When it comes to carving out a more defined torso, there’s no shortage of ab exercises to help you do so. But this workout from Ingrid Clay, a fitness trainer for the workout app Centr, focuses on strengthening the muscles surrounding your core — not just your rectus abdominis, also known as your six-pack muscles.
Featuring the likes of a humble crunch, rope pulls, and sit-ups with moving punches, this five-move workout will fire up your deep core, which is made up of a collection of muscles that work around the clock to support your spine and pelvis.
We know, life can be busy and making time for exercise can fall further and further down your to-do list. But sometimes, a few minutes of movement is all it takes to help lower stress levels, boost mood and improve your overall health and wellbeing. And that’s where this five-move, five-minute workout steps up to the plate.
Whether you fit this in first thing, during your lunch break or while you’re waiting for your coffee to brew, this speedy session will be over before you know it. So roll out one of the best yoga mats to help cushion your back and get going with these five floor-based exercises.
Watch Ingrid Clay's five-minute core workout
Split into three rounds, you’ll complete five reps of five different moves. You’ll then repeat this for round two and round three. And that’s it! It really is that simple.
But don’t be fooled. Yes, this swift session from the folks at Centr might be over in five minutes but each of the five-moves are ab-burning and core-intensive. Plus, there are no real rest periods during the three rounds.
However, if this is too much for you, Clay advises listening to your own body and going at your own pace to get the workout done.
As we touched on, all moves are floor-based and will see you start on your back. This makes it easy to flow from one exercise to the next. The five moves include:
- Crunches
- Shoelace-tap + crunch
- Rope Pulls
- Sit-up + moving punches
- Reverse Crunch
Another benefit about this workout? A handful of the moves are supersets. This is a type of training method that involves executing two different moves one after the after, with little rest in between.
Supersets are time-saving and can help increase the intensity of a workout. So with this workout, you’re completing five moves in theory, but in reality you’re ticking off seven. Either way, you’re getting more bounce for the ounce.
What are the benefits of core workouts?
Your core is made up of multiple muscles. It includes the likes of your rectus abdominis (your abs), obliques, erector spinae and pelvic floor. Sometimes your abs vs core are two words that are used interchangeably. But they do refer to different areas of your body.
A strong core is something we should all be working towards. That’s because the benefits of training this collection of muscles trickle into most aspects of everyday life. From promoting better alignment and posture to alleviating and preventing lower back pain.
Research published in the Orthopedic Online Research Journal found that building a stronger mid-region can boost stability and balance. So no matter whether you prefer to do bodyweight core exercises or weighted alternatives, carving out a stronger core can help you give your overall health and wellbeing a massive boost.
And, as executed with this five-minute workout, you don’t even have to spend hours doing so. For more ways to boost your core strength in minutes, check out these 10-minute ab workouts or the best ab workouts you can do for free at home.
More from Tom’s Guide
- You just need 12 minutes to sculpt your abs and obliques with this core workout
- Forget planks — this 10-minute ab workout sculpts your core with just your body weight
- This 10-minute standing ab workout blasts your core with no equipment
