I did 365 consecutive days of core. Here’s what I learned.

For 365 days, I completed 10 minutes of core every day. With the exception of 2 days in January when I had the flu, I managed to complete my 10-minutes-of-core goal for the year, which sometimes included a last-minute sequence right before bed so I didn’t miss a day — and I’m still going!

Here’s what I learned.

1. Goals are better with friends. “Better” here is two-fold. On the one hand, it was more enjoyable to do 10 minutes of core with my friends/clients. With all of my clients, I include at least 5 minutes of core, and sometimes as much as 15-20 minutes depending on their goals. Doing the exercises together was way more fun than doing it solo.

   
   

   Secondly, friends can hold us accountable on those days when we’re not feeling up to it. (Yay for workout buddies!)

   
   

2. 10 minutes every day wasn’t more effective than 30 minutes, 3 times per week. This one really surprised me, but it makes sense. Prior to the ten minutes/day goal, I was completing 30 minutes of core/Pilates 3 times per week. Since I was now doing core for 10 minutes each day, I stopped doing the 30-minute core sequence altogether. And here’s what’s interesting: my core feels just a tad weaker. In other words, I think my core was stronger when I completed a 30-minute core sequence 3 times per week, instead of 10 minutes of core every day.

   
   

   When you break down the math, per week, 10 minutes/day equals 70 minutes/week. 30 minutes, 3 times per week, equals 90 minutes/week. I never placed much emphasis on the validity of time/week, but now, I think there’s some truth to it — and this would translate to other areas, too, such as upper body and lower body. More time = more strength. Makes sense.

   
   

   Do a quick thought experiment: How much time are you dedicating to strength training the lower body, the core, and the upper body per week?

   
   

3. 10 minutes of core was a great warm-up. Some days — ok, ok…on most days — I woke up feeling too tired to exercise. “I’ll just complete my 10 minutes of core, and then be done with it,” I told myself. Welp, sure enough, as soon as I completed the 10 minutes, I felt I could do more, whether it was a bike ride or a lower body resistance routine.

   
   

4. Doing something every day creates a strong, well-rooted habit. This wasn’t something I learned — I knew it already — but it’s worth saying because it provided, in my opinion, the greatest value. You see, our habits carry us when the energy levels are low or when the will just isn’t there. When something becomes an ingrained, well-rooted habit, we don’t have to expend energy deciding if we’re going to do it — we just do it. That’s the definition of habit.

   
   

   And the really exciting part about this new habit I’ve developed for myself is that I’ve started adding pushups to the mix!! Now, after I complete my 10 minutes of core, I do 100 pushups (4 sets of 25). Will this new habit stick? You bet! Because I’ve done something called habit stacking. It’s a brilliant habit-building technique — check it out here.

The core is the secret sauce, friends. For that reason, I’m going to keep my 10 minutes of core per day. If you’re interested in joining me, send me a message and let’s do a Zoom core routine together! After all…exercise is way more fun with friends!