Hey {{first name | reader}},
It’s Tuesday, which means your weekly fitness check-in. Welcome to Week 11.
Last week I added two twenty-minute core workouts to my schedule.
Completing the second one, I was reminded of something important:
I really don’t enjoy ab workouts.
They burn almost immediately.
They never seem to get easier.
And they rarely feel heroic.
But I keep doing them.
Partly because I know they work.
Mostly because of something that happened about ten years ago.
My great aunt Sybil broke her hip.1
I spent several weeks helping manage her care during recovery. I sat at her bedside everyday as the 94-year-old struggled with basic movements. One morning I helped her sit up in her hospital bed so she could eat breakfast.2
The tray was already there.
But just getting upright took several minutes and a surprising amount of effort.
That moment stayed with me.
Because I realized something I hadn’t thought about before.
Recovery from a hip fracture isn’t really about the hip.
It’s about whether the rest of your body is strong enough to help you recover.3
A view of downtown Los Angeles from the Getty Museum
That experience changed how I think about one part of training that many people ignore.
Your Core Does More Than You Think
Your core is involved in almost every movement you make.
Walking begins in the core.
Balance comes from the core.
Turning, twisting, lifting, reaching — all of it starts there.
But “core” doesn’t just mean abs.
Your core includes the muscles from your hips to your mid-back, wrapping all the way around your torso.
Which is why endless crunches aren’t actually the best way to train it.
The core’s real job is stability — holding your body steady while everything else moves.
This is good news, because there are far more interesting options than lying on the floor doing crunches until you question your life choices.
That said…
Hanging leg raises remain the bane of my existence.4
I still do them twice a week.
Not because I enjoy them.
But because I know how strong they make me.
🌱 RADISH FIELD NOTE
The exercises that help you the most are often the ones that are hardest to love.
Core work.
Mobility work.
Balance work.
None of them feel heroic.
But twenty years from now, they may matter more than your bench press.
So what does core training actually look like?
📖 ASK ME ANYTHING
I hate crunches. What else can I do?
Fortunately, there are many better options.
Start with exercises that train the whole core:
• forearm plank
• side plank
• dead bugs
As you get stronger, try:
• suitcase carries
• hanging leg raises
• cable rotations or Pallof presses
The key idea is simple:
Train your core as a stabilizer, not just a flexing muscle.
And feel free to skip crunches forever.
💡 MYTH BUSTING
Myth: Core training is about getting visible abs.
Reality: Core training is about stability, balance, and protecting your back.
Visible abs are mostly a body-fat conversation.
A strong core, however, makes everyday movement easier:
lifting
running
climbing stairs
getting out of bed
In other words — useful life activities.
🍽️ RADISH FUEL
Roasted Cauliflower + Almonds
Cauliflower roasted at 425°F until the edges get dark and crispy.
Then add:
• olive oil
• salt
• black pepper
• toasted almonds
• parmesan if you feel like it
Salty. Crunchy. Very satisfying.
Also proof that vegetables become dramatically more interesting when roasted aggressively.
📚 WORTH YOUR TIME
This dense but useful article, “Exploring the role of the core in sports performance: a systematic review of the effects of core muscle training,” shows that planks are miserable, but unfortunately they work.
If you’ve ever spent a minute in a plank wondering why you do this to yourself, science has an answer: because it actually helps. This recent review of studies on athletes found that core training reliably improves core strength, endurance, balance, and sprint speed. But it doesn’t seem to help much with things people often assume it does—like jump height or explosive power. In other words, core work makes your body more stable and efficient, not superhuman. The bad news: planks are still terrible. The good news: they’re probably worth it.
If you want to start building core strength, it doesn’t have to be complicated.
💪 TRY THIS WEEK
The 5-Minute Core Routine
At the end of one workout this week:
Dead bugs — 10 slow reps per side
Side plank — 30 seconds each side
Suitcase carry — 30 seconds each arm
Repeat twice.
Five minutes.
Your core will notice.
Stay strong,
{{first name | reader}}
P.S.
Most people train for how they want to look.
The smarter goal might be training for how you want to move when you’re eighty.
1 I try to be the best aunt I can be to my sister’s four kids largely because I had an excellent model in my great aunt Sybil. She was one of the smartest people I ever met. She had strong opinions and lived an independent life at a time when most women were expected to marry early and disappear into domestic logistics. She mailed me envelopes full of newspaper articles she had carefully cut out. She sent cassette tapes of scholars’ lectures. She took me on trips — most memorably to Egypt for my high school graduation. Future House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was on that trip as well.
2 Old people are surprisingly heavy. One afternoon I arrived at my grandmother’s house and found her sprawled on the kitchen floor. She had slipped and fallen and had been there for nearly an hour. Getting her up from that position was harder than any squat or bench press I’ve ever done. Strength training is useful. But lifting a fallen grandparent is existential.
3 It also plays a part in whether you break the hip in the first place.
4 I remain unconvinced they will ever stop feeling terrible.