Training your Core

Core Training – Every Day or Less Often – What's the best Approach ?

 

Core training is something nearly every strength/power athlete and everyday fitness enthusiast is concerned about, in one way or another.

 

Some athletes and coaches are looking at ways to improve core stability to boost squatting performance, while others are looking for deeper oblique cuts and less abdominal body fat.

 

There are a numerous factors to consider when addressing core training and how often.

 

Should You Train Core Every Day?

Most individuals can sustain high amounts of core training frequency, but there is a need for proper muscle recovery as well.

 

Odds are that if you are a strength, power, or fitness athlete your core is being developed by most of the strength and power lifts you are doing; regardless of whether you are focusing on your core or not.

 

With that in mind, the need to train your core every day is unnecessary. Training the core muscles daily may result in them being fatigued during heavy squats, cleans, and competition lifts, making training frequency a potential reason you are limited in core strength during lifts.  Like any muscle group you shouldn’t train them every day to avoid fatigue of specific muscle groups.

 

So, training your core every day may actually be holding you back.

 

You Shouldn’t Train your Core Everyday

Core training is key for increased overall strength, spinal stability, and performance in nearly every athletic/performance event.

 

Your core is made up of muscle groups that are highly resistant to fatigue. This means that you can often get away with training them more frequently, however as strength, power, and fitness athletes we must be aware of the potential negatives of training the core too frequently.

 

In the case of strength, power, and fitness athletes, core muscles need to not only be able to withstand constant stress from the day-to-day acts of training, but they must be able to contract at high force outputs to support maximal level exertions in squats, clean and jerks, and other high intensity (loading) movements.

 

Below are a few reasons why strength, power, and fitness athletes should think twice before training core every day.

 

May Limit Strength Development

While a strong core is necessary for maximal strength development, there may become times where an athlete is training the core muscles too frequently that their muscle recovery is inadequate; resulting in slight fatigue during highly core depending movements (such as squats, deadlifts, Olympic lifts, etc).

 

It could be thought that if an athlete is training their core prior to higher intensity days that they may actually be limiting their ability to remain rigid and controlled, as the core muscles may be slightly fatigued and less than optimal when needed.

 

Inadequate Muscle Recovery

Lack of muscle recovery, regardless of the muscle group or how resilient they are to fatigue, can often lead to acute decreases in maximal force output, rate of force development, and performance. The core muscles are highly resilient to fatigue; however they do still require proper recover from dedicated core strengthening, hypertrophic, and stability training.

 

The recovery amounts may vary on an individual basis, but it is important that coaches and athletes do not take core muscle recovery lightly if their goals are maximal strength and power.

 

Compound Exercises Build Core Strength Too

It should come as no secret that squats (pause squats, high rep squats, front squats, etc), heavy carries, overhead lifts, and most movements found in the strength, power, and fitness sports require high amounts of core stability and strength. Most athletes will find that the dedicated strength lifts (such as the ones just listed) offer nearly all of the “core strengthening” stimulus one may need.

 

It is still important to perform dedicated core strength and development on a regular basis, often in the form of accessory work or during warm-ups (breathing and bracing technique)…just be sure not to overdo it.

 

 

You Should Train Your Core Regularly

While we spent a great amount of time discussing why you should not train core every day, it’s important to emphasise the benefits of regular dedicated core training.

 

Regardless of you goals as a strength, power or fitness athlete core training several times a week is beneficial and offers the ideal balance between too little and too much.

 

As always, everyone is different so adjust the regularity to your needs.

 

 

Below are a few reasons why regular core training offers significant strength benefits.

 

Improved Bracing and Breathing

While bracing and breathing are separate skills that must be learned (as having a “strong” core doesn’t necessarily mean you are breathing and bracing correctly), a stronger core can aid a lifter by understanding how to activate and contract the core muscles.

 

Lifters who are aware of how to properly brace, breathe through the diaphragm, and contract the entire core under load often find themselves stronger and less injury prone than those lifters who chronically extend or flex the lumbar spine or allow for lateral flexion to occur during lifts.

 

Stronger Lifts

Stronger core muscles, such as obliques and rectus abdominis, help to stabilize the trunk under heavy loads. This is key for lifts like back squats, deadlifts, and ballistic movements like the clean and jerk; as the trunk must stay rigid (and often upright) in order to allow for proper barbell trajectory and patterning.

 

Improved Safety

Core stabilization is due to both muscular and neurological control, both of which have been shown repeatedly to have a significant effect on exercise performance and injury reserve during athletic movements. Lifters who are better capable of withstanding loads via a strong, stable, and neurologically controlled core can not only increase exercise and lifting capacities, but also do so in a safer manner. 

 

Note, that there are always risks to lifting, and lifting heavy. We’re merely indicating that core strengthening exercises can aid in improving your injury resistance significantly.

 

Heavy Resistance Training and Core Strength

 

How to Train Your Core

Below, are three common goals athletes and coaches have as to why they want/should include core training into their program on a regular basis.

 

If your goal is strength, power, and sports performance

If your goal is maximal performance in sport, you should first address any bracing and/or breathing issues you may have. From there, focus on training the core after you have performed your main strength and power lifts. Add a variety of movements, such as rotational exercises, core isometrics, and muscle endurance movements to build a stronger foundation, making sure to not overdo your training volume so that you do not impede muscle recovery necessary for successive heavy training days.

 

If your goal is core strength for injury prevention purposes

If you are recovering from an injury to the spine, lower back, or core, it is first recommended that you consult your trained physical therapist for specifics on how to properly rehabilitate your injuries and get back to normal training. Current research shows that a strong core can help alleviate lower back pain, making core (and glute) training key for most lifters (as well as proper breathing, etc).

If you’re looking to build core strength and stability after your initial rehabilitation phases. Research suggests that the Swiss/stability ball can be a great tool, with the Swiss ball roll-out and the pike showing the highest EMG activity compared to common core exercises. 

 

We all sit on Swiss balls at our work desks here at Powerfit; this is how much we rate them for maintaining core flexibility.

 

Assuming you have completed/consulted with a trained medical professional and have acquired clearance to partake in core training, you can start by performing 1-2 core exercises a few days per week, for moderate repetition ranges (8-15 repetitions) and time duration (30-90 seconds) to build new muscle, increase stability, and enhance isometric core strength.

 

 

In Conclusion

Regular core training is essential and beneficial, but every day is too much and will result in muscle fatigue.  Done regularly (2-3 days a week) specific core training provides the optimum balance to achieve your goals.