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Should I work my core muscles everyday?

I regularly do front and side planks and back kicks for my lower back.

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 what is your goal? Six pack? Fitness? efficiency as an endurance athlete? What does the rest of your workout look like? Do you follow a compound, functional, strength weight training program or do you focus on mass and isolated workouts? -- Need a lot more info – CD Aug 14 at 22:35
I work isolated muscle groups everyday of the week, plus 30 minute hike or elliptical machine, plus one day of sprints. My goal is all of the above. – Alvaro Aug 14 at 22:48
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 Alvaro- we need to do some modifications to your exercise regime. Get off the elliptical. Make sure you incorporate some compound lifts into your regime (which I'm sure you already do), but make them the focus of the workout. Your accessory muscle groups (triceps, biceps, calves) don't need much work to grow, but I do understand the joy of trying to sculpt them regardless. – foreveryoung Aug 14 at 23:18
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 Oh. gotcha, then do what you gotta do. Compound lifts are movements that are functional, in that they resemble ways in which we naturally push, pull, and lift objects. Such exercises are deadlifts, rows, squats, and over head presses to name a few. Triceps extensions, lateral raises, dumbbell flies, etc are non-compound, isolation exercises, in that they do not resemble functional daily movements but are meant to solely engage a single muscle (or small group of muscles). – foreveryoung Aug 15 at 16:17
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 I've learned that definition too, but I just found that one above from wiki, which I used and seems to fit the same concept. – foreveryoung Aug 15 at 22:44
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Your core muscles are exercised by most every other exercise you do. It's not necessary to do them everyday. Work on the rest of your body more and your core follows.

Focus on your core when you're doing ANYTHING... squats, deadlifts... bench press... even dumbbell overhead presses. Pullups/chinups! It's endless.

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 But a strong core comes with the exercises of the rest of your body. If you would keep your core tight during exercises, it IS building while you are doing other things. – Sleepyhouse22 Aug 14 at 20:24
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 Yes your core is worked with compound movements. No you don't need to do "core" work as long as your doing the other momement (see those listed...not just bench). Actually if your talking flexion work I think its a horrible idea any which way you slice it. – JayJay Aug 14 at 22:04
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 Dips are considered an assistant exercise to the bench press. I throw in weighted dips myself (shoulder injury) because I cannot heavy bench at the moment. You are arguing with the wrong people. The core people are the ones that believe they are doing 'toning' exercises. No such thing exists. They will go to they gym year after year and wonder why they never get stronger. They do not understand that when you can do a 1.5X (ladies) and 2X (gentlemen) or more squat and deadlift that your core is far stronger than doing a plank. – Mark Aug 15 at 1:55
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 I know, Mark, but I feel the need to at least communicate the point. Foreveryoung thinks you shouldn't do a deadlift before you can do a pullup. LOL I'm just... done. This is the dumbest thing I've ever read. People like this DO exist. They're the ones using the squat rack for their personal plank space. – Sleepyhouse22 Aug 15 at 3:20
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 Deadlift is the second most important exercise a human being can perform. It simulates picking up a heavy object from rest, works the entire posterior chain, and has no relation to a a pull up. Barbell weights can be scaled to be less than BW (bar only weighs 45 pounds). A beginner should start DLing day 1, even if it is just the bar. I press 185, bench 265, squat 375, and DL 385 @ BW of 170. Judging from your shirtless pic which I mistook for a 8 year old boy, the primary purpose of your diet/workouts is not strength. Skinny does not equal fit. – Mark Aug 15 at 20:05
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I think that proper core training (not just crunches and sit ups) is overlooked the majority of the population. Having a strong core is absolutely necessary to be functionally strong in other areas. I do not know of an elite track and field, gymnast, swimming, football, soccer, or tennis athlete that does not place a strong emphasis on core training. Lifting weights alone is simply not enough.

A bosu ball would be a good investment, as it will immediately add a large number of exercises to your arsenal. A heavy rock or a med-ball is also be nice to have a round. complete that with a door frame or a pull up bar, and you're set. The doorframe would be for hanging leg raises. I do them every morning from my bathroom, and think it's a great all around exercise that's something to master. It will help bring out your adonis belt (which IMHO, is the most masculine feature a guy can possess), and it will also work your PC muscle if done properly. This muscle loses tone as we age, so it's good to work and keep it functioning. It is partly responsible for the strength of your orgasm, as well as ejaculation control (i.e. how long you can last). Every guy should master this exercise for obvious reasons (I know a girl who says the exercise gets her off..whether this is true or not I don't know, I haven't seen her doing them).

I'm all for abs training, and do core workouts about 4x per week. As mentioned above, I do hanging leg raises and back bridges every morning as part of my morning ritual. Your core is the source of your strength, and this is why virtually every elite athlete (track and field, soccer, football, swimmers, gymnasts, etc) do direct core workouts in addition to their event specific training.

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Excellent answer, Thank you – Alvaro Aug 14 at 22:51
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 I had a friend who played division one football. They did not do core workouts. Virtually know strength or power athlete will do core workouts. Simply focus on the basic compound movements and your core will become strong as well. Muscle does not lose tone...it never had it. The toned look is simply a function of body fat percentage. – Mark Aug 15 at 2:01
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 @ Mark- you don't know what muscle tone is, do you? Muscle tone is "he continuous and passive partial contraction of the muscles, or the muscle’s resistance to passive stretch during resting state." What you're speaking of is muscle defition. Tone and definition are two different things. – foreveryoung Aug 15 at 2:49
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 Knowing one person who played d1 football and didn't do core workouts doesn't say much. I'm sure they did mountain climbers and such, which are core workouts, and I'd be very surprised if they didn't throw medicine balls at each other rather. Crunches and sit ups are not the core workouts I'm talking about. – foreveryoung Aug 15 at 2:51
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 I agree with foreveryoung. Although your core will get worked extensively under a heavy load of squats and virtually any Olympic lifting exercise, there are often faulty recruitment patterns in the core musculature as a result of overworking the prime movers. Learning how to engage the TVA, multifidus and all inner unit deep core stabilizers is crucial to having a strong, functional core. Do both! And yes, proper core training in various planes, including rotational work, not simply prone flexion exercises. – KellyBoBelly Aug 15 at 6:04
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The key is "core exercises"... not just crunches. If you are doing exercises that require stabilization of the abdomen, its a core exercise. Planks and bridges, and leg raises CAN do that, just make sure you are using good form. I think what everyone was getting at is: using your leg or arm movements as resistance against your core (i.e. concentrating at stabilizing during complex movements) is a great way to build up endurance and strength to you core to help support your spine and posture. You should do functional type exercises, not just focusing on specific muscles. Your muscles almost NEVER work on an individual basis, except when focusing on them while working out. For overall strength, make sure to incorporate exercises that mimic common tasks and every day movements. They will work the muscles that work, but are harder to isolate. IMHO.

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Excellent answer, thanks, but should I dedicate 1 session to core muscles everyday of the week? Or how often? – Alvaro Aug 15 at 14:31
I don't do crunches, by the way, i just do planks, back kicks and dead lifts – Alvaro Aug 15 at 14:34
well, looking at p90x, tony incorperates core moves a couple times a week. For p90x lean, he does ab ripper twice a week and core synergistics once a week. I say, you don't want to work specific muscle groups hard 2 days in a row, but your core is something that works all the time. I would incorperate a couple core moves into your upper and lower extremity workouts, and have a day focused on core. but like i said earlier, core exercises involve using the upper and lower extremity so take that into consideration when planning your workouts. hope this helps, just my opinion. – k8lynn6 Aug 16 at 3:52

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