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Strength exercises are most effective when performed every other day, with at least one recovery day between sessions. Here’s why: muscles need time to recover and repair.
When we load a muscle during exercise, tiny microtears (microtrauma) occur. And that’s a good thing. It signals the body to begin the healing process through inflammation, ultimately leading to stronger, healthier muscle tissue.
Your abdominal muscles, like your glutes or hamstrings, are striated skeletal muscles. They also require recovery periods. Just as doing lunges every day could eventually lead to knee pain, training your core every day can impair results and increase injury risk. In fact, when muscles are under constant stress without time to rebuild, it leads to stalled progress and a higher likelihood of dysfunction.
There are two times in a woman’s life when her core changes the most: after pregnancy and during midlife.
Hormones change fat distribution.
After 35 we experience muscle loss, which means less core support.
Hormonal shifts, reduced muscle efficiency, and stress can weaken deep core activation, making the stomach feel unsupported. The good news? Neuromuscular TA training works for both and can be done more often.
Neuromuscular core training doesn’t overload the muscles with heavy resistance. Instead, it focuses on re-educating the connection between your brain and muscles. This approach improves muscle coordination and enhances core stability, without stressing the tissue to the point of requiring long recovery windows.
In simple terms: it teaches your brain to “talk” to your muscles again, helping you move more efficiently and protecting your core health longterm.
Certain ab exercises that recruit your transverse abdominis (TA) are crucial to the functionality of your core. They are crucial to your posture. Every time you take a step, climb a stair, reach overhead, cough or laugh so hard you cry, these lovely little muscles are kicking in. The problem is that we are not taught how to correctly and selectively strengthen the TA.
The transverse abdominis is your deep “corset” muscle. It wraps around your midsection and stabilizes your spine and pelvis before every movement. When it stops firing properly, your body compensates with the outer abs, hips, or lower back. That’s when you start feeling like nothing is working.
Signs Your Transverse Abs Aren’t Activating
Perform each exercise for 30 seconds. The focus is building a mind muscle connection and getting your deep core muscles to fire correctly, consistently, and efficiently. You can read all about this in our free step-by-step Stronger Core Guide.
Start in a supine position with your fingertips placed just inside your hip bones. Take a deep inhale. Then as you exhale, make a slow “ssssss” sound and feel a gentle tightening under your fingertips.
Maintain a neutral pelvis and avoid gripping your glutes. This should feel like a subtle contraction, not sucking in your stomach.
Place your fingertips just inside your hip bones. As you exhale, gently lift your chin, without lifting your shoulders. This small movement activates the deep core without the pressure of a normal crunch.
Start on all fours. Before moving, take your TA breath to activate your core.
Lift one knee just one inch off the ground. From here, extend that leg back while reaching the opposite arm forward, making a fist for added tension. You can hold or alternate sides to progress.
Traditional ab exercises focus on the outer “six-pack” muscles. But if the deep transverse abdominis isn’t activating first, you can do crunches every day and still feel like your stomach is pushing outward instead of pulling in. The key is neuromuscular re-education … teaching your brain to fire the right muscles again.
Not with traditional strength exercises. Core work should be done 2-3x per week to allow for muscle recovery. However, certain gentle exercises — especially those targeting the transverse abdominis (TA) — can be practiced more frequently.
Strengthening your transverse abdominis the right way doesn’t just support your waistline. It’s key to reducing back pain, improving athletic performance, and protecting your spine over time.
Instead of doing abs every day, focus on this simple weekly formula that works for both postpartum recovery and midlife:
What Changes When You Train Your Core the Right Way? This is what women start to notice when their deep core is finally working: their stomach feels flatter instead of pushing outward, they finally feel exercises in their core instead of their hips or lower back, and their posture and midsection feel more supported throughout the day. This is why doing fewer, more targeted core exercises often works better than doing abs every day.
Not with traditional strength-based ab workouts. Like any muscle, your core needs recovery to get stronger. Most women see better results training their core 2 to 3 times per week, while practicing gentle deep core activation more frequently.
This usually means your deep core muscles are not activating properly. When the transverse abdominis is not firing, your body compensates by using your hips or lower back. This is why learning proper core activation is often more important than doing more reps.
For most women, 2 to 3 focused core sessions per week is ideal. This allows enough stimulus for strength while giving your muscles time to recover and rebuild. You can layer in light activation work more often without overloading the muscles.
Yes. These exercises focus on activation and control rather than heavy resistance, so they can be practiced more frequently. Daily practice can actually help rebuild the brain to muscle connection and improve how your core functions.
Most ab workouts target the outer muscles, but if your deep core is not activating first, your stomach can push outward instead of pulling in. Flattening your stomach starts with proper muscle activation, not just doing more ab exercises.
Crunches are not inherently bad, but they can reinforce poor movement patterns if your deep core is not engaged. If your stomach pushes outward during crunches, it is a sign to focus on activation first before adding more traditional ab work.
Many women start to feel their deep core activating within one to two weeks of consistent practice. The key is repetition and focus. This is a neuromuscular skill, so it improves with regular, intentional practice rather than intensity.
Yes. Your deep core muscles support and stabilize your spine. When they are working properly, they reduce strain on your lower back and improve overall movement patterns, which can help decrease pain over time.
A simple approach works best. Aim for 2 to 3 strength workouts per week, add one focused deep core session, and stay consistent with daily movement like walking. This combination supports both strength and recovery.
Yes. When your deep core is functioning properly, your stomach naturally pulls in instead of pushing outward. This creates a flatter appearance without needing to increase the volume of traditional ab exercises.
This is often a sign that your deep core is not activating correctly. Instead of stabilizing inward, the pressure moves outward. Focusing on proper breathing and activation helps retrain your core to support your body the right way.
No. Pulling your stomach in forcefully can create tension without proper activation. Instead, focus on gentle engagement through your breath and deep core connection so the muscles activate naturally and efficiently.
Lindsay Brin holds a degree in Exercise Science and has over 20 years of experience helping women, especially women over 40, build strength and redefine what fitness means for life. She has certified Pilates instructors and CPTs across the U.S. and developed a fitness course accredited by National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and American Council on Exercise (ACE).
But her most transformative learning came after 40, when she began experiencing perimenopause. Lindsay immersed herself in the science of aging, hormones, walking, HIIT, and strength training—ultimately developing a method that works with your body, not against it.
This is now the foundation of Moms Into Fitness, which has helped over 85,000 women rebuild strength, renew energy, and create lasting results.
