Working my abs and core on my non-lifting days?

revolutiontruth
revolutiontruth Posts: 88 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I recently started a 3 day a week full body weight lifting routine with 30 minutes of fartlek cardio on my off days. I have read a lot about the importance of letting your muscles rest on the non-lifting days. But the routine I am doing doesn't work my abs or core in general. Is it ok for me to add some ab and core exercises to my non-lifting days or should I do those on the days I lift?

Replies

  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    What program are you doing?
  • revolutiontruth
    revolutiontruth Posts: 88 Member
    I do 2 sets of each of the following. did between 9 and 11 sets depending on how my body felt.
    Bench Press
    Seated Leg Curl
    Leg Press
    Shoulder Press
    Lat Pull Down, wide grip
    Chest Flys
    Tricep Pushdowns
    Bicep curls
    I am thinking of adding 1 or 2 exercises next week.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Abs on rest days are fine.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    Abs on rest days are fine.

    +1
  • piperdown44
    piperdown44 Posts: 958 Member
    revolutiontruth wrote: »
    I do 2 sets of each of the following. did between 9 and 11 sets depending on how my body felt.
    Bench Press
    Seated Leg Curl
    Leg Press
    Shoulder Press
    Lat Pull Down, wide grip
    Chest Flys
    Tricep Pushdowns
    Bicep curls
    I am thinking of adding 1 or 2 exercises next week.

    You're not really working the core with those types of exercises, so yeah, you can hit the core on the non-lifting days.

  • rileyes
    rileyes Posts: 1,406 Member
    Have you tried a program like StrongLifts 5x5? That is a 3-day full body program. You won't need additional ab work.

    It looks like your current program may benefit with added posterior chain as well as the ab work. Deadlifts (including Romanian and American) and Kettlebell swings are some exercise that help target the glutes and hams. I like rotational moves for the abs and lats (medicine ball, bands, cables).
  • boogiewookie
    boogiewookie Posts: 206 Member
    why u no squat? I'm not an expert so I probably shouldn't put my 2 cents in but big compound movements engage your core. if you swapped leg press and seated leg curl for squat and deadlift your core would thank you. I have a bad habit of skipping my ab isolation but my obliques are solid and my abs are hard (through a cushy layer lol) just from regular lifting. but yes, abs on "rest" day is perfectly fine :-)
  • revolutiontruth
    revolutiontruth Posts: 88 Member
    Thanks for the feedback. The squats and dead lift are probably a good idea.

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