This mini ab workout will take less than 10 minutes, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find time to do it daily. It includes exercises for all the layers of ab muscle, so will pull your abs in as well as toning your 6 pack muscles. The workout consists of 2 sets of the 6 exercises. In the first set you do everything for 30 repetitions/seconds and in the second it’s 20. If you’re a beginner, then do 20 for both sets for the first 4 weeks. You can download a printable of the daily ab workout, which includes a tracker section, so that you can mark your workouts as done each day.
Before you do the workout
Please read these general exercise guidelines.
You will need an exercise mat, or some other form of cushioning such as a folded blanket.
Daily ab workout exercises
#1 Crunch
- Lie with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor about hip distance apart.
- Put your hands behind your head to prevent neck strain. You should just be supporting your head, not pulling on it.
- Keep your elbows relaxed out to the side.
- Engage your abdominal muscles and curl your spine smoothly away from the floor.
- Stop when your shoulder blades have left the floor and start to reverse the movement. Again, it should be a smooth, curling movement on the way down.
#2 Reverse crunch
- This time, start by extending your legs so that they are vertical.
- Engage your lower abs as you curl your lower spine off the mat in a smooth curling movement.
- When your lower back has left the floor, start to reverse the movement – curl your spine back down under control.
# Bicycle crunch
- Start with your feet in the air and your hands behind your head.
- Extend your right leg to a 45° angle with the floor.
- At the same time, bring your left knee towards your upper body and lift your right shoulder off the floor to reach your elbow towards your knee.
- Now extend your left leg and bring your left elbow towards your right knee.
- Keep alternating until you’ve done all your reps.
#4 Right elbow plank
- Lay on your side, with your legs extended in a straight line.
- Take your forearm to 90º with your body and curl your hand into a fist to help support your weight.
- Engage your core muscles and lift your upper body so that your forearm is supporting you, making sure your shoulder is directly above your elbow.
- If you don’t find it comfortable to have your feet stacked as shown in the picture above, then put your left foot on the floor in front of your right foot.
- Hold this position.
#5 Both elbows plank
- When you’ve finished your side plank hold, come back down into a side lying position and then roll over so that you’re facing the floor with both forearms on the floor.
- Position your forearms so that the sides are on the floor, with your palms facing each other and curled into a fist. Make sure your elbow is in line with your shoulder.
- Now engage your core and come up onto your toes, with your legs and back making a straight line.
- Hold for the given time.
#6 Left elbow plank
- Once you’ve held the 2 elbow plank for the right amount of time, come back down to lying face down and roll over onto your left side.
- Follow the instructions for the right side plank to do the left side plank.
Get the daily ab workout printable
Sign up for My Fitness Planner updates and get the free printable download link e-mailed to you:
After you sign up, you’ll get 2 e-mails, one will have a link to your printable download and the other will be a welcome e-mail.
If the e-mails haven’t turned up within a few minutes, please check your junk folder, as some service providers have very strict filters.
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