)

The deadlift is a great movement to increase lower body and core strength.  You will also improve your grip strenth.  There are many different versions to the deadlift and you'll get different opinions but I like placing my feet at hip width and placing my hands at a shoulder width on the bar so that they are outside of my legs when I descend.  This exercise burns maximum calories and builds maximum muscle.  

3.  Chest press (includes push-ups, bench press, ect...)

The good 'ol chest press, and even the push up is a timeless exercise.  The primary muscles are the pectorals, but the lats, rhomboids, triceps and shoulders are all being activated in this  movement.  You can do these on a stability ball, alternate arms up and down.  Use a barbell on a flat, incline and/or decline bench.

If you have tried diet after diet (note: I very much despise the word diet... that will be another blog) with no success, are you listening to what your body is telling you.  Hormones can affect weight loss and weight gain on a daily basis.  If you do not have hormonal "harmony" inside, it will make losing weight almost impossible.  There are many hormones that can affect your metabolism such as cortisol and the hormones your thyroid gland releases.  Only you know your body and know how to limit stress and ironically, exercise helps you combat stress.  Many people run into time constraints when it comes to exercise, which can be another point of stress.  What you have to do, is tell everyone around you that at a certain time (whatever time you choose that works in your schedule) you will be at the gym or working out.  It needs to be 'known' among your collegues and peers that if they try to contact you, they will get your voicemail because everyone knows this is your working out time.  You have to be disciplined and no matter what, DO NOT answer the phone.  This is YOUR time! 

Your doctor can identify your thyroid hormonal profile through a blood test, so ask him to order one so you can make sure that your body is at peace on the inside, as well as the outside.  Most doctors pull the trigger a little too quickly on one's inability to lose weight on Hypothyroidism.  So before you start taking medications, try to eliminate the stress and eat a balanced diet during the day for a minimum of three weeks.  Remember, you can't walk into the woods 20 miles and expect to walk out in five.  You have to make it part of your daily/weekly/monthly routine.  You'll get it done one day at a time!

Why is balance so important?  Balance is something that most of us take for granted.  Not even thinking how fortunate you are, being able to walk across the room until your ability to balance is gone.  Balance is vital to any sport that you'll play and even important to any walk you'll take.  It is the combination of muscles firing and neural signals being processed correctly in your body.  You must have the neuromuscular efficiency, muscular strength and endurance to maintain balance in just about everything you do in your daily routine.

Nueromuscular efficiency is a just a fancy word that describes your nervous system's (brain and spine) ability to relay and interpret signals it receives from your muscular system.  When I begin a workout program with a new client, it is important to work on their balance before you move to exercises that are performed on several different planes of motion.  For example, I will have a client balance themselves on one foot while doing bicep curls.  This allows them to activate more muscle and ultimately, burn more calories rather than just have them stand on both feet while performing the curls.  Also, as the weight/load travels up and down, so will your center of gravity shift forcing them to work on balance.  You can use this principle in just about every exercise in any routine.  I call this getting "100 pennies on the dollar", maximizing every second in the gym to burn calories and strengthen the body.  Balance is also vital to progression in your workout program.  As you become stronger, your exercise routine will need constant adjusting in order to continue to challenge you.  You will begin to do exercises that will place a greater demand on your balance while lifting weight/load and it is imperative that you are able to balance yourselves during these movements, otherwise injury is imminent.  As your exercise increase in difficulty, your balance should respond positively to the added difficulty.

Try to balance on one foot for 20 seconds.  If you can do this on your left and then the right, the progression would be to close your eyes and try to balance on each leg for 20 seconds.  For those balance savants, the next progression would be to continue to keep your eyes closed, but turn your head slowly from one side and then the other for 20 seconds. 

Working out is not necessarily a part of your everyday life, but your health surely is.  Stay healthy!