If you’re like me, when you go to the gym you like to focus on the key areas; cardio and resistance training as these are things that you can’t necessarily do at home, but when it comes to core work you spend only a fraction of the time doing a couple of planks and crunches before heading out of the gym.

This workout is something you could do at the gym however why not get this one done at home and leave the gym for the exercises you can’t do at home.

Your abdominals and lower back muscles are involved in nearly every exercise we do, providing essential support and keeping good posture to maintain safe and effective technique. Keep your core muscles strong and try this 30-minute workout a couple of times a week or more.

This little workout is something that you can easily do at home so clear a space in your lounge and put on your favourite music channel or fire up your workout playlist.

Pre Workout Stretches

As with any workout we need to warm up and stretch, perform each stretch and hold for 10-15 seconds.

Remember your muscles should be warm before doing any stretches; the first two are warm up exercises

• Rotations – 15-20
• Lateral flexion – 10-15 each side
• Angry Cat Stretch – 10-15 sec
• Abdominals Stretch – 10-15 sec
• Knee Hug Stretch – 10-15 sec

Great, now we are warm and ready to exercise.

Main Workout

1. Crunch – 2/3 x 18
2. Plank – 2 /3x 45 sec
3. Box Crunch – 2/3 x 12-18
4. Reverse Curl – 2/3 x 18
5. Supine Bridge – 2/3 x 1 minute
6. Laying Bicycle Pedal – 2/3 x 45 sec
7. Hip Press – 2/3 x 18
8. Plank Up/Dpowns – 2/3 x 18
9. Side Plank (left) – 2 /3x 30 sec
10. Side Plank (right) – 2/3 x 30 sec
11. V-Sit – 2/3 x 18
12. Dorsal Raise – 2/3 x 18

Top Tips

• Avoid thrusting movements on exercises such as crunch and reverse curl
• On all exercises, try and keep your spine in neutral alignment especially on laying bicycle pedal
• If you find your neck is hurting during crunches, you can reduce this by placing your tongue onto the roof of your mouth
• Perform all exercise slowly and under controll
• Hold all crunches for 1-2 seconds at top of the contraction
• Rest 15-30 seconds between sets

Cool Down

Stretch core muscle as per the warm up holding slightly longer for 15-20 seconds.

Don’t forget the cool-down stretches, these are hugely important and return your muscles to their original size and can help prevent or reduce Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS).