If you’re looking to develop your abs, you might have heard that you need to do hours of crunches and sit-ups to get results. Fortunately, that’s not the case; with this eight-move ab workout, you can build a stronger core in just 8 minutes.
Although you are able to invest in a set of the best adjustable dumbbells to take on several core strengthening exercises , this routine requires your own bodyweight alone. It’s an ideal option if you’re short on time, away from home, or want to add a quick core session to your regular workout.
Chris Heria (opens in new tab) , the trainer behind this six-move plan, specializes in calisthenics— a style of strength training that primarily relies on bodyweight exercises. So while you can find a few of Heria’s sessions with weights, many of his routines don’t require any equipment at all.
This program has just eight moves—including plank variations, leg raises, and crunches —and it only takes eight minutes to complete the particular bodyweight circuit. You can repeat the round several times if you want more extended abs plus core workouts.
The aim is in order to do each exercise for 45 seconds and take a 15-second rest before continuing to the next move. This keeps the intensity up, allowing you to fit an effective ab-building program into less than 10 minutes.
This training style is known as high-intensity resistance training (HIRT), which encourages you to train intensely in short bursts and only get brief rests between moves. If this particular sounds similar to high-intensity interval training (HIIT), that’s because it is.
Watch Chris Heria’s eight-minute abs workout
However, HIRT sessions focus on muscle-building moves like those in Heria’s schedule. In contrast, HIIT routines generally center around cardio exercises designed to raise your heart rate plus increase your metabolism.
Even though HIRT won’t raise your own heart rate inside quite the particular same way, it’s an effective means of fitting the fat-burning, muscle-building workout into even the busiest schedules. And this is also ideal with regard to developing your core and improving the visibility associated with your abs.
To create visible abdominal muscles, you’ll need to train your rectus abdominis, otherwise known as the six-pack ab muscle. But growing the muscle is only part of the particular technique, as you also need to lower your own body fat, particularly around your mid-section.
You can’t spot-target fat, so a high-intensity session like this—where a person train your own muscles, increase your heart rate, and boost your metabolism—are a time-efficient way to hit your fitness goals. You could also couple this with a 25-minute HIIT workout regarding fat loss .
Alternatively, you can invest in some weights like one of the best kettlebells and learn how to do kettlebell swings . This multi-muscle exercise works your whole body, develops your primary, and boosts your metabolism for fat-burning, strength-building results.
