Study shows a single weekly session boosts ab strength as effectively as multiple workouts. – By Selene Yeager

Something is better than nothing. We’ve all said it. But when it comes to exercise—especially strength training—few of us actually believe it. Now a study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness provides evidence that even a little core training—once a week to be exact—may be just as effective as multiple sessions for building a more resilient midsection.

In the study, Spanish researchers tested the abdominal strength of 118 untrained young men and women and then had them perform two core exercises (the crunch and cross crunch) either once, twice, or three times a week. After six weeks, all the volunteers saw significant improvements in their abdominal strength. No surprise there. What was surprising is that there was no significant difference between the groups. One bout per week worked as well as three. And we all have time for one quick core session a week.

Make a commitment to your core today. Pick a non-negotiable day that you will carve out 10 minutes to do two moves. Then do them. If you’re like me and are easily bored by gym-type exercises, create a grab bag of moves to cycle through so you’re always doing something different.

RELATED: 4 Core Exercises

READ MORE ON: indoors strength training programmes workouts