From balance and stability to posture and injury prevention, core strength is crucial to almost everything you do.
That’s because your core — which is made up of multiple muscles like your transverse abdominis, erector spinae and obliques — has one primary function: and that’s to help stabilize your body.
More often than not, most people roll out their yoga mat and train their rectus abdominis (more informally known as your six-pack muscles) in the hopes of carving out a more defined stomach. But as certified physical therapist Jared Beckstrand explains: “Your core is much more than just your abs.”
To help you stabilize your spine and pelvis, give your posture a boost, and help you move efficiently, Beckstrand has come up with a seven-minute workout containing 11 exercises that promise to hit every muscle in your core.
Watch Jared Beckstrand’s 7-minute core workout
![Hit Every Muscle! COMPLETE Core Strength Workout [7 Minutes] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_TdWdFQ1Cms/maxresdefault.jpg)
Containing 11 exercises in total, you’ll complete each move for 30-second intervals with no repeats or rest periods. Beckstrand does this to maximize the amount of exercises you can complete in a lesser amount of time.
However, if you do need to rest in between each move, hit pause and catch your breath. It’s better to perform each exercise with the correct form than speed through a workout and risk injury.
In this workout, Beckstrand explains and performs each of the exercises with you, giving you pointers on your form and tips on how to get the most from the move.
The exercises include:
- Brace march
- Single leg bicycle
- Dead bug
- Oblique crunch
- Marching bridges
- Side plank (left)
- Side plank (right)
- Bird dog
- Swimmer
- Prone angels
- Plank
- Bear hold
“These exercises are designed to target every muscle in your core—abs, obliques, hips, and lower back—to give you a balanced, strong foundation,” Berkstand says. And that they do.
Many of the exercises, like side planks and bird dogs, are compound exercises. Compound exercises use multiple muscle groups and joints at the same time. For example, in this workout, the humble plank will work your rectus abdominis, obliques, and transverse abdominis at the same time. While a bird dog has the proven ability to strengthen your lower back, shoulders and core.
But the best bit? This core workout is over in under 10 minutes. “Your core exercises and core workouts don’t need to take a long time,” explains Berkstand. “They just need to be done consistently. That’s the key.”
How do you choose a core workout?
Everybody is different. So the top core workout for you, might not necessarily be the best one for all. Instead, the best and most effective core workout is a workout that you enjoy doing, so you’ll do so consistently.
This routine from Berkstand is ideal if you’re short on time or motivation, as you won’t need to carve out hours to complete it. Plus, it can be done just about anywhere. But if low-intensity workouts are your calling, a Pilates workout that sculpts your core might be more suitable.
If you find Pilates classes too slow, a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout, filled with crunches, planks and mountain climbers could be the best core workout for you.
However, you might prefer to do a mix of all of the above — and that’s perfectly fine. Just remember that building a stronger core takes time, consistency, and effort. If you’re unsure on what forms of fitness are your thing, discover our guide to the best core workouts you can do for free with just your body weight.
More from Tom’s Guide
- 10-minute ab workouts to sculpt a strong core and strengthen your hips
- The best ab workouts you can do for free, from anywhere
- You don't need weights to build a stronger core, just this 9-move bodyweight abs workout
