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If you want to sculpt a sharp set of abs, this workout will help. The five exercises selected will ensure that all areas of your abs are targeted. But training abs isn’t only about aesthetics and sex appeal.
In my blog The Benefits of Core Strength, I outline a range of ways that training the trunk can improve physical and athletic performance. Just a quick taste.
Core conditioning expert, Matt Lawerence, observes that regularly activating the mid-section ‘can improve your power, agility and balance.’
Furthermore, strengthening your abs and core muscles helps ‘improve posture’ which is ‘fundamental to overcoming injuries in the lower back and spine,’ (The Complete Guide To Core Strength).
So, as well as carving out a chiselled six-pack, this 10 minute ab workout can promote many fitness benefits.
How to get abs
But if your chief aim is to tone your trunk, there are a few factors that need considering.
In his book, Bigger Leaner Stronger, Micheal Lewis brings our attention to the disconcerting amount of ‘bad advice out there on how to get [a six-pack].’
Some of this advice includes:
Eat more protein (including protein shakes)
Do more exercises
Go on an extreme diet – such as Atkins or 10:2.
Do a lot more cardio
Stop eating carbs
Eat more carbs
Stop eating fat
Eat more fat
Etc., etc …
Actually, elements of the advice can help you forge a defined six-pack. However, if applied singularly, results will be limited or non-existent. Lewis makes this point when he challenges the two most common ‘best methods of getting a six-pack.’
‘Some trainers,’ he tells us, ‘say you have to do special types of ab exercises . . . and they’re wrong. Others say you just have to get lean and you’ll have an awesome core . . . and they’re wrong,' (Bigger Leaner Stronger).
It should come as no surprise that the best way to ‘build a great six-pack’ involves a combination of the two. According to Lewis, abdominal muscles don’t start to show until we lower our body fat to 10 per cent – which means doing more cardio training and improving our diet. Even if you hit that magic number, though, muscles may lack depth and definition.
To ‘bring out’ your abs requires that you regularly participate in exercises that target those muscles. Here’s a simple action plan to get a shredded six-pack.
Six steps to get six pack
Step 1: Incorporate this 10 minute ab workout (and these core workouts) into your training routine.
Step 2: Aim to complete two to three 30 to 60-minute cardio sessions per week.
Step 3: Include more compound lifts and functional training movements into your workouts. Such exercises actively engage the core.
Step 4: Mix and match your training methodologies. Instead of just doing conventional training – sets-reps-rest-repeat – organise your workouts into circuits and CrossFit-style AMRAPs. These training methods help to build muscle while burning fat.
Step 5: Improve your diet by reducing refined carbohydrates (especially sugar – see The Obesity Code and Fat Chance for a justification for this recommendation)
Step 6: Stick with it!
10 minute workout
Normally, I’d encourage you to participate in a 5 to 10 minute warm-up before starting the workout. The reasons: warming up prepares the body for the demands of training which can improve performance and reduce injury. But, because this session is scheduled for 10 min, I’m assuming you are completing it after your main workout – thus you’ll already be warm.
The five ab exercises (or stations) are organised into a circular circuit. Before beginning, organise equipment in the correct order as this will improve the efficiency of your transitions.
Set a one-minute repeat countdown timer. Starting at the first station (cable crunch), aim to perform as many reps as possible before the buzzer signals a station change. Continue in this fashion until you have completed one full lap of a circuit.
Take a short break before going again. At the end of the second lap, that’s 10 minutes of ab training in the bank.
Ab exercises explanations
1. Cable crunches
2. Prone ball roll-ins
3. Hanging leg raises
4. Plank
5. Air bicycles
Cable crunches
Cable crunch is an effective resistance exercise for developing depth in the rectus abdominus muscle. It can also build muscular endurance and, if you apply sufficient loads, strength.
Key teaching points
Kneel on a soft training mat in front of a cable machine. Use the rope attachment if available.
Grasp the rope ends of the cable pully. In the start position, your hands are positioned on either side of your head.
When you’re ready, contract your abs as you curl the ends to your thighs.
Hold a two-second count at peak contraction before releasing.
Prone ball roll-ins
Prone ball roll-ins are such an effective ab developer that they made our list of the Best Core Training Exercises. In addition to stimulating the full register of abdominals, they also work your chest, shoulders and triceps.
Key teaching points
Adopt the press-up position with your feet placed on a stability ball. (If you do not have access to a stability ball, TRX Cables and a park swing are both worthy replacements.)
Execute the exercise by rolling the ball toward your arms.
When your knees are under your abdominals, pause before rolling the ball back out.
To make the exercise more challenging, try rolling with one leg.
Hanging leg raises
Hanging leg raises (HLR) engage all areas of the abdominals. The exercise primarily targets the rectus abdominus (and hip flexors). However, stabilising the body requires that you activate the entire register of your core.
Key teaching points
Hang from a pull-up bar. It helps if the bar is high enough that your feet do not touch the ground in the ‘dead hang.’
Your feet are pressed together, and your legs are perfectly straight.
Perform the exercise by raising your legs 90 degrees – the minimum range of movement.
If you find this too challenging, convert to knee raises.
Plank
The plank is classic ab exercise. Though seemingly simple to perform, planking is notoriously challenging. As well as activating many abdominal muscles, it also boasts loads of variations. When performing the plank, convert reps into seconds.
Key teaching points
Start by kneeling on a soft training mat.
Place your forearms flat on the mat before lifting your knees up and straightening your legs.
Your body should be as flat as plank of wood.
If you feel you stomach starting to sag, either force it back into position or drop down to your knees again.
Air bicycles
Air bicycles target the rectus abdominus and the internal and external obliques. Due to the limited resistance options, this exercise is more suited to improving muscular endurance and tonality.
Key teaching points
Seated on a soft training mat with your fingers touching either side of your head.
The elbows are splayed and one leg is fully straight while the other is bent to 90 degrees.
Initiate the exercise by bicycling your legs out and back.
As you do so, rotate your torso so that the elbow of the opposite arm touches the knee of the bent leg.
10 minute ab workout hints and tips
The circuit methodology has been selected for this workout to maximise training time. From the first to the final minute, you’ll be able to activate those abs. But, if you plan to use this session as a post-workout cool-down, say, after a gruelling CrossFit AMRAP, you can tone the intensity down by applying the sets-reps-rest-repeat formula. At each station, aim to complete 2 to 4 sets of 8 to 20 reps.
Spotted an exercise that you don’t like (or are unable to perform)? That’s not a problem. Simply change it for one that you prefer. Here is a selection of alternative ab exercises to choose from.
But what if you want to keep an exercise, even though you can’t quite do it yet? This is a common problem with hanging leg raises. Many trainers would like to incorporate them into their routine but are reluctant because they are unable to grip the bar for the full set. This doesn’t have to be a limiting factor for the simple reason that the exercises can be modified.
As stated above, you can reduce the intensity by converting hanging leg raises to knee raises. If you aren’t yet strong enough to support your body weight, you can switch to Captain’s leg raises. These are performed on a power tower where your elbows rest on the arm pads.
Enjoyed this workout?
Then get your hands on over 80 more with the Hungry4Fitness Book of Circuits & Workouts Volume 3 >
About Adam Priest –
A former Royal Marines Commando, Adam Priest is a content writer, college lecturer, and health and fitness coach. He is also a fitness author and contributor to other websites. Connect with Adam at info@hungry4fitness.co.uk.
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