Want to train your core? You don’t need to do sit-ups and crunches to work the muscles in your midsection. In fact, I’m training my core whenever I exercise, even when I’m not doing core-specific moves. It’s because my core has to engage for every move I do at the gym to ensure my body stays balanced and stable.

Using kettlebells when I work out adds another layer of intensity. Because the weight of a kettlebell sits below the handle—unlike a dumbbell where the weight is evenly distributed on either side—you have to work harder to keep the kettlebell stable during exercise and your core plays a significant part in helping you do that.

My PT, Will Duru, is a huge fan of kettlebell workouts. “Kettlebells are really effective for core strength because they can be used to imitate real-life situations such as picking things up from the ground, thrusting from the hips, and lifting boxes overhead,” says Duru. “Kettlebells teach you to be flexible in your core strength through rotational movements too.”

Want to train your core without doing back-breaking sit-ups? Give these moves a go. I leave a 30 to 60-second rest between each set depending on how I am feeling.

1 Single-arm swing 

Sets 4 Reps 12 each side

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a kettlebell in one hand in front of you by its handle. Engage your back and core muscles so your back stays flat throughout. Hinge at your hips, pushing your hips backwards and letting the kettlebell swing through your legs. Push your hips forward to generate the power to swing the kettlebell up to shoulder height, but don’t overextend and let your back curve. Control the descent and go straight into the next rep. Do all your reps on one side, then switch sides. Read Coach’s kettlebell swing form guide for more technique pointers.

2 Standing Arnold press

Sets 3 Reps 12

Hold lighter kettlebells by your shoulders with your palms facing you. Press the kettlebells up, rotating your hands 180° so your palms face forward when your arms are extended. Avoid using your lower body during this exercise so that your core has to work that extra bit harder to hold you upright as you press the kettlebells overhead. Coach’s Arnold press form guide has more about this excellent shoulder exercise.

3 Gorilla row

Sets 4 Reps 12 each side

Stand over two heavier kettlebells, push your hips back and bend your knees slightly to take hold of the kettlebell handles. Keep your core engaged and back flat as you lift one kettlebell to your rib cage, pause, and then lower back down. Repeat on the other side. Continue, alternating sides with each rep.

4 Plank pike and push-up

Sets 4 Reps 8 each side 

Get into a high plank position, with a light kettlebell by each hand. Lift one hand and pick up the kettlebell on the opposite side. Keeping your arms and legs extended, lift your hips and pull the kettlebell towards your opposite foot. Return to the start, then perform a push-up, bending your elbows to lower your chest to the floor and pressing back up, before repeating the pike on the other side. Keep your core and back engaged so that your body stays square to the floor as you move the kettlebell.

5 Plank drag

Sets 4 Reps 10 each side 

Place a kettlebell next to one hand and get in the high plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders, arms extended and your body in a straight line from head to heels. Maintaining the plank position, use your hand furthest away from the kettlebell to drag it under your body to the other side. Squeeze your core as you move the kettlebell to stop your body from shifting to one side.

6 Squat and press

Sets 3 Reps 10

Hold a heavier kettlebell upside down in both hands in front of your chest. Push your hips back and bend your knees to lower into a squat. As you rise, press the kettlebell overhead.

7 Flutter kick

Sets 3 Reps 20

Lie on your back holding two light kettlebells above you with arms extended. Lift your legs just off the floor and, pressing your lower back into the floor and keeping your legs extended, lift one foot and lower the other, then reverse the movements, alternating at pace. Find out an adjustment to use if you can’t keep your back pressed into the floor with Coach’s flutter kick form guide.

Spend any time on social media and you’ll soon see fitness influencers performing abs exercises while barely breaking a sweat, but when working out isn’t your job, even getting through a set of sit-ups can be a challenge.

That’s why I like the workouts certified PTs Vivienne and Mike Addo post on Instagram under their moniker MrandMrsMuscle. Each move is accompanied by an easier modification in the top left corner of the video. That makes their videos more accessible to people who are still working on their fitness and, if you start with the modifications, offer the chance to repeat the workout and progress to the harder moves as you get stronger.

In the bottom right you’ll also see a diagram of the body with the muscles you should be using to perform the exercise highlighted—very handy.

MrandMrsMuscle’s workouts also tend to be short and their most recent post is only four moves and 10 minutes. The workout is taken from the MrandMrsMuscle app and if you’d like to see what else is on offer, there’s currently a seven-day trial available.

This session puts a particular emphasis on the obliques, the muscles that run down the sides of your torso. “The obliques help to stabilize and protect your spine, as well as helping to bend and rotate your torso to the side, so it’s important to include them in your abs workouts,” says PT Ann Brindley of Active Nation, speaking to Coach for its guide to oblique exercises.

Coach also has plenty more short abs workouts for you to add to your routine, including a short five-minute abs workout and 10-minute abs workout.

If you want to build core strength, the plank is a great place to start. This bodyweight exercise activates all the core muscles—from the rectus abdominis (the visible six-pack muscle) to the transverse abdominis (the deep core).

I’m a personal trainer and I’m always telling my clients about the effectiveness of the plank—that’s why I’ve created this three-move core-strengthening circuit which takes 10 minutes.

Plank Workout Overview

Perform the following three plank variations a circuit. Rest for 10-20 seconds after each move and for one minute after each circuit. Complete three circuits in total.

1. Walking plank x 30-45sec
2. Plank hip dip x 30-45sec
3. Plank leg raise x 30-45sec

If you find this routine too intense, start with Coach’s 30-day plank challenge which takes less than three minutes a day and gradually develops your core strength. 

Plank Workout Form Guides

1 Walking plank

Time 30-45sec Rest 10-20sec

Start in a high plank position on your hands and toes. Your hands should be directly under your shoulders, arms extended and core braced, and your body should form a straight line from head to heels. Maintaining the position of your body, drop your left elbow to your mat, followed by your right. Hold this position for a few seconds, then put your left palm on the mat under your left shoulder, straighten your arm, then repeat on the right side to return to the high plank position. Hold this position for a few seconds, then repeat. Alternate the side you lead with each rep.

2 Plank hip dip

Time 30-45sec Rest 10-20sec

Start in a low plank position on your forearms and toes. Your elbows should be directly under your shoulders, your core braced and your body should form a straight line from head to heels. Maintaining the position of your body, drop your hips to one side. Return to the center then repeat on the other side. Continue, moving slowly with control.

3 Plank leg raise

Time 30-45sec Rest 10-20sec

Start in a low plank position on your forearms and toes. Your elbows should be directly under your shoulders and your body should form a straight line from head to heels. Raise your left leg, pause for a few seconds then lower it to the floor under control. Repeat on the other side.

Most people, myself included, start core training with sit-ups. I included them in my workout routine for years and as I got stronger they began to feel easy. Despite this, I noticed my core felt weak when doing compound exercises with a barbell, or gymnastics movements like toes-to-bar.

To improve my core strength, I’ve been trying routines that target the deep core muscles, as opposed to sit-ups which isolate the rectus abdominis—the core muscle just under your skin that gives the six-pack shape.

I decided to try a dumbbell workout personal trainer Elise Young posted on Instagram. It’s only two moves, but the moves are tough progressions of the leg raise and dead bug, and both fire up the entire core.

According to strength and conditioning coach Fiona Scott, who lent her expertise to Coach’s guide to leg raises, the move is a true core exercise, engaging your pelvic floor, transverse abdominis, internal obliques and multifidus. Similarly, in Coach’s dead bug exercise guide, certified PT Cara D’Orazio says the dead bug works the transverse abdominis, pelvic floor, erector spinae and obliques, as well as the rectus abdominis.

Young progresses the leg raise to the alternating single-leg version and adds a chest flye, and adds a dumbbell pull-over to the dead bug.

Take a look at Young’s Instagram Reel where she demonstrates each of the exercises.

I might be confident with common abs exercises, but I found myself struggling to get through 12 reps of the moves in Young’s workout, even while using light weights.

These exercises require control and stability, as well as strength, and I could feel my hip flexors as well as my abdominal muscles working hard just a couple of reps into this workout.

In her form guide, Scott emphasizes the need to keep your lower back pressed into the floor throughout. Scott recommends placing your arms by your sides and pushing into the floor with your hands for extra support, but in Young’s routine your hands are busy moving dumbbells!

I tried to keep my lower back flat on the mat, but a few reps in, I felt it lifting to try and support my core. I had to really focus on squeezing my glutes and abs, and followed Scott’s form cue, trying to move your belly button toward the floor. I also took plenty of rest between sets.

My core was burning by the end of this routine and I had worked my core harder than I had in a long time. It’s important not to push your body too hard, though. If your form starts to suffer, it’s better to make modifications to the reps, or rest, or the exercise itself—mastering the basic move before progressing.

I often include short core workouts at the end of my strength training workouts as finishers. In part that’s because a strong core is crucial to performing heavy compound exercises such as squats and deadlifts safely, but having a strong core can also reduce the back pain I experience after sitting at a desk all day.

To build my core strength, I’ve decided to take a little-and-often approach by using short core routines to break up my working day. I came across this routine from level 3 PT Brooke Inglesfield which is made up of three simple movements and only takes 10 minutes.

It doesn’t require any equipment, so I simply rolled out my yoga mat on my living room floor and got started.

Take a look at Inglesfield’s Instagram Reel where she demonstrates each of the exercises.

This workout involves three movements: crunches, bent leg raises and those first two exercises combined. Inglesfield’s workout requires you to perform an exercise for 40 seconds, rest for 20 seconds and then move on to the next exercise. Once you’ve completed all three exercises, repeat that sequence three times in total. Focus on slow and controlled movements to increase the time the muscles are under tension.

I liked that these weren’t complicated core exercises, but I still paid attention to my form, bracing my core before I started by tucking my ribcage in and ensuring my back was flat against the floor. If you need to brush up on your technique, Coach’s expert guide to how to do crunches can help. Our leg raise form guide also features the knee raise variation Inglesfield uses.

I wasn’t sweaty or exhausted by the end of the routine, but I felt that I had challenged my core muscles, and I went back to my desk sitting up a little bit straighter and feeling stronger.

As a CrossFitter, I spend most of my time working with weights, especially explosive barbell exercises and high-intensity workouts featuring functional movements. But I also make sure to put the weights down and include some mobility and core work in my training.

Why? Because a stronger midline is the anchor to any strength work. It’s essential for supporting weight overhead, it’s needed when bracing for any pulling or pushing, and it can help prevent injuries, particularly in the lower back. It’s even more important in CrossFit workouts as weighted moves are often performed faster and under fatigue.

I found a workout from personal trainer Stef Williams, who is also the founder of the workout app WeGLOW. The routine is designed to build core strength, improve mobility and raise your heart rate, so I thought it would be the perfect choice as a finisher. You only need one piece of equipment—a gym ball.

Watch Williams’s Instagram post to see her demonstrate the moves.

Each move in this routine is performed for 30 seconds, apart from the jump squats which should be done for one minute. You do three core exercises, then one minute of jump squats, then a different three exercises, another minute of jump squats, then a final three core moves and—you guessed it—one last minute of jump squats.

I found the gym ball exercises were the most challenging, as they required a combination of strength, stability and balance. I focused on engaging my core throughout the entire session by tucking my pelvis in, keeping my ribcage down and squeezing my glutes. 

Coach has plenty of similar workouts to try next, such as this gym ball abs workout, this quick core finisher and this 10-minute abs workout.

I mostly avoid targeted core workouts, choosing instead to perform strength sessions built around heavy compound exercises that activate my core.

However, I’ve begun to suspect that my core might need more attention. For a start, I’ve been experiencing backache when sitting at my desk and strengthening your core is one of the best ways to counteract this.

I also do CrossFit which often involves a series of gymnastics-based exercises and my lack of core strength can hold me back during those sessions.

So I added this short, equipment-free finisher from personal trainer Ella-Mae Rayner to the end of one of my usual CrossFit workouts. Here’s the Instagram reel of the workout.

There are eight exercises to be done consecutively without rest. Rayner recommends resting for one minute after all the exercises have been performed, then repeating that sequence a total of three times. It took me about 15 minutes and my core was burning by the end of the workout. 

I know good form is essential during core workouts and I paid close attention to this, especially as my muscles fatigued in the second and final rounds. I tucked my ribcage in and squeezed my glutes while performing the leg raise so my lower back remained pressed into the exercise mat.

I also made a point of keeping my hips in line with the rest of my body during the mountain climbers and plank, rather than letting them hike up which takes some of the tension away from my core muscles and diminishes the challenge.

I'm pretty confident with flexion exercises such as sit-ups and crunches, which mainly engage the rectus abdominis muscles. However, the leg raises and climbers proved far more difficult which suggests I lack strength in my obliques and deeper core muscles such as the transverse abdominis. I love any workout that helps me identify weak spots so it’s one I’ll come back to regularly as a quick way to activate my entire core and put my strength to the test.

I have recently been prioritizing strength work to improve my running, and while I never skip my weekly lower-body session, I confess workouts dedicated to my upper body and core are few and far between.

Despite knowing all the benefits of a strong core, this type of workout is my least favorite, so I’m always on the lookout for short core workouts—15 minutes or less and as few moves as possible.

That’s why I love this workout from physical therapist duo Cate and Davis, otherwise known as ThatPTCouple on TikTok. The routine has just three moves, none of which require any equipment (except maybe an exercise mat for some comfort).

Watch ThatPTCouple’s Core Strengthening Workout

This video is part of a series of core exercises for runners, each targeting a different part of your core, with this routine zeroing in on your anterior core—the muscles at the front of your midsection.

The movements are straightforward and well-known core exercises, especially the bicycle crunch. I completed the recommended reps for each exercise and then repeated this four times.

I normally avoid leg lowers but, in the name of improved running performance, I pushed through, especially once I heard from Cate about why this kind of core training is so important. “Core strengthening is often an overlooked area of a training program for runners,” she told me. “However, stability through the spine, pelvis, and abdomen is essential for preventing and treating injuries in this population. A core-strengthening program doesn’t need to take a whole lot of time. You just need to be consistent.”

You can find all of ThatPTCouple’s core routines in this TikTok playlist, and Coach has plenty of options too, such as these 15-minute core workouts for runners and these barre exercises. If you can stand marathon core sessions, follow this core workout used by Kenyan marathon runners.

CrossFit is my preferred way to train. I like lifting heavy weights, learning new gymnastic skills, and challenging myself with intense metcons.

So when the editor of Coach asked me to try a Pilates for core session, I was excited because this isn’t something I usually make enough time for.

I signed up for a 30-minute core-focused routine with instructor Louise Buttler, founder and director of Pilates platform LIVE BRAVE, and it was a fantastic supplement to my regular strength training and conditioning workouts. 

Six Things I Learned From This Pilates Core Workout

1. The Effects Were Immediate 

“The great thing about Pilates is that you will start to feel and see a difference pretty quickly if you stay consistent with your practice,” Buttler tells me. “Even 10 minutes a day, five days a week, can make a real difference.”

As with anything promising instant results, I was dubious. However, my joints (and my niggly left knee in particular) felt noticeably stronger after just one session, giving me more confidence for movements like lunges and pistol squats. 

2. Form Is King

I was impressed with Buttler’s attention to detail and focus on form from the off, with extensive and practical instructions during the workout.

“Eyeline directly up to the ceiling, open collarbones, arms down by your sides, all 10 fingers spread, neutral pelvis, hip bones level, bellybutton and pubic bone level, arch in your lower back, femur bones tracking out from your pelvis to your knees, and your lower legs dropping down to your feet with all 10 toes in the mat.”

As the routine progressed, I found the slightest alteration in my position based on Buttler’s cues made a big difference to which muscles were active. Through this, I learned to focus on the quality and precision of my movements, making for a more effective workout. 

3. You Don’t Need Weights To Feel The Burn

The first sequence involved a descending ladder of 10, eight, six, four and then two glute bridge pulses with no rest. After each set, I was challenged to perform the same number of reps of a new move—allowing my knees to fall to the sides, then bringing them back together—while I held the final glute bridge. 

With my glutes and hamstrings under unrelenting tension, a burn akin to that caused by a lengthy wall sit or high-volume set of squats began to creep in.

4. Pilates Works Your Deep Core

It’s easy to confuse a core workout with a couple of sets of sit-ups that leaves you with an aching rectus abdominis—the muscles at the front of your stomach responsible for the six-pack shape. 

But moves like dead bugs, the Pilates 100 and dynamic side plank variations, twinned with detailed technique tips from Buttler, activated a selection of mid-body muscles that are often overlooked.

“Pilates is all about the core and developing those deep abdominal muscles,” Buttler tells me. “The most important thing to be aware of is how and when to engage those muscles, and this is all dependent on having a teacher that will cue you correctly, making sure your movement is as effective as possible.”

5. It’s Worth Slowing Down

A large chunk of the CrossFit workouts I tackle are performed against the clock. Here, though, Buttler used slow, controlled and purposeful movements throughout her routine. 

This approach increased the amount of time the muscles spent under tension. Thanks to the range of movements, more core muscles were worked than the average abs workout, so it felt like my midsection had been hit from all angles rather than the usual front-focused burn. 

6. Pilates Has Multiple Strings To Its Bow

I dived into this routine looking to build core strength. But some of my favorite parts were the stretching elements like the child’s pose and the mermaid exercise.

Afterwards, my muscles certainly felt worked, but they also felt soothed after heavy power cleans the day before. 

How To Add Pilates Into Your Training

Pilates is effective enough to be your primary exercise but, for me, it was a great way to supplement my other training. 

“Pilates is the perfect cross-training for sport because the movements will help strengthen all muscle groups and improve performance,” says Buttler. “Pilates is almost like doing physiotherapy and athletes will notice a cross-over between physio moves and Pilates moves. 

“Plus, you can be extremely targeted with Pilates, allowing you to focus on one particular area. If you’re a tennis player it’ll help the shoulder girdle and general rotation will improve your serve. Football players will improve their hamstring and glute strength, which will improve power and explosive movement. 

“There’s a reason so many professional athletes use it in their training plans, Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James being just two.”

What’s the best way to build strong abdominal muscles? With sit-ups, right? Well, only up to a point. Performing a variety of abs exercises using solely your bodyweight can help improve your core strength, but to take it to the next level, eventually you need to intensify your workouts by adding resistance—just as with other muscle groups.  

Exercising with a medicine ball is one of the most effective ways to add variety and introduce external load to your abs workouts because you can hug them into your chest, press them into the floor and shift them around your body in a way that isn’t possible with a cumbersome dumbbell or kettlebell. 

When starting to use a medicine ball with your abs training, start with a fairly low weight as you become familiar with it and as you become more confident, increase the load to progressively overload your workouts. You can also use a medicine ball to test your co-ordination and stability, balancing your hands or legs on it during movements like planks.

This workout, created by level 4 personal trainer Lorna Wilkins, takes just 30 minutes. “Medicine ball exercises are great for strengthening your core, which in turn improves balance and posture,” says Wilkins. “These movements also help improve flexibility, intermuscular coordination and promote the development of explosive strength.” 

Remember, if your goal is to achieve visible abdominal muscles or get a six-pack you need to adjust your diet to reveal your abs, alongside performing weighted abs workouts like this one. Wilkins says this workout can be used as a core-focused finisher after a strength session or on its own. Either way, make sure you warm up properly and include some dynamic stretches to mobilize your joints and activate your muscles. 

How To Do This Medicine Ball Abs Workout

Perform each exercise for 45 seconds, followed by 15 seconds of rest, repeating the circuit to complete it four times in total. “Try to complete as many repetitions of each exercise as possible in the given timeframe, all while maintaining good form,” says Wilkins. 

Ideally keep a couple of medicine balls close by so you can increase or decrease the weight as needed. You can also reduce the number of rounds to just one or two and use this medicine ball abs workout as a quickfire finisher.

1 Medicine ball mountain climber

Time 45sec Rest 15sec

Get into a high plank position with your hands on top of the medicine ball. Your arms should be extended and your body in a straight line from ankles to shoulders. Brace your core and bring your left knee towards your chest, resisting any rotational movement and keeping your hips level, then return to your starting position. Swap and do the same on the right side. Continue to alternate.

2 Medicine ball Russian twist

Time 45sec Rest 15sec

Sit on the floor with your knees bent, holding a medicine ball in front of your chest. Lean back so your torso is at 45° and lift your feet off the floor. Engage your core, twist your torso to the left and lightly tap the ball on the floor. Rotate your torso to the right and repeat on the other side.

3 Medicine ball V-up

Time 45sec Rest 15sec

Lie on your back with your legs extended in front of you, holding a medicine ball on the floor behind your head. Keeping your arms straight, engage your core to lift your torso, arms and legs at the same time, and try to touch your feet with the medicine ball. Return to your starting position under control and repeat. You might want to use a lighter medicine ball for this one. 

4 Medicine ball crunch

Time 45sec Rest 15sec

Lie on your back holding a medicine ball close to your chest, with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Engage your core and press your lower back into the floor, then curl your upper back and shoulder blades off the ground. Contract your abs muscles hard, then slowly lower your torso back to the starting position. 

5 Medicine ball plank with toe taps

Time 45sec Rest 15sec

Get into a high plank position with your hands on top of the medicine ball. Your arms should be extended and your body in a straight line from ankles to shoulders. Brace your core and, keeping back flat, raise your left foot and tap it on the floor a few inches to the left, then return it to your starting position. Repeat the process with your right foot on your right side. Continue to alternate sides.

6 Medicine ball scissor kick

Time 45sec Rest 15sec

Lie on your back with your legs extended in front of you, holding a medicine ball above your head with straight arms. Lift both legs so they are pointing straight up. Slowly lower your left leg until it’s just above the floor, then as you raise it back to the starting position, lower your right leg until it’s just above the floor. Continue alternating sides.

7 Medicine ball hollow body hold

Time 45sec Rest 15sec

Lie on your back with your legs extended in front of you, holding a medicine ball above your head with straight arms. Press your lower back into the floor and lift your lower back and feet just above the floor. Hold this hollow dish-shape as long as you can, while breathing normally. When you fatigue, pause, reset, then go again. To make it easier, hold the ball just above your chest.

I do strength training four times a week and I’m no stranger to lifting heavy weights, as well as endurance-focused sessions, thanks to regular CrossFit workouts. But although CrossFit covers most bases, including strength, fitness and mobility, one area of weakness that often holds me back in the gym is my stability.

From feeling wobbly when the barbell is overhead to experiencing lower-back pain after deadlifting, I frequently notice my lack of core stability and strength. I also have a desk job and I know a strong core is one of the best ways to prevent any damage that might be caused by sitting for most of the day.

So I resolved to start incorporating some workouts into my routine that will help me improve it.

Pilates is great for this, but I prefer to work with weights than on a mat or a Reformer. I decided to try a functional workout posted on Instagram by Amelie Esquenet, who is a personal trainer at Soho House and a coach at Rowbots London.

The workout is made up of six movements, combining a variety of barbell, dumbbell and bodyweight exercises. Some of the moves, such overhead squats and dumbbell snatches, are familiar to me from CrossFit, but I decided to focus on moving slowly and engaging my core to work on balance and stability rather than lifting heavy and racing through reps as I usually do.

I opted for a much lighter weight than I might otherwise, choosing a 5kg (11lb) dumbbell and an empty 15kg (33lb) barbell. The entire workout took me about 30 minutes. I took a short rest between rounds and moved slowly through the exercises to increase the time my muscles were under tension.

To get maximum mobility benefits, I made a point of getting my hips as low as possible while keeping my chest upright during the overhead squats, as well as making sure the barbell stayed directly above my head and my elbows faced forward.

As well as overhead squats, exercises like the Turkish get-up and lateral shoot-through (aka sit-out) are a great test of mobility, so it’s worth including them in your routine if that’s something you want to improve. It was challenging to maintain good form during these exercises in particular, but doing so challenged my mobility and my core strength.

If you’re looking to improve mobility but don’t have access to any equipment, try this five-move mobility routine. And if you sit for long periods like me, I can recommend these hip exercises for mobility.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy-to-follow core-strengthening workout to add to your routine, look no further. This no-repeat session runs through 10 exercises in 10 minutes, making it ideal if your week is looking a little busy or you want to add some dedicated core training to the end of a gym workout. 

The workout was put together by personal trainer Roxanne Russell and contains what she says are all of her favorite core exercises, and plenty of our favorites too, such as the dead bug. 

“A strong core is the foundation of a strong body,” says Russell. “Training your core will help you complete daily tasks with ease, such as picking up heavy objects and performing manual tasks. You will also gain many benefits including injury prevention, reduction of back pain, improved lifting mechanics, balance, stability and posture, as well as improved athletic performance.”

You’ll need a kettlebell (if you don’t own one, check out our guide to the best kettlebells) and, since all the exercises are done on the floor, an exercise mat.

It’s a follow-along workout, so once you have your equipment ready, press play and match Russell’s movements. 

The routine targets all areas of the core and Russell says it is inspired by Pilates. “I love to incorporate Pilates movements into weighted exercises,” she says. “I have included leg-lowering exercises that will target more of the ‘lower abs’, abs curl variations that will focus on more of the ‘upper abs’, twisting and rotating movements that will target the obliques, and planking and static holds that are going to strengthen the whole core.”

Russell also shared some form tips to keep in mind as you complete the workout. “With these exercises you want to make sure you are actively engaging your core throughout the movement. To engage your core, focus on keeping your ribs tucked in, draw your navel to your spine and tense your pelvic floor muscles. 

“If you are still struggling to engage your core, imagine you are going to be punched in the stomach and brace for the hit. To tense your pelvic floor, imagine you need to go to the toilet and need to hold it in.”

She also provided tips on how to position your spine. “If your feet are off the floor in an exercise while on your back, then you will want your spine to be imprinted. To imprint your spine, make your back completely flat to the floor, with your ribs tucked in and core engaged. You will have a slight posterior pelvic tilt, using your abdominals to draw the lower back toward the floor. If your feet are on the floor, you want to start with a neutral spine. A neutral spine is when your lumbar [lower] spine has a normal curve and your core is engaged.”

If you’re looking for more kettlebell workouts, this 10-minute kettlebell workout is a great full-body sweat, or for another session that targets your midsection try this kettlebell abs workout. Or if you use your gym’s kettlebells and are looking for no-equipment routines to do at home, there’s this bodyweight core workout or this home Pilates workout.

Looking for a quick core workout you can do at home? Look no further. This no-equipment routine is a great way to support your training in the gym. 

This workout comes from New York-based personal trainer Kira Stokes, an experienced fitness pro with a wide range of qualifications including NASM CPT, PES and WFS.

The routine uses a wall throughout the routine, a technique which we first came across in a Pilates workout and seems to be incorporated into workouts more frequently. According to Stokes, the wall helps to reinforce engagement as you work on your abs, keeping your lower back firmly on the ground.

While you don’t require any equipment to take part, all four moves are floor-based, so you may want an exercise mat for comfort’s sake.

Watch Kira Stokes’s Core-Strengthening Workout

The wall-anchored toe taps and leg raises are great core exercises, while Stokes also explains that the elevated glute bridges work on glute and hamstring strength, as well as adding “extra hip extension goodness”.

Stokes recommends performing at least 10 reps of each movement, and up to 12 of the first two exercises. For the wall-anchored marching bridges, count one rep each time your butt touches the floor. Stokes advises repeating the circuit three or four times. 

If you can’t find a decent spot next to a wall, try this bodyweight core workout that uses Pilates techniques to challenge your deep-lying core muscles. Or if you have a set of dumbbells at home, try this legs and core workout or this dumbbell core workout.

Your core plays a pivotal role in nearly every weightlifting movement, from squats and deadlifts to the bench press and even biceps curls. So we think it’s time you paid it a bit more attention.

This workout from WeGlow fitness app founder Stef Williams adds resistance to a series of movements to challenge your core muscles, making it a great fit for anyone who has stopped feeling the effects of bodyweight core exercises such as the plank and leg raise. All you’ll need to try it is a small weight plate.

Watch Williams demonstrate each of the moves in the video below. Perform each movement for 30-40 seconds, resting as little as possible between movements. Complete two rounds in total.

Williams advises that you keep your movements controlled throughout, rather than rushing through the reps. Just check out how long Williams takes to lower to the floor in the weighted crunch reach. This increases your muscles’ time under tension, making your core work harder. 

If you don’t have a weight plate to hand, or you find you can’t maintain good form with the addition of weight, the routine also works well as a bodyweight routine. To make it a little easier still, keep your feet on the floor during the first few seated movements and do the plank saw on your knees.

Looking for more bodyweight core workouts? This five-move home abs workout will improve your endurance, as well as your abs. You could also try a standing abs routine to switch things up.

Strengthening your core should be your number one priority in the gym. The ability to keep your body stable while resistance training is vital for protecting your back from injury as well as nailing the form of each exercise, so you get the maximum benefit from the work you’re putting in.

As your training evolves, you need to find new challenges for your core, which is why we’re sharing this functional routine from CANFITPRO-certified personal trainer Sarah Shepard.

The routine requires a kettlebell, weight plate and an abs roller. The abs roll-out can be especially hard on the knees so a folded exercise mat or yoga mat will be welcome if you have one available.

It’s really important to get your form right with core exercises, and Shepard demonstrates each exercise in her TikTok video for you to mirror, as well as providing form tips. 

Movements In Sarah Shepard’s Core Workout

• Kettlebell march, 12 reps each arm
• Kettlebell around the world, 10 reps each direction
• Abs roll-out, reps to failure
• Up and over, 14 reps
• Weighted dead bug, 14 reps
• Weighted leg raise, 5 reps

Shepard recommends performing three rounds of the movements, but you could also add one round to the end of a longer gym workout.

If you own a kettlebell and abs roller, you could turn this session into a home workout, using the kettlebell in place of the weight plate. In fact, you can increase the difficulty of the weighted dead bug and weighted leg raise by holding the kettlebell in one hand, forcing your core to work harder to resist being pulled to one side. 

We have plenty more core workouts for you to try. If you have a set of dumbbells at home, try this legs and core workout or this dumbbell core workout. Or if you don’t have any equipment to hand, this bodyweight core workout uses Pilates techniques to challenge your deep-lying core muscles. 

Whoever you are and however you like to exercise, you should be including core workouts in your week. These don’t have to be very complicated, or very long, but if you think you’re ready to add in an extra challenge, or combine your core work with some shoulder and arm exercises, we have just the thing.

Our featured workout from ACE-certified personal trainer Julie Cap (who goes by juliexfit online) comprises two circuits that take some of our favourite core exercises, like the bird-dog and bicycle crunch, and adds more movement in the form of dumbbell rows and biceps curls so your core has to work even harder to keep you stable.

The best part is that you only need a pair of light dumbbells and enough space to lie down. 

Watch Cap demonstrate each of the movements in the Instagram Reel below, and imitate her form to ensure the best results.

Complete 12 reps of each exercise in a circuit format for four rounds, taking one minute to rest between rounds. When you’ve finished all four rounds of the first circuit, rest for three minutes and then move on to the second circuit for the same number of reps and rounds.

Opt for a light set of dumbbells for this workout and focus on the quality of your movement, moving slowly and intentionally through each exercise to engage your muscles and maximise their time under tension. 

If you find the session too much of a challenge and you can’t maintain good form, almost all of the movements can be completed as bodyweight exercises. For the dumbbell shoulder press, remove the backwards lean and either support your back on a weights bench or perform the shoulder exercise standing.

If you have a pair of light dumbbells at home, you may like to know about this countdown circuit, which uses holds to increase the challenge of light dumbbells, as well as this home shoulder workout which uses light dumbbells to great effect.

Core training should form part of everyone’s exercise regime, because the core muscles provide the foundations for moving effectively and safely. In our guide to core exercises, trainer Jess King at F45 recommended including just five to 10 minutes of core work in your training a few times a week. 

This simple bodyweight workout from personal trainer Alex Rice is a great way to dedicate some time to your deep-lying core muscles like the transversus abdominis and multifidus, which both help to support your spine, as well as the obliques.

Your obliques run down the side of your torso (which is why they’re often called your side abs) and are often neglected in workouts, but training them is very much worthwhile. “The obliques help to stabilise and protect your spine, as well as helping to bend and rotate your torso to the side, so it’s important to include them in your abs workouts,” said PT Ann Brindley when she gave us her favourite obliques exercises. 

Rice’s session consists of just four moves that you’ll repeat in a circuit format for three rounds in total. You don’t need any equipment either. Tag it on to the end of a gym workout or perform it as a standalone session. 

Watch Rice take you through each of the exercises in her video below.

This is a pretty challenging workout with some more advanced moves, particularly the reverse and side planks. To make the plank variations easier, bend your knees slightly and move your feet closer to your body for the reverse plank, and keep your lower knee on the floor during the side plank dips.

Make sure you brace your core before beginning any of the holds or movements, and keep your movements slow and controlled, rather than trying to complete each rep as quickly as possible. This will increase the time your muscles spend under tension, providing the stimulus needed for strength and muscle gains. 

We have a great range of core workouts to choose from once you’ve tried this routine. This bodyweight core workout has a similar feel to the above, or if you like to finish a workout out of breath, give this AMRAP core finisher a try.

A strong core is something everyone should aspire to, and you don’t need to spend hours doing crunches to get one either. Aimee Cringle is a British CrossFit champion with a core pretty much made of steel and she’s here to teach us a thing or two about developing a strong midsection.

Cringle has created a four-move workout as part of our 12 days of Christmas workouts series that will help to strengthen all your core muscles. “A strong core is so important as you use your core in every single movement in everyday life as well as the gym,” she says. “A strong core helps to prevent injuries by protecting muscles, such as those in the back, from overworking, which can lead to discomfort, tightness or pain.” 

“I train my core in isolation one to two times per week, but it is important to note that you are training your core with every exercise you do. Whether squatting, deadlifting, running or doing a pull-up, your core has to work to stabilise your body.”

Aimee Cringle’s Core Workout

Perform three sets of each of the below exercises and then move onto the next. Rest for a maximum of two minutes between exercises. You will need a pull-up bar and dumbbell to perform the workout. 

If the below is too tough (and it is tough), we have a wide selection of core workouts to try instead and there’s sure to be one that suits your level.

1 Strict toes-to-bar

Sets 3 Reps 10

Hang from a pull-up bar with your hands just wider than shoulder-width apart. Engage every muscle in your body, and imagine you’re pulling the bar down as you raise your legs. Keep pulling the bar down and kick your toes towards the bar. Lower to the start under control.

If toes-to-bar is a struggle, go for simple leg raises or hanging leg raises, raising your legs until they’re parallel with the floor.

2 Three-point toes-to-bar

Sets 3 Reps 5

This time, three movements make up one rep. Hang from a pull-up bar with your hands just wider than shoulder-width apart and engage every muscle in your body. The first movement is bringing your toes to the bar, as above. The second movement requires you to rotate your body as you bring your toes towards the bar so your feet finish just outside of your right hand. The final movement repeats the second on the left-hand side. 

3 Hollow rock

Sets 3 Reps 20

Lie on your back with your feet together held just off the floor and your arms extended behind you with your biceps next to your ears. Press your lower back into the floor and contract your core. Rock forwards, lifting your torso a little higher off the floor, then rock back under control.

4 Weighted Russian twist

Sets 3 Reps 20

Sit on the floor with your knees bent and feet held just off the floor. Hold a dumbbell in front of your chest with both hands. Rotate your torso, tapping the floor either side of your body with the dumbbell. Keep your feet off the floor and your gaze forwards throughout.

Racing through workouts isn’t always the best way to go about things. When doing core workouts, it’s often better to slow things down.

Sabrina Ovadya-Lenson is a Pilates instructor, personal trainer and co-founder of URWell, and she’s devised this exclusive five-move workout that helps to lengthen and strengthen your core muscles. It’s also a great way to learn to control your breathing, which has benefits for everyday life as well as being transferable to other activities such as weightlifting. 

Keep the movements slow and controlled, and focus on inhaling and exhaling at the correct times. Aim to complete two or three rounds of the workout. And if you find it hits the spot, move on to this home Pilates workout or this beginners Pilates workout.

Bodyweight Core Workout

1 Bird dog 

Reps 10 each side

Begin on your hands and knees. Extend your left arm in front of you and your right leg behind you as you exhale. Inhale as you return them to the starting position. Stability is key for this exercise; move slowly and in a controlled manner. 

For an extra challenge, hold your arm and leg in their lengthened position and do 10 small pulses lifting and lowering both limbs, followed by a 10-second hold. Aim for maximum extension rather than height.

2 Dead bug

Reps 10 each side

Lie on your back and lift both arms so they point to the ceiling. Hold your legs in tabletop position, with a 90° bend at your hips and knees. Pull in your bellybutton and exhale as you extend your right arm and left leg away from each other. Bring them back as you inhale. Repeat with the opposite leg and arm, alternating sides each time. Make sure your lower back doesn’t arch away from the floor.

3 Toe tap

Reps 10 each side

Lie on your back with your legs in tabletop position. Pull in your bellybutton as you exhale and lower one foot to the floor without changing the angle of your knee, as if you are dipping your foot into water to test its temperature. Lift the leg again slowly just before it touches the floor. 

4 Plank with waist twist 

Reps 10, followed by a 30sec plank hold 

Get into a plank position, resting on your toes and forearms, with your elbows directly beneath your shoulders, holding your body in a straight line from head to heels. Move your hips side to side, dipping them as low as you can. Keep your core tight throughout and push the floor away constantly.

5 Side plank with hip dip and rotation 

Reps 10 each side

In a forearm plank, drop your hips to the left and shift your weight on to your left forearm, coming on to your side and raising your right arm. Ensure that your shoulder doesn’t sink, and keep pushing away from the floor. Drop your hips slightly, then use your core muscles to return to a straight side plank.

Core work should form a vital part of anyone’s training, but it’s easy to shy away from it—it is hard, after all. So wouldn’t it be great to get a killer core workout that’s effective but is also done and dusted in five minutes? We thought so too, so we asked London-based fitness coach Natalie Voyle (@natvoyle) for just such a session.

“This core workout is an ideal workout finisher or a quick burn-out if you’re short on time,” Voyle says. “It’s an AMRAP format, meaning as many rounds as possible, so you keep cycling through all of the exercises until the time is up, only resting at the end. For this finisher, work for five minutes straight. It’s constant work, so go at a pace that you can sustain and allows for good form.

“Make a point of remembering how many rounds you complete and then use that as a marker for next time. As a general goal, however, aim to complete three rounds. Remember, you also have the freedom to increase the workout time as you progress.”

AMRAP Core Workout

Complete as many rounds of the following in five minutes.

1 Bicycle crunch

Reps 12 each side

Lie on your back with your feet off the ground, hands on your head and elbows pointing to the sides. Bring one knee towards your chest and at the same time bring the opposite elbow towards your knee. Return the knee and elbow to the start and repeat with the other knee and elbow, alternating sides with each rep.

2 V-sit

Reps 12

Lie on your back with your legs extended. Raise your legs as high as you can and at the same time bring your torso off the ground and reach to touch your toes so that your body makes a V. Lower slowly.

3 Mountain climber

Reps 12 each side

Start in the top press-up position with your hands directly beneath your shoulders. Brace your core and drive one knee towards your chest, then as that leg is returning to the start begin driving the other forwards.

4 Burpee

Reps 12

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Drop your hands to either side of your feet and jump your feet back so that your body is extended. If you’d like to increase the challenge add a press-up here. Spring your feet forwards again, then jump up.

It’s always wise to ensure your training schedule includes some low-impact workouts. Your joints will welcome the rest, and there are plenty of ways to train that will ensure you do yourself some good without placing your body under too much stress.

This core workout is a great session to add to your week. It’s a tough workout that asks you to complete as many rounds as possible (hence the acronym AMRAP) in the allotted time. While it will leave your abs burning, the moves all involve little to no impact on your joints. It’s been put together by Katie Anderson, head of training at FLY LDN.

“Set a timer for 10 minutes and see how many rounds you can do with little to minimal rest, then the next time you do it see if you can beat your number,” says Anderson.

1 Reverse burpee

Reps 10

Stand with your arms extended above you, then squat down, bending your knees and pushing your hips back, lowering until your glutes reach the floor (or as close as your flexibility allows). Roll onto your back and bring your knees towards your face, ending in a reverse crunch position. Rock forwards onto your feet, ground your heels on the floor and stand up without putting your hands on the floor. A light or medium weight held against your chest while you roll can help you gain momentum.

2 Weighted dead bug

Reps 10 each side

Lie on your back with your legs in tabletop position, knees above your hips and bent at 90°, holding a weight above your chest. Extend one leg so it hovers just off the ground, then bring it back to tabletop position and repeat on the other side. Alternate sides with each rep. For an advanced option, try extending both legs together.

3 Weighted sit-up

Reps 10

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold a light or medium weight by your chest and roll up to a seated position. Roll back down, keeping your core muscles engaged.

See related 

• The Best Core Exercises For All Levels Of Gym-Goer
• Give Your Joints A Break With This Low-Impact Workout From Studio FLY LDN
• What Is LISS Cardio Training And Who Should Try It?

4 Russian twist and press

Reps 10 each side

Sit on the floor and hold a light or medium weight by your chest. Lean back so your torso is at a 45° angle to the floor and lift your feet off the floor, keeping your knees bent. Use your core to twist your torso to one side, then return to centre and press the weight overhead. Lower the weight and twist your torso to the other side, return to the centre and press the weight overhead again. Continue, alternating sides with each rep.

Photo by Logan Weaver on Unsplash

Practising yoga regularly brings many benefits for runners. The most established is that stretching your muscles improves your mobility and flexibility – but another benefit you might not expect is a big increase in your core strength.

We’re not talking eye-popping abs but the kind of deep core strength that makes your every movement more stable and controlled. It’s ideal for reducing the risk of injury from running and improving your posture.

Below you’ll find a series of yoga poses from Christine Felstead, a runner and yoga teacher who specialises in improving athletic performance. The moves will benefit all sorts of athletes in all sorts of ways, starting with helping you to loosen up.

“Whether you run, cycle or swim it’s common to experience tightness,” says Felstead. “Muscles tighten from repetitive use and if not addressed this can lead to longer-term aches and pains, cause muscle imbalances, restrict mobility and ultimately lead to serious injury.

“The yoga poses I’ve outlined here are beneficial for all athletes, regardless of your sport, because they target the key muscle groups needed for fluid movements while improving overall strength and balance.”

How To Use These Exercises

“I suggest doing the poses four to five times a week and doing five reps of each pose, moving straight from one pose to the next,” says Felstead. “The best time to do them is straight after your run, cycle or swim because you’ll already be warmed up. Always breathe rhythmically through your nose while doing yoga because this will help to focus your mind and release tension in the body.

“You may find the poses hard at first but stick at it and you’ll soon feel the benefits. Instead of a ‘no pain, no gain’ philosophy, listen to your body and perform each move slowly, once on each side and hold for 10 breaths. If you feel any discomfort, stop.”

1 Downward-facing dog to child’s pose

Stretches: hamstrings, calves, achilles, spine
Strengthens: adductors, quads, triceps, biceps
Improves: range of motion of the shoulder joint

Get into a V-shape with your hands and feet on the floor and your hips raised. Hold this position, then lower your knees to the floor. Lean forwards, resting your head on the floor, and stretch your arms out behind you.

2 High lunge

Stretches: hip flexors
Strengthens: hip flexors, hamstrings, calves
Improves: range of motion of the spine

From your final child’s pose, return to downward-facing dog, then bring your right foot forwards. Keep your front knee over your ankle while straightening your back leg. Raise your arms overhead. Hold, then return to downward-facing dog and alternate sides.

3 Cow face pose

Stretches: triceps
Strengthens: rotator cuffs
Improves: range of motion of the shoulders and hips

Sit with your legs crossed so one knee is stacked on top of the other and your feet rest on the floor on either side, close to your bum. Extend your right arm up and bend it at the elbow to bring your hand behind your head, then slide your hand down your back. Bend your left arm and slide it up your back until you can interlock the fingers of both hands. Hold for five to ten breaths, then swap sides.

4 Supine hamstring stretch

Stretches: hamstrings, adductors, iliotibial band
Strengthens: quads, adductors
Improves: range of motion of the legs

Lie on your back, raise your right leg and place a resistance band or strap around your foot. Pull your leg towards your face, keeping it straight. Extend your leg to the right. Repeat the move with your left leg.

See related 

• Yoga For Runners: Five Moves To Help You Recover After Long Runs
• Pilates Stretches for Runners
• Speed Up Your Recovery With These Stretches For Runners

5 Half frog

Stretches: quads
Strengthens: obliques, lats
Improves: range of motion of the legs

Lie on your front, bend your right leg, and reach back with your right hand to take hold of your foot. Press down on the top of your foot to bring it towards your bum, keeping your hips on the floor. Press your left forearm into the floor, lift your chest and hold.

6 Standing pigeon

Stretches: glutes
Strengthens: calves, hamstrings, ankles
Improves: balance

Stand with your feet together and place the outside of your right ankle on your left leg just above the knee, while curling your foot. Bend your left knee and lower as close to the floor as possible, then relax the muscles around your right hip joint. Hold the position. Repeat on the other side.

While all professional sportspeople have seen their livelihoods affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns around the world, it was especially tricky for tennis players to stay in shape while stuck at home, unless they happened to have a court and hitting partner at home with them.

Together with his strength and conditioning coach Claire McDonald, grand slam title winner and Paralympic gold medallist Gordon Reid created a training programme based on what was available to him during lockdown. That meant lots of circuit and strength sessions, plus a flexibility routine, so that when the time came to return to the court Reid was ready for action.

Ahead of competing at the French Open this week, Reid shared one of his outdoor circuits that you can use whether you’re looking to get in shape for tennis or just looking to get in shape full stop. You’ll need a gym ball, dumbbells, barbell, resistance bands, medicine ball, slam ball and a suspension trainer for the session. Reid suggests doing four rounds of the circuit to truly test yourself.

1 Serve action with resistance band

Reps 10

Attach a resistance band to a pole behind your head. Hold the band and simulate the motion of an overhead tennis serve.

2 Barbell twist

Reps 10 Weight 8kg

Rest the bar on your shoulders behind your neck. Keeping your core engaged, slowly rotate your torso from side to side.

3 Side bend

Reps 10 each side Weight 12.5kg

Sit up straight, with your hips and shoulders square. Holding dumbbells, bend your torso from side to side.

4 Dip with legs elevated

Reps 10

Hold a bench behind you with your hands shoulder-width apart. Raise your legs so your feet rest on a gym ball. Bend at your elbows to lower your hips towards the ground and then extend your arms to return to the starting position.

5 Seated dumbbell single-arm overhead press

Reps 10 each side Weight 12.5kg

Hold two dumbbells by your shoulders. Press one dumbbell straight up until your arm is extended, then lower it back to your shoulder and repeat on the other arm.

6 Dumbbell flye

Reps 10 each side Weight 9kg

Lie back on a bench with your head, shoulders and hips in contact with the bench. Hold dumbbells above your chest with arms extended, then lower them out to the sides until you feel the stretch in your chest. Raise them back to the starting position. Keep your elbows slightly bent throughout the movement.

7 Single-arm medicine ball slam

Reps 10 each side Weight 2kg

Holding a 2kg medicine ball in one hand, extend your arm vertically in line with your shoulder and explosively slam the ball across your torso to the ground.

8 TRX inverted row

Reps 10

Hold the handles and keep your arms extended as you lower your body into a rigid position under the TRX handles. Pull your body up, then lower slowly back to your starting position.

9 Seated row

Reps 10

Attach the resistance bands to a sturdy object and row both arms back while keeping your torso stationary.

10 Press-up

Reps 10

Start in a high plank position with your arms extended, hands under your shoulders and torso rigid. Lower to the ground and push back up, keeping your movements controlled. If you have a weighted vest or similar, Reid suggests adding 15kg.

11 Slam ball slam

Reps 10 reps Weight 9kg

Holding a slam ball in two hands, lift it vertically, extending both arms in line with your shoulders, then forcefully slam the ball into the ground.

See related

• Four Gym Exercises That Will Improve Your Tennis
• The Best Tennis Rackets For Beginners
• Wall Tennis Practice Drills From Judy Murray To Improve Your Game

12 Dumbbell wrist curl

Reps 10 Weight 9kg

Place your forearms on a bench with your palms up and your elbows shoulder-width apart. Allow the dumbbell to roll into your fingers as your wrist extends. Then flex your fingers followed by your wrist to perform one curl.

13 Reverse dumbbell wrist curl

Reps 10 Weight 4kg

Reverse your arm position on the bench so your palms are facing down. Curl the dumbbell up from your wrist joint.

14 Dumbbell circles

Reps 10 each direction Weight 2kg

Extend your arms outwards at shoulder height holding the dumbbells with your palms facing down. Start to draw small circles with the dumbbells.

15 Alekna

Reps 10 Weight 10kg

Lie back on a bench with your arms extended towards the ceiling, and your legs in tabletop position with knees bent at 90°. Engage your core, then lower your arms, and lower and extend your legs simultaneously until all four limbs are just above the floor. Return to the start under control. Keep your spine in a neutral position throughout.

16 Russian twist

Reps 10 reps Weight 10kg

Hold a weight in front of your chest and lean your torso back to engage your core muscles. Maintain the position as you gently rotate your torso from side to side.

17 Hamstring curl

Reps 10

Place your feet on the gym ball with your knees bent and lift your hips until your thighs form a straight line with your torso. Extend your legs to push the ball away from you with your feet, then use your hamstrings to reverse the movement to the start.

18 Roll-out

Reps 10 reps

With your knees on the floor, rest your forearms on the ball. Engage your core and glutes and roll the ball back and forth.

Gordon Reid is supported by the LTA Wheelchair Tennis World Class Programme. You can find out more about how to get involved with disability tennis through the LTA Open Court Programme. To keep up with Gordon and the rest of the British players competing at Roland Garros this week, follow the LTA on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Frenetic HIIT workouts which raise your heart rate and burn loads of calories may be all the rage right now, but when it comes to building core strength it’s worth slowing down your sessions.

Anyone who has done Pilates will know this. The slower pace of the practice allows for long periods where you hold positions under tension, strengthening your stabiliser muscles and vastly improving your core strength.

That’s exactly what the session below does. It’s been put together by Pilates instructor and founder of Pilates PT, Hollie Grant, who has also made a video to help guide you through the moves. Remember control is key, so don’t rush.

1 Toe dip

Time 60sec

Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor and your arms reaching up. Imprint your lower back – bring it closer to the ground using your abdominals – and bring your legs up one at a time to tabletop position, with your knees bent at 90° and lower legs parallel to the floor. As you inhale, move at your hips to lower one of your feet down towards the end of your mat keeping the 90° bend in your knee, and then exhale as you lift it back to tabletop. Repeat, alternating legs. The aim is to keep your lower back close to the ground throughout. To challenge yourself more, bring your legs together and lower them towards the floor.

2 Abs prep

Time 60sec

Lie on your back with your fingers by your temples, elbows wide, knees bent and feet on the floor hip-width apart. Inhale and tilt your chin gently towards your chest. Exhale and lift your head and shoulders, bringing the upper back into flexion. Inhale at the top, and then exhale and lower back to the starting position with control.

3 Flexion with toe dip

Time 60sec

Start with your legs in tabletop position, an imprinted spine, fingers by your temples, and your elbows wide. Inhale and tilt your chin gently towards your chest. Exhale and lift your head and shoulders, bringing the upper back into flexion. Hold this position while you inhale and lower your left foot towards the end of your mat. Exhale and lift back up. Repeat, alternating the legs each time. To make this harder bring your legs together and lower both feet to the floor.

4 Oblique rotation

Time 60sec each side

Start with your legs in tabletop position, your left hand behind your left knee, and your right hand behind your head for support. Inhale in preparation, then as you exhale lift your head and shoulders and rotate your torso towards your left knee. Keep your hips square on the floor and focus on bringing your right ribs to your left hip. Inhale and return to the starting position. Do 60 seconds on one side and then swap.

5 Hip twist

Time 60sec

Lie on your back, propping yourself up on your forearms with your elbows under your shoulders. Bring one leg at a time to tabletop, then extend your legs so they are on a diagonal. Imagine a clock on the wall in front of you – you’ll be drawing your feet around that clock. Inhale and begin to circle your legs to the right and down, then exhale to bring them up the left, drawing a circle. This is one repetition clockwise. Now repeat anti-clockwise. Alternate each time. The aim is to keep your hips still, and do not allow your back to arch.

6 Roll up

Time 60sec

Lie on your back with your legs extended, ankles flexed, and arms extended behind you as far as you can without lifting your ribcage. Inhale and raise your arms, then exhale and begin peeling your spine away from the floor, rolling all the way up and reaching for your toes. Inhale and begin rolling back, and exhale as you unroll your spine down towards the floor. Move slowly and with control.

More Pilates Workouts

• This Beginner Pilates Workout Will Improve Your Posture
• Use This Pilates Workout At Home To Strengthen Your Core
• This Rejuvenating Pilates Home Workout Will Help Improve Your Posture

The benefits of Pilates extend far beyond just providing a tough core workout. Pilates improves your posture, flexibility and resilience to injury. However, it really does provide a tough core workout, so if that’s all you want from your Pilates session, rest assured these six exercises from Kate Burdett (head trainer at Pilates studio Raw Pilates) will get the job done.

1 The hundred

“This exercise is a great warm-up and really gets the blood pumping around the body,” says Burdett. “The hundred is not just an abdominal exercise, but also a breathing exercise.

“Lie on your back with your arms by your sides, then bend both knees so you are in table-top position, and slowly lift your head, neck and shoulders off the mat, reaching forwards with your arms.

“Extend your legs, keeping your heels together at either 90° for a beginner version of the exercise, 45° for intermediate, or about 5cm off the floor for advanced.

“Pump your arms up and down vigorously, making short inhalations for five pumps through your nose and short exhalitions for five pumps through your mouth. Your breath should get deeper as you go. Repeat ten times so you reach 100 breaths. Bring your knees back to your chest when complete.”

2 Roll up

"The aim of this exercise is to strengthen your core while stretching your spine,” says Burdett.

“Moving straight on from the hundred exercise, stretch your legs on the mat, feet flexed and heels tightly together. Lift your head and look at your toes, float your arms above your thighs and start rolling your spine up, stretching your fingers past your toes if possible. Then use your abdominals to roll you back down again.

“Exhale as your spine leaves the mat, breathe in at the top of the move, then exhale again as your spine rolls into the mat. This is key to make sure you are in control of the movement from the core. Repeat this exercise six times and finish in a seated position.”

3 Double leg kick

“The double leg kick stretches your chest, abdominals and hip flexors,” says Burdett. “It can help to improve the flexibility of your back, and this can both help prevent injury and maintain good posture.”

Start lying face down with your arms by your sides.

“Kick your heels up towards the ceiling, repeating this three times,” says Burdett. “On the third kick simultaneously extend your legs and stretch your arms, lifting your chest and looking forwards.”

4 Leg circle

“This exercise is fantastic for working your core muscles,” says Burdett. “It helps strengthen your core and stretches your hips. Tight hips can lead to pain and tension in the back, so the leg circle is perfect for relieving any unwanted tightness.

“Lie on your back with your arms by your sides. Extend your right leg towards the ceiling. Slowly circle your leg outwards ten times, allowing your pelvis to move freely. Lower your right leg to the floor, then repeat the move with your left leg. On your next set, circle your legs inwards. Keep your pelvis still for a challenge. Repeat six to eight times.”

5 Plank leg lift

“This exercise improves stability in your core, spine and hips, and strengthens your lower back while improving hip mobility,” says Burdett.

“Start in a plank position with your hands placed directly under your shoulders. Raise one leg off the floor as high as you can but not past shoulder height. Alternating lifting legs. Keep your core, glutes and quads engaged to avoid rocking your hips. Repeat six to eight times.”

6 Scissor kick

“Lie on your back and slowly lift your top half off the ground,” says Burdett. “Extend your right leg so that it is at a right angle to the floor. Bring your hands behind your right leg, pulling it in towards your face, and curl your head up. Lift your left leg a few centimetres off the floor. Switch legs, pulling your left leg in towards you and letting your right leg hover above the floor. Continue switching legs and repeat this ten times.”

More Pilates Workouts

• This Beginner Pilates Workout Will Improve Your Posture
• Challenge Yourself With This Pilates-Inspired Core Workout
• Five Pilates Exercises For Beginners

If you’re looking to tighten up your abs or improve your core strength, you’ll get more out of your session by keeping your midsection muscles under tension for as long as possible. That means long sets of exercises with minimal rest breaks between them, or even no rest at all, if you have the core strength and stamina.

This five-move abs series from Kate Burdett, head of training at London pilates studio Raw Pilates, contains no rest breaks and as the starting positions for all the moves are similar you can transition from one to the next immediately. The five highly effective exercises hit your abs from all angles, and if you have anything left after your first run through the sequence, you can move straight on to another round to truly tire out your core muscles.

It’s well-suited to doing at home too, because you only need the space to lie down and you stay lying on your back throughout so your neighbours won’t complain about you hearing you work up a sweat.

1 Single-leg stretch

Reps 6-8 each side

Lie on your back and lift your head, neck and shoulders off the floor. Pull your right knee to your chest with both hands on the shin and lift your extended left leg to a high diagonal. Switch legs, exhaling deeply as you do.

2 Double-leg stretch

Reps 6-8

Keep your head, neck and shoulders raised. Pull your knees to your chest and place your hands low on the shins. Then, reach your arms up to the ceiling and stretch your legs out on a diagonal. Circle your arms, then hug your knees to your chest again. Breathe in on the reach and exhale on the hug.

3 Scissors

Reps 6-8 each side

Raise both legs so they’re pointing towards the ceiling and flex your feet, then lift your head, neck and shoulders off the floor. Keeping both legs straight, take hold of the right leg with both hands and draw it towards you for a stretch while lowering the left leg. Alternate legs with each rep.

See related 

• This Beginner Pilates Workout Will Improve Your Posture
• 10-Minute Cardio At Home Workout
• The Best Abs Workout: Circuits For Upper Abs, Lower Abs, And Obliques And Core

4 Double-leg lower

Reps 3

Lift your head, neck and shoulders off the floor and place your hands behind your head with your elbows pointing out to the sides. Lift your legs so they’re pointing towards the ceiling, keeping your heels together and legs extended. To make it easier, adopt the tabletop position with your knees bent at 90°. Lower your legs over the count of three, then bring them back up over a one-count.

5 Bicycle crunch

Reps 10

Move your legs into the tabletop position. Place your hands behind your head and raise it. Start by twisting the right side of your upper body towards your left knee and curling up. While you are doing this, extend your right leg. Then switch sides. Remember the opposite shoulder always goes towards the opposite knee.

If you want to excel on the rugby field your training off it has to cover a lot of bases. You need to be fit enough to cover a lot of ground at speed, powerful and agile enough to charge past your opponents, and strong enough to ensure they don’t charge past you.

That goes for all kinds of rugby, but it’s especially the case with sevens, where the pitch size remains the same as in 15-a-side rugby but your team size drops to seven. That means each player has to cover a huge amount of ground and make a massive number of tackles in every match.

A strong core is central to success in a game of sevens, because it provides the foundations of the all-round fitness required. Below you’ll find a six-move core circuit devised for the England Sevens team by their strength and conditioning coach Tom Farrow, ahead of the HSBC London Sevens tournament this weekend in Twickenham.

“Within our England team training programme, we include this type of circuit one to three times a week,” says Farrow. “The main purpose of the circuit is to develop the muscles of the trunk to improve the players’ strength and endurance. The trunk is key to all athletic movements within rugby sevens, and any other running- or contact-based sport, because all the force that a player is required to withstand is transmitted through the trunk.”

The six moves of the circuit should be done in order without breaks for a total of three minutes of work. Then rest for one minute and run through the circuit again. Aim for three to five rounds in total.

Rugby Sevens Core Workout

1 Bowl hold

Time 20sec

Lie on your back with your arms extended behind your head.

“Keeping your arms and legs straight, simultaneously lift all your limbs off the ground slightly to form a bowl shape,” says Farrow. “Hold, making sure to keep your lower back on the ground throughout.”

2 Lateral long lever V-sit

Time 20sec each side

Lie on your side with your legs straight and held just off the ground, your left arm out to the side and your right arm stretched out behind your head.

“Keeping your right arm and both legs straight, bring your right arm and legs up to meet in the middle,” says Farrow. “Then reverse the movement, bringing your arm behind your head and legs back to the floor. Work continuously for 20 seconds and then repeat on the other side.”

3 Leg flutters

Time 20sec

Lie on your back and lift your arms and legs slightly off the floor.

“It’s a similar start position to the bowl hold, but your shoulders don’t need to come as far off the floor,” says Farrow. “Keep your lower back on the floor – you can put your hands under your bum if it helps – and your legs straight. Flutter your legs up and down slightly until the time is up.”

See related 

• Get Rugby Fit With This Full-Body Workout
• Rugby Workout to Get Back in Shape for the Pack
• Lions Forward Maro Itoje’s Leg Workout Looks Suitably Heavy

4 Lying back extension

Time 20sec

Lie on your front and put your hands behind your head.

“Keep your feet and hips on the floor and, keeping your hands behind your head, lift your torso as high as you can, then return to the start position,” says Farrow.

5 Crunch

Time 20sec

“Start with your feet on the floor, knees bent and arms across your chest,” says Farrow. “Contract your abs to bring your shoulders as far off the floor as you can, keeping your lower back on the floor. Return to the starting position and keep repeating the movement at a steady tempo.”

6 Crunch hold and rotate

Time 20sec each side

“Start sitting up with your feet on the floor and knees up,” says Farrow. “Lean back until you find the ‘nasty place’ – the position you feel you can hold just before you fall backwards – and then hold that position. From there, rotate as far to the side as you can, then come back to centre. Perform all your reps rotating one way for 20 seconds, and then for the next 20 seconds rotate the other way.”

The HSBC London Sevens comes to Twickenham Stadium on 25-26 May 2019. For more information and to book tickets, visit englandrugby.com/tickets

Bodyweight crunches and planks just don’t cut it when you want to build rock-hard abs. For that you need to up the workload placed on your core muscles, and these abs-focused dumbbell moves will quickly fatigue these muscles.

Do the moves in order, without resting between exercises, to complete one round. Rest for two minutes between rounds. Do four rounds in total.

1 Swing

Reps 12

Hold the dumbbell in both hands, then swing it down between your legs, then back up to head up. Allow the weight to swing back down and go straight into the next rep.

2 Side bend

Reps 12 each side

Stand tall, holding a dumbbell in one hand. Bend down to work your side abs, then straighten back up. Do all the reps on one side, then switch hands and do the same number of reps on the other.

3 Woodchop

Reps 12 each side

Hold the dumbbell in both hands to one side of your legs, then swing it diagonally up to finish with the weight above your opposite shoulder. Reverse the move back to the start. Complete all the reps on one side then do the same number of reps on the other.

• Get Lean With This 20-Minute Dumbbell Circuit
• Build An Athletic Body With This Quickfire Home Dumbbell Circuit

4 Seated Russian twist

Reps 12

Sit with knees bent and feet flat on the floor, holding the dumbbell in both hands. Rotate your torso to one side, then back across to the other, then back to the middle. That's one rep. Make the last move of this circuit, the seated Russian twist, harder by raising – and keeping – your heels off the floor (pictured).

Work your abs through a variety of angles to hit as many muscle fibres as possible, and keep tension on your core throughout each set. There, we said it. That’s the training “secret” to building a rock-hard six-pack (so long as you’re paying the same care and attention to your diet as to your training, of course).

This six-move abs workout, broken into two three-move tri-sets, will hit your upper, lower and side abs, as well as the deep-lying muscles of your core, to fire up your midsection so that your body has no choice but to make these crucial muscles bigger, stronger and more defined.

Do this workout twice a week for a month, increasing the weight or reps each week, and you’ll sculpt lean hard abs.

How to do the workout

This session is made up of six moves, split into three tri-sets, which are mini-circuits containing three exercises. That means you’ll do moves 1A, 1B and 1C in order, sticking to the reps detailed and only resting after all the reps of the move 1C.

You’ll do three circuits of the first tri-set, which works your upper abs, lower abs, then the fast-twitch muscles of both, then move on to the second tri-set, where all three moves work your entire core, repeating the same pattern with moves 2A, 2B and 2C.

To work your abs harder, engage them before the first rep of each set so that they work to stabilise your core from the get-go.

1A Dumbbell crunch reach

Targets upper abs

Sets 3 Reps 12 Rest 10sec

Lie flat on your back with knees bent, holding a dumbbell in both hands. Use your abs to crunch up, keeping your arms straight to raise the weight as high as you can. Hold this top position, then slowly lower your torso back to the start.

1B Straight-leg raise

Targets lower abs

Reps 12 Rest 10sec

Lie on your back with hands by your head or your sides. With your feet together, raise them as high as you can, while keeping your legs straight. Keep the tension on your lower abs as you slowly lower them back to the start.

1C Mountain climber

Targets core

Reps 30 Rest 2min

Start in a press-up position. Without letting your hips sag, draw one knee up and bring it across towards your elbow. Return to the start, then repeat with your other leg. That’s one rep. Keep reps fast but controlled.

See related

• Add Some Weight To Your Abs Workout
• Two Home Abs Workouts From Cover Model Alex Crockford

2A Modified V-sit

Targets core

Sets 3 Reps 12 Rest 10sec

Lie with your fingers by your temples and feet off the floor. Draw your knees in towards your chest as your crunch your torso up so your elbows go past your knees. Lower back to the start. Don’t let your heels touch the floor.

2B Seated dumbbell Russian twist

Targets core

Reps 12 Rest 10sec

Sit on the floor with your knees bent and feet slightly raised, holding a dumbbell in front of you. Twist to one side, pause, and then twist back to the other and then return to the middle. That’s one rep. Aim to keep your feet off the floor throughout.

2C Dumbbell T-raise

Targets core

Reps 6 each side Rest 2min

Start in a press-up position with a dumbbell in each hand. Keeping your core tight, lift one weight and rotate your torso to point it straight up. Your head should follow the weight. Reverse the move to the start, and alternate your lifting arm with each rep.

You already know that abs are built (well, revealed) in the kitchen: unless you’re eating right, there’s no way you’re ever going to see the six-pack you’re crafting. That’s why, to get a midsection worth showing off, you should expend most of your effort on nutrition: packing in the colourful veg, getting regular hits of protein and drinking a minimum of two litres of water a day. Making time to shop, prep and cook food will pay dividends: it’s probably where most of your effort should go.

But what about once you’ve stripped the fat? Whether it’s beach season or triathlon time, you still want a core that gets the job done – and that’s where this ab workout comes in. It’s based on the latest training science to ensure that you’re making maximum gains in minimal time: with old moves replaced by cutting-edge exercises. Get warm, hit the deck and do a couple of rounds after your regular workout session – or at home in front of the TV, whenever you’ve got time.

Switch sit-ups for… dead bugs

Done badly, sit-ups put excessive strain on your lower back, work your hip flexors more than your abs… and even done well, they’re not ideal – after all, how many times in real life do you use your abs to do hundreds of tiny movements?

The move: Lie on your back with your arms pointing straight up in the air, bending your knees and hips to a 90-degree angle. Tighten your abs and press your lower back into the floor, then take a deep breath in. As you breathe out, slowly extend your left leg toward the floor and bring your right arm overhead so that it almost touches the floor, then come back to the start position and repeat on the other side.

Reps: 5 each side

Swap crunches for… bird dogs

In real life, your core does its best work when it’s resisting movement – whether that means staying on your feet when an obstacle race gets muddy, or not falling over when the bus brakes sharply. To help it out, you’ll want to include work for your obliques and lower back: crunches don’t do that, but ‘bird dogs’ (not to be confused with downward dogs) will.

The move: From the dead bug, roll onto your front and move onto your hands and knees. Bring one arm straight forward and the opposite leg straight out behind you, pause for a couple of seconds and lower under control. Repeat on the other side.

Reps: 5 each side

Upgrade your plank to… the super-plank

Planks are an excellent move, but… they take a while. If you’ve been training for a while, you can probably already hold one for a couple of minutes – and there’s always someone in the office who claims they can grind it out for an entire episode of Casualty. This isn’t strictly wrong, but at the very least it’s inefficient: surely there’s a way to get the same gains in less time? Yup.

The move: It’s the plank, but nastier. Bring your elbows forward and away from your body, then drive them into the floor until you feel your back and ab muscles engage. At the same time, squeeze your heels and glutes together, and tense your body as hard as possible. You shouldn’t be able to hold the move for more than 10-15 seconds: if you can, go harder.

Time: 10 seconds

Read on to find out why staying hydrated will help your abs

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If you had to write a list of the things you need to build an impressive set of abs, what would you stick on it? We’re guessing a personal trainer, all-access membership at a top flight-gym, and at least an hour a day to train. 

Well, it’s time to tear up the list because you can get the kind of abs that grace our covers with nothing more than a few 15-minute training windows, a wall, a sofa, two chairs and a bit of discipline. If you don’t have any of those at home, you’ve got bigger issues to address than getting a six-pack.

This super-fast, super-effective routine uses those household staples and a clever combination of isometric holds and dynamic movements to craft a strong midsection while burning off the fat that’s hiding it. So spend more time on the sofa to build a stomach of steel.

Directions 

Do four rounds of exercises 1 to 4 for the recommended sets and reps, then finish with the chair L-sit, trying to do the full 90 seconds in as few chunks as you can. Do this three times a week.

1 Stair walkout

Sets 4 Reps 10 Rest 45sec

Get into a top press-up position with your hands on the second step. With your body in a straight line from shoulders to heels, walk your hands up the steps one at a time until you’ve stretched as far as you can without collasping. Walk your hands back down to the start position.

2 Sofa jackknife

Sets 4 Reps 10 Rest 45sec

Sit with your bum on the edge of the sofa and your legs bent, with your hands either side of you for support. Extend your toes forward until your legs are stretched fully out in front of you. Return to the start position.

3 Sofa single-leg glute bridge

Sets 4 Reps 10 each side Rest 45sec

Lie on your back with your legs bent and feet on the sofa. Raise your hips to form a bridge and straighten one leg, then lower back to the start position. Repeat to the other side.

4 Wall squat single-leg raise

Sets 4 Reps 5 each side Rest 45sec

With your back against a wall and your feet shoulder-width apart, lower into a squat so your thighs are parallel to the floor. Avoid going further because that will make it too easy. Keep your chest up and arms in front for balance if you need to. Then straighten one leg out in front of you. Hold it there for five seconds, then swap legs.

5 Chair L-sit

Sets 1 Reps 90sec Rest N/A

Position yourself between two chairs with a hand on each chair, palms down, fingers forwards. Press down, raise your legs and bum above your hands, and contract your abs hard to hold them there. Don’t hold your breath unless you’re keen to suffer a hernia.

Perform the prescribed reps of each exercise back to back, rest for 60 seconds then repeat three times.

1 Sit-up

Reps 10

• Lie flat on the floor, bend your legs at the knees with your feet on the ground and put your hands behind your head.
• Raise your upper body until it’s vertical, breathing out as you sit up.
• Hold the position for one second, then lower yourself slowly back to the start position.

2 Bicycle crunch

Reps 5 each side

• Lie on your back with your knees bent and hands by your temples.
• Crunch up, then twist your torso to move one elbow towards your opposite knee until they touch.
• Keeping your abs tensed, repeat the movement to the other side, and alternate sides with each rep.

3 Lying leg hold

Time 30sec

• Lie on your back with arms by your sides and legs together.
• Tense your abs and engage your core, then lift your feet 20cm off the floor, keeping your legs straight.
• Hold for 30 seconds, then lower gently to the start.

4 Clap press-up

Reps 10

• Start with your hands shoulder-width apart and body straight from shoulders to heels.
• Lower your chest towards the floor until your elbows are at 90˚, then press back up explosively so both hands leave the floor.
• Clap, then land on your palms. 

5 Plank

Time 45sec

• Hold your body in a straight line from shoulders to heels with your elbows beneath your shoulders and your head looking down.
• Hold the position without letting your hips sag. 

As part of his preparation for his upcoming title bout with welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre, British fighter Dan Hardy will be building his core strength – but not by doing hundreds of sit-ups and crunches. ‘The guys get their abdominal endurance all day, every day, from sparring and drilling,’ says Ollie Richardson, Hardy’s strength coach. ‘The need to apply high force from your hips and lower abdominals is paramount, so we load our exercises to fall within strength training parameters, not endurance.’
 
The landmine (the first move in the above video) works the abdominal muscles used when you’re throwing a punch. Then it’s a move you might recognise: the rocky. ‘The important thing with this move is to stick to a slow downward tempo,’ says Richardson. ‘That way the tension is sufficient to cause a strength stimulus. Be warned, though – like all eccentric movements it’ll make you quite sore.’

Landmine, sets 3, reps 4 - Wedge an Olympic barbell into a corner of the room or into a heavy plate on the floor.
- Holding it with both hands, rotate your trunk as if you’re throwing a punch.

Rocky, sets 3, reps 5 - Bring your legs up as you would in a leg raise. The essential – and difficult – part is to lower them slowly.
- You should aim to spend four or five seconds on the eccentric (downward) part of the move.

In the above video we've also got one of Hardy's prefered attack combos. ‘When you move forward your opponent will be expecting you to come with a jab, so do this combo, which starts at an odd angle, to catch him out. If he tries to counter, your kick will bring him off-balance and take some of the sting out of his punch,’ says Hardy.

Fight move – combo - Put your left foot forward and throw a long-range uppercut.
- Twist your hips and throw a right hand.
- As you bring your right hand back, move your right leg forward and kick the inside of your opponent’s front leg with your left foot.

Want some more? Then try Dan Hardy's grip strength workout.

1 Single-leg dumbbell snatch

Reps 10 Rest 15-30sec

Hold a dumbbell in your left hand and balance on your right leg. Keeping your lower back in its natural arch, bend forward at the hips and knee until the dumbbell is just below your knee.

Explosively extend your hips and knee and shrug the weight up. When the weight reaches your chest, flip your wrist over so that the momentum carries the weight straight over your head. Lower the weight back down. That’s one rep. Complete 10 reps, and then switch sides and repeat with the opposite arm.

2 Medicine ball circles

Reps 10 Rest 15-30sec

Hold a medicine ball with both hands and extend your arms straight overhead. Begin making a big circle with the ball in a clockwise motion, keeping your arms straight the whole time. Repeat the motion in the other direction. That’s one rep.

3 Guard sit-up

Reps 10 Rest 15-30sec

Hug a medicine ball to your chest and lie on your back on the floor with your knees bent at 90˚.

Sit up with the ball.

Scramble to your feet without using your hands. That’s one rep.

4 Medicine ball Turkish get-up

Reps 5 Rest 15-30sec

Lie on your back on the floor holding a medicine ball at arm’s length over your face.

Stand up, keeping your arm pointing straight up at all times. That’s one rep. Alternate the arm holding the ball with each rep.

5 Band smackdown

Time 30sec Rest 15-30sec

Attach a stretch band to something at shoulder height and hold an end in each hand. Stand back so you feel tension in the band. Take an athletic stance and let the band pull your arms forward. Explosively draw your arms back and downward, as if you were dragging somebody to the ground. Return to the starting position and repeat on the other side. Continue for the allotted time.

6 Gym ball dumbbell rotation

Reps 20 Rest 15-30sec

Hold a dumbbell with both hands and lie back on a gym ball so that your hips are parallel to the floor and the weight is straight out in front of you. Rotate as far as you can to the left, keeping your hips parallel to the floor. Rotate as far as you can to the right. That’s one rep.

7 Medicine ball woodchop

Reps 20 Rest 15-30sec

Stand in an athletic stance with your feet apart, holding a medicine ball behind your head. Explosively swing it down between your legs as if you were bringing an axe down onto a log, and then swing it back up fast.

8 Gym ball one-arm row

Reps 10-20 each side Rest 15-30sec

Hold a dumbbell in your right hand and rest your left knee on a gym ball. Brace yourself on the ball using your left hand and place your right foot out wide. Row the weight to the outside of your chest. Lower the weight back down. 

The six-pack may be the goal of many, but it won’t do much for your functional fitness. True fitness lies not skin deep or even muscle deep but way, way down in your body's core. The truth is that you can be supremely fit without having a six-pack.
 
The muscles in your abdominal area and around the spine stabilise the body's movements and guard against spine and joint injury. For true fitness you need to target the core as much as the abs when training your abdomen, which is what these abs workouts do.

How To Do These Workouts

These sessions are designed to be done on different days. Leave two to three days between each to give your muscles time to recover properly. You can add these workouts into a longer gym session or focus on the three exercises in each, so long as you make sure you maintain enough intensity to fully exhaust the muscles. 

Before you start the workouts, warm up with five minutes on a treadmill and some press-ups. Rest for two to three minutes between exercises.

Workout 1

1 Plank

Sets 3  Time 30-40sec

Target core, abs

Hit the muscles deep in your midriff area to strengthen your core.

• Get into a press-up position and rest your weight on your forearms.
• Your body should form a straight line from your ankles to your neck. 
• Tense your abs and hold for 30-40 seconds without letting your hips drop.  

Why it works This classic static hold is an excellent way to train the proprioception muscles deep in your core, which fire the larger abdominal muscles to stabilise your torso. Your abs will then be ready for the next two moves.

2. Medicine ball woodchop

Sets 3  Reps 6

Target core, abs, obliques, lats, arms, quads

Hit your abs and core with this diagonal move.

• Hold a medicine ball in both hands and stand with feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent.
• Drop down slightly, moving the ball to beside your right knee, then drive up through your feet, swinging the ball up and across your body.
• Swing it back down again.

Why it works The woodchop is a functional compound exercise and one of the few moves that can hit your abs and core with the high-to-low diagonal movement.

3 Swiss ball prone jackknife

Sets 3  Reps 8

Target abs, core, hip flexors, shoulders

This exercise hits your lower abs to ensure balanced gains.

• Start in a press-up position with your feet resting on a Swiss ball.
• Contract your core and draw your knees in towards your chest.
• Squeeze your abs for a second, then return to the start.

Why it works The rectus abdominus is one sheet of muscle so it can be hard to target specific areas of it. Some exercises, such as this one, are particularly good at hitting its lower portion. And because the Swiss ball is unstable, your core has to work hard to maintain your body position.

Workout 2

1 Side plank

Sets 2 each side  Time 30-40 seconds

Target core, obliques

This is a static hold like the plank but this time you're working your obliques.

• Lie on your left side, but rest your weight on your forearm and raise your body off the floor.
• Form a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles. Contract your abs and hold.
• Slowly lower yourself down and repeat on the other side.
  

Why it works Much like the plank, this exercise will train your deep core muscles to activate the larger obliques to be ready and waiting for the call to stabilise your torso during exercise. Your obliques will be armed to take on the next exercise.

2 Lower-body medicine ball Russian twist

Sets 3  Reps 8

Target core, obliques, thighs

Train your abs and core along the rotational plane of motion.

• Lie on your back with your arms out to your sides and hold a medicine ball between your knees.
• Without taking your shoulders off the floor rotate your hips and legs to the left as far as you can.
• Then go back to the middle and as far right as you can.

Why it works Training these muscles along the rotational plane is very important for sport and functional movement but it often gets neglected in abs workouts. This move will teach your muscles control under load and improve your core strength.

3 Weighted Swiss ball crunch

Sets 3  Reps 8

Target abs, core

Finally, exhaust your abs across their whole range.

• Sit on a Swiss ball holding a weight plate or medicine ball with both hands across your chest. 
• Lower yourself all the way back.
• Crunch up by contracting your abs as if you were trying to curl your body around a ball.

Why it works Your abs work across a plane of motion that includes the point where your torso is arched back slightly. Doing weighted crunches on a Swiss ball rather than the floor allows you to exhaust the abs across their whole range for increased muscle growth potential.