In Vienna, while doing our 5x5 program, Chris and I usually incorporate the exercises Chad Waterbury presented in his article HERE . We usually start our sessions with an hour of padwork and/or sparring. Therefore, we're not doing the core exercises in a circle before the workout, as Chad suggests - that would prolong the whole thing too much. Also, the core's already pretty active due to all those kicks and punches. Hence, we stick to doing the pallof press and stir the pot in between our heavy sets. Personally I feel that it's those two exercise that offer the biggest benefit in terms of core stabilization. Now in the Gym in Dabki where I've been working out for the last two weeks, the cable station is pretty crappy (no adjustable heights, just the to and bottom position), so the pallof press was really inconvenient. Also, there were so balls whatsoever to stir the pot (insert your own bad joke here - I'm too tired to think of one). So, the core work I usually do...