Who doesn’t love to throw a little more ab work on to their daily routine? Whether you are buying into society's somewhat misplaced obsession with six pack abs or you are just trying to get your core stronger, to protect your back, improve trunk stability, and move to more advanced exercises, this quick 10 minute core routine will hit your abdominals, lower back, obliques as well as a whole host of smaller muscles that you probably won’t recognize the name of unless you have spent a lot of time studying anatomy or physiology.
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This routine does not have a warm up or cool down included with it so it can easily be added onto the end of another video or workout. It is also intense enough that if you add your own warm up and cool down this can easily be a standalone routine on a medium to light day, or a second workout of the day if you are doing a more intense two-a-day program. We have broken it up into two separate sections with a water break in the middle. Each section has 5 exercises chosen to target the most range and movement of the core. The sections are different from each other in exercises but are done with the same timed interval. Each exercise is done for 50 seconds with a 10 second rest/prep to get ready for the next exercise. Each exercise is only done for one set and is not repeated. However, you can always do this routine multiple times in a row to create a more challenging workout. Just remember to add your own warm up and cool down.
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Keep in mind that your core muscles (abdominals, obliques, lower back, etc.) are just like any other muscle in your body and they need time to rest and recover after being worked. Depending on the style of routine it could be anywhere from 24 to 72 hours before you should heavily target them again. For example, if you are doing a toning routine where you are doing light (or no) weight with high repetitions, then as long as you are used to that style of routine, you might be able to hit the same muscle group again the next day. However, if you are doing a high weight low repetition routine for strength/muscle building you could tax your muscles to the point of needing 2-3 days for full recovery. It is very important to not heavily exercise or tax sore muscles. If they are sore, then they are still healing, and need to be left alone or at the most targeted with a light stretching routine to free any adhered muscle fibers. Exercising intensely on sore muscles will just increase your chance of injury, lengthen your heal time, prolong your soreness, and slow your strength progress.
Workout Structure
- 2 Groups of 5 Exercises
- 50 Sec Active 20 Sec Rest
- One Set Per exercise
Equipment
- None (Optional Mat)
Warm Up / Cooldown
- Not Included
No Equipment Abs Workout
Group 1 (50 Seconds on, 10 Off)
- Jackknife Getup
- Back Bow Cross
- Side Double Leg Raise L
- Side Double Leg Raise R
- Windshield Wipers
--- Water Break ---
Group 2 (50 Seconds on, 10 Off)
- Russian Twist
- Swimmers
- Side Hip Raise L
- Side Hip Raise R
- Butterfly Cross Crunch