By now the majority of us know that a lean, toned stomach or six pack abs takes a lot more than just a bunch of abdominal workouts.

The consistent combination of varying intensities of cardio, total body strength training, and a clean and healthy diet (check out our 4 Week Meal Plan), is key to losing the fat that resides over the ab muscles.

With that said, abs workouts – especially fast, focused and to the point ones like this one – are important for strengthening the core so that you have the strength and body integrity to do those super-effective HIIT cardio and strength training workouts (not to mention simple daily living activities), without injury. Adding this abs and obliques workout video into your rotation of other Fitness Blender workouts will help you further tone your stomach, as well as burn off a few extra calories.

None of the abs exercises in this routine are particularly difficult, which is why we do them for a full 50 seconds. This video is less about demanding, super challenging moves, and more about building endurance throughout your core – another very important aspect in avoiding injuries and strains that might otherwise sideline your exercise plans.

Many of these exercises have multiple different steps and require some coordination – don’t feel discouraged if it takes you a second to get the hang of a movement; mixing things up is part of the point here and it makes your body and your brain have to work harder.  Flexibility is also a variable in this routine; press into each range of motion as far as you comfortably can, but never to the point of pain. Adding this routine onto your workout schedule 3-4 times a week will not only result in a more defined stomach, it will also help you increase your flexibility.

One last note; a lot of the exercises in this routine engage far more than just your core, which is a great thing! For many of these exercises, you will also feel your glutes, thighs, arms, chest, and shoulders – just to name a few of the secondary muscle groups involved – working.

Workout Structure

We’ve got ten different exercises, and each one engages the core (abs, obliques, lower back) in a different way. We’ll do each exercise for 50 seconds, with just a quick ten second rest/transition time in between each. This way, our core muscles never get a chance to fully relax, and our abs and obliques workout is done quickly, meaning that there’s time for a little but of Fitness Blender cardio or strength training to accompany this workout – both of which are essential to losing belly fat.

Abs Exercises

Bicycle Crunch Leg Drops

Plank Tucks + Downward Dog Walk

Back Bow Toe Touches

Leg Pedals, alternating directions

Upward Facing Plank + Leg Lifts

2 Oblique Crunches + Bridge (arms up to further engage the core)

Single Leg Drops

Circle Crunches, alternating

Bicycle Crunches

Mini Scissors