Forget regular planks — try the bear plank swivel and 5 other great moves with this bodyweight core workout

If you don’t keep your training interesting, you’re less likely to stick at it in the long term. So mixing things up by adding new exercises and routines is definitely a smart move.

This six-move core and cardio workout from fitness trainer Kyle Knapp is full of novel twists on classic exercises like planks and sit-ups, and is sure to introduce something new to your training if you give it a go.

You don’t need any equipment for the workout, which is done just using bodyweight exercises, but rolling out one of the best yoga mats will help provide grip for some of the moves and make them more comfortable on hard floors.

Watch Kyle Knapp’s 6-move core workout

In the workout you do six exercises with minimal rest in between, with Knapp suggesting you do 10-15 reps on each side and two to three rounds of the moves in total. You can of course adjust this to suit your fitness level and the time you have available.

Knapp demonstrates each move in a separate slide on his Instagram post, so it’s worth watching each of them to get acquainted with the exercises, since some are almost certain to be new to you.

Here are the six moves in the workout:

• One arm bear plank swivel
• Bicycle fallouts
• Split squat jumps
• Skydiver side taps
• Reverse crunch
• Skaters

Some moves will probably be at least familiar to you, but with most of them Knapp puts in a twist of some kind to liven things up.

This starts with the swivel you add to the plank, which is done from the bear crawl position with bent knees, which makes the move so tricky to initially get to grips with you’ll barely even notice the ache in your core muscles.

The workout uses a combination of core focused moves and plyometric exercises like split squat jumps and skaters, so after taxing your abs and obliques for two moves they get a break as you move into a cardio exercise to get your heart pumping.

When it comes to the cardio moves it’s worth moving fast to ramp your heart rate, but with the core exercises slow things down and move with control to maximize the time under tension for your muscles, and make sure you’re doing the move with correct form.

If you’d prefer to go back to a more traditional core workout after giving this one a go, try this 8-minute abs session from a Pilates instructor, which hits the deep core muscles. If you do have a set of dumbbells to hand, this 15-minute core workout is a great session that doesn’t involve doing any sit-ups or crunches.

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