When it comes to building functional core strength, there are few better ways to go about it than doing regular Pilates. If you can manage to fit this 20-minute abs workout into your routine two or three times a week, it won’t be long before you feel and see the benefits to your core.
The workout has been put together by Pilates instructor and physiotherapist Jessica Valant, and it’s designed to be suitable for people of all fitness levels. Throughout the workout Valant starts by giving a beginner-friendly version of each exercise, then adds layers to make it more challenging, which you can also add on if you’re able to.
Whatever version of each exercise that you end up doing, it’s a highly effective way to spend 20 minutes, and all you need for the session is a bit of space and one of the best yoga mats, which will provide extra support and traction for the moves.
Watch Jessica Valant’s 20-minute abs workout
Rather than doing sets of each exercise in the workout, it’s mostly done as one long practice where you flow from one move to the next, though there are a few short breaks to rest and stretch the abs.
As mentioned Valant starts with a basic exercise and adds on layers of difficulty you can attempt if you’re comfortable with them. For example with the Pilates Hundred you can do the move with your feet and shoulders on the floor, then increase the challenge by raising your legs into tabletop position, lifting your shoulders and finally straightening your legs.
Along with making the workout suitable for all fitness levels, this approach means that you’ll be able to keep progressing and challenging yourself by going back to it regularly. Unless you can immediately do the hardest variation of all the moves in the session comfortably, which is unlikely, there’s going to be something new you can aim to achieve every time you do it.
Throughout the workout Valant will give advice on how to maintain the best form for each exercise to engage your core muscles correctly, and she also advises on how to breathe with each move. This is a vital part of Pilates and I always find it helps me to push through tough exercises, partly because I’m a little distracted and focused on my breath instead of my burning abs.
If you like the idea of a Pilates-inspired abs workout but 20 minutes is too long for you to fit in, then I tried this 7-minute core workout recently and it was great. On the other hand if 20 minutes isn’t long enough for you, I gave this 40-minute core workout a go a while back, and it was brutally effective if you have the time and motivation to push through it.
More from Tom’s Guide
- 3 things I wish I had known as a Pilates beginner
- Forget the gym — I tried this 20-minute equipment-free Pilates workout to strengthen my core and improve my posture
- Forget weights, this 30-minute Pilates workout for beginners strengthens your abs and hips
