Crunches are beneficial if you’re trying to target just your abdominal muscles, but if you’re looking to build functional core strength to bulletproof your body and make everyday movements easier, they won't cut it. However, that’s exactly what this 10-minute workout from fitness trainer, Jason Pak, intends to do.
Why aren’t crunches enough for building a stronger core? While your abdominal muscles do make up part of your core muscles, they’re only one part of the puzzle. You’ve also got your obliques, transverse abdominis, lower back muscles and pelvic floor to think about. Your core muscles stabilise your body and, to do this, you also need to include anti-rotation, anti-extension, and anti-lateral extension exercises that challenge your midsection to resist movement, not just create it.
For this workout, we’d recommend following along to the video above, as Jason will guide you through a quick warm-up before diving into the exercises. It contains four different segments, and each segment contains three exercises that you’ll do for 30 seconds each, followed by a 30-second break before starting the next segment. Each segment is more challenging than the next so, although it’s only 10 minutes, you’ll be feeling it come the end. If you’re not following along with the video, here’s what you’ve got to do:
Segment 1
- Bent Leg Marching
- Bent Knee Side Plank (left)
- Bent Knee Side Plank (right)
Segment 2
- Straight Leg Marching
- Side Plank (left)
- Side Plank (right)
Segment 3
- Deadbug
- Side Plank Dip with Leg Raise (left)
- Side Plank Dip with Leg Raise (right)
Segment 4
- Front Plank
- Russian Twists
- Frogger Sit-Ups
Now, we know not everyone likes floor-based core workouts – if that's you – then here is a standing core workout that you can try instead. Again, it's brilliant for building functional core strength as standing exercises really challenge your balance and stability.
