Great Ab Workout in 10 Minutes

by Mike
(Virginia)

I follow a tremendous abs routine that is intense and guaranteed to wear you out, in a good way. The routine is scalable and you can do it if you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro.

The trick is repetitions. You have to do as many as possible – until you cannot do any more.

There are seven different crunch techniques that you do in succession without rest.

The 1st is a standard sit-up. Lay down with your arms across your chest and your feet anchored to something so that you can sit up. Do 100 of these.

For the 2nd and 3rd roll over on your side and support yourself with your elbow so that you form a bridge with your feet extended.

Do 100 of these crunches by moving your hips down to the floor and then up again. Then switch sides, to your other elbow, and do 100 more crunches!

Your abs may be tired at this point, so the 4th technique is push-ups. Do 50 of them.

After the push-ups, for the 5th, lie down flat on your back and raise your legs up so that you make an L shape. Use your hands to balance yourself and push your hips in the air and then come back down to a flat position. Do 30 of these crunches.

The next type of sit-up, the 6th, is called bicycle crunches. While lying down with your hands behind your head and your knees bent up to your chest, touch your right elbow to your left leg and extend your right leg.

Then touch your left elbow to your right leg and extend your left leg. Each elbow touch is “one”. Do 150 of these.

Lastly for the 7th return the normal sit up position where you began and do 100 more sit ups. This time however don’t just go straight up and down; twist each time so that your elbow touches your opposite knee.

If you can get through one of these you will have done 680 sit ups and push ups. Great job!

If you want, you can take a 10 minute break and then do the entire thing over again.

If you struggle through one, just cut the number of reps down until you can do it. The ultimate trick is to push yourself to the limit every time.

Mike

Note from Dr. Dan

Mike,

Great ab workout. Advanced trainers can follow it the way you've outlined it.

For those just starting out it can be scaled way back.

The side bridges -- steps # 2 and 3 -- can be tough at first. Rather than bridging to the feet they can be bridged to the knees.

To start just hold the bridge for a few seconds, relax, then repeat. In that way you can build up to doing full bridge with repetitions.

I would also add in some back extensions to get an all-around core workout.

Dr. Dan