Workout of the week: 20-min abs and core workout
HANNAH BRAUN
Personal trainer from Vienna
Hannah is a health, fitness and personal trainer. With her creative workouts and individually adapted training plans, she ensures that her clients’ goals are efficiently achieved. At the same time, her top priority is to bring the fun and enjoyment of exercise and sport closer to her clients and to guide and support them on their way to become the best version of themselves.
Follow her on Instagram: @hannahxbraun
20-MIN ABS AND CORE WORKOUT
ALL LEVELS / abs and core workout / 20 minutes
Equipment: Dumbbell & exercise mat
No shame in saying it: we all want a nice and lean six-pack. But just looking good doesn’t exactly cut it. You got to make your core and abdominal area resilient and flexible enough to face your daily challenges. That’s where we come in — to help you achieve the best of both worlds.
Our friend Hannah Braun, a personal trainer based in Vienna that has already brought us this full-body dumbbell workout and this 30-minute upper body workout, brings us today a 20-minute abs and core workout that you can perform at EVO or at home, due to its minimal usage of equipment.
It consists of 8 exercises performed for 30 seconds. You should perform these 8 exercises consecutively, with no rest between them. Then, after you complete each round, you get to rest for 60 seconds. Perform 3 to 4 rounds, depending on your fitness level — or on how much you want to have a six-pack. If you perform 4 rounds, this workout should take you around 20 minutes to complete.
- Leaning leg raises
- Hip lifts
- Russian twist
- Boat hold
- Leg tucks (dumbbell in between)
- Flutter kicks
- Ab hold
- Mountain climber crunch
Let’s burn those abs!
WORKOUT SETUP
- 8 exercises
- 30 seconds each exercise
- 60 seconds rest between rounds
- 3-4 rounds
- Duration: 20 minutes
- Equipment: Dumbbell & exercise mat
WORKING OUT FROM HOME? NO PROBLEM.
If you don’t have the equipment originally needed for this workout, you can substitute it with these everyday items or use these alternative exercises.
Alternative equipment
- Dumbbells = water bottles filled with water and / or sand
WORKOUT EXERCISE LIST
1 – LEANING LEG RAISES
30 seconds
- Start by positioning yourself on the exercise mat by making a 45 degrees angle with your back. Use your elbows to support you.
- Keep your legs extended and together.
- Squeeze your lower abs and keep your core tight.
- Then, slowly elevate your feet up towards the ceiling, still keeping them together and straight.
- Go down to the starting position and repeat.
2 – HIP LIFTS
30 seconds
- Lay back in supine position and brace your core.
- Place your hands under your buttocks.
- Raise your legs straight above your hips, raising your hips towards the ceiling too.
- Make sure your buttocks are lifted entirely from the mat.
- Lower the hips back to the surface.
- Drop the legs slowly until they hover just above the ground.
- Repeat.
3 – RUSSIAN TWIST
30 seconds
- Sit on the ground with your knees bent.
- Lift your feet from the ground.
- Bring your dumbbell to your chest and lean back, torso at a 45-degree angle.
- Holding the dumbbell with both hands, move it from one side to another over the hip.
- Keep your legs stable and your back straight.
4 – BOAT HOLD
30 seconds
- Start by sitting with your knees bend and your feet on the floor.
- Make sure your back is straight before leaning back and lifting your feet off the floor, engaging your abs.
- Find your balance there and hold the feet up for 30-seconds.
- Repeat.
5 – LEG TUCKS (DUMBBELL IN BETWEEN)
30 seconds
- Place a dumbbell at the end of your mat.
- Seated on an exercise mat, make a 45-degrees angle with your back using your elbows for support.
- Raise them off the floor, stretching them as much as you can.
- With your core engaged, move your legs over the dumbbell from one side to another.
- Keep your feet off the ground during the 30 seconds.
6 – FLUTTER KICKS
30 seconds
- Start by positioning yourself on the exercise mat by making a 45 degrees angle with your back.
- Use your elbows to support you.
- Extend your legs fully out, as straight as possible.
- Lift your heels off the floor explosively, making up and down movements for the indicated time.
7 – AB HOLD
30 seconds
- Lie on your exercise mat face up, with your legs extended.
- Place your hands at your sides, core tight head slightly above the ground.
- Raise your legs toward the ceiling and lock your core holding position.
- Make sure you keep breathing for the entire duration of the exercise.
8 – MOUNTAIN CLIMBER CRUNCH
30 seconds
- Start in a high plank position, upper body pressing away from the floor, shoulders stacked over your wrists.
- Make sure your hips are aligned with the rest of your body.
- Pull one knee at a time, slowly, to try to touch your elbow.
- As you do so, perform a crunch — meaning your back, unlike a regular mountain climber, will not remain straight.
- Switch legs and repeat.
This abs and core workout will not be enough for a six-pack. Here are some other workouts to help you out:
- 30-min total core workout
- 30-min upper body workout
- 12-min kettlebell mobility flow
- 16-min EMOM workout
- Full-body Yoga tone workout
- Full-body workout for strength and mobility
- 45-min strength and endurance workout
- 35-min kettlebell workout for strength and power
- Full-body dumbbell workout
- Functional shoulder workout for strength and control
- 35-min functional strength workout
- 30-min functional workout for strength
- 30-min Pilates workout for strength and power
- 30-min full-body HIIT workout
