Say goodbye to basic crunches and hello to three muscle-torching crunch variations to build core strength.
For this workout, you just need one of the best yoga mats and a resistance band or loop band for one of the exercises. If you’re rinsing and repeating the same old abs workouts, the three moves below work nicely as part of your existing routine or as a mini ab circuit.
In the words of Flo Functional Training — whose workout you’ll be following — “Let’s move!”
Watch Flo Lyfe’s 3-move core workout:
“Instead of basic crunches, here are 3 core exercises I like to combine for a 10-minute core circuit,” says Colin Pasque, or Flo Lyfe as he’s known on socials, who runs Flo Functional Training.
Here are the exercises:
- Banded reverse crunches x 8 reps
- Oblique V-ups x 8 reps per side
- 8x Plank walk to shoulder taps x 8 reps
- 4x rounds
Banded reverse crunches, or V-crunches, help engage more of your core than traditional crunches, including the rectus abdominis, the transverse abdominis and the hip flexors, which are important stabilizer muscles.
I recommend double looping a band one or two around your feet like Pasque does, to help increase the resistance on your muscles as you drive your knees toward you. Keep your hands planted close to your hips, back tall and chest proud as you move, and ensure you extend your legs each rep.
Pasque also sits on a block — I recommend this yoga accessory if you prefer to elevate your hips, which is particularly useful if you suffer from very tight hamstrings.
Oblique V-ups help target the side body — as the name suggests, primarily your obliques, which run down your waist from the bottom of the ribcage to the pelvis.
Oblique V-ups help target the side body — as the name suggests, primarily your obliques, which run down your waist from the bottom of the ribcage to the pelvis.
These muscles support lateral flexion, extension and rotational motion, so including oblique work in your core workouts will strengthen your torso for these types of movements. The aim of the game is to move diagonally, so try to draw the elbow toward the outer knee, as Pasque demonstrates.
Lastly, walking planks. All the benefits of your standard plank with the added shoulder and arm workout as you move from a straight-arm to a forearm plank and back again.
Try to avoid swinging your hips as you move, which signals a lack of control and core engagement. Instead, brace your glutes and abs and keep your hips aligned with your shoulders. Pasque adds a shoulder tap on each side; keep your hips square to the mat and avoid turning outward to the side.
How can I strengthen my abs without sit-ups or crunches?
For years, we’ve been led to believe that crunches and sit-ups are the best ab exercises for strengthening your core. For some people, they might be. But there are many other ways to achieve a strong body, with or without them.
As I mentioned already, rotational and lateral exercises are brilliant at hitting your obliques, and any movement that moves the spine through flexion and extension will also target the abdominal and deeper abdominal muscles, called the transverse abdominis. I recommend reading our guide on abs vs core muscles to learn your core muscles and their purpose in more detail.
Personally, I rarely program standalone ab workouts, even as finishers. Whether you enjoy running, weightlifting, cross training, gymnastics, or calisthenics, your core muscles are fundamental to all movement, and you should be learning to use them whatever your exercise appetite.
Here’s our guide on learning to engage your core properly if you think you need a refresher. And remember, big lifts like squats, deadlifts and presses heavily recruit your core muscles, so you can absolutely strengthen these muscle groups without a basic sit-up or crunch in sight!
More from Tom's Guide
- No, not sit-ups — trainer shares these 6 exercises to blast your core in just 12 minutes
- I tried this 12-minute resistance band glute workout — here's what happened to my lower body
- I wore the Garmin Instinct 3 for over a week — here's 5 things I like and 2 I hate
