Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
Too many people confuse core strength with ab strength. Developing a balanced core that improves posture and promotes balanced movement is much more complicated. I and a lot of other folks here use
Core Advantage. Best $15 I every spent. Although if your public speaking teacher knew anything at all about it, they would have recommended taking
Alexander Technique lessons. It's pretty cool.
To be fair, a strong and stable rectus abdominus is required if you want the power to project and to hold your voice smoothly. If your RA is in good shape, you can hold deep, wide notes for a long time with a lot of amplitude. I would imagine that this would also help with the all-too-common issue of people not projecting when they speak at meetings--we've all met the type. The principle is the same: using a full breadth of second-order harmonics gives your voice more power without raising the amplitude, making it both clearer and firmer without becoming louder or changing the dominant frequency.
When I was singing, I was doing reps of 150-250 sit-ups multiple times every day, mostly when there was nothing else to do. After a while they become insanely easy and you can just crash out for several minutes without flinching; I got to a point where I could exhaust myself and then come back 10 minutes later and do it again. Push-ups, however, are asinine, and you will never pass 20 or so without significant pain and dedication.
Core strength is good. I have never been able to do somersaults or handstands, or gotten below the 18% body fat requirement to have nice abs.