Stuck in the house, with little access to weights? Luckily, abdominal workouts are a great go-to, anywhere. Muscle Beach Athlete Jesse Cooke, takes us through a quick ab workout. Creativity is the key here, you do not need to do 100's of reps to feel the results. This 7 minute workout is effective and a great basis for future ab workouts. 

75 second Plank; 15s regular, 15s right leg up, 15s left leg up, 15s right arm up, 15s left arm up.

How/Why: A plank is a way get things warmed up. Hold your body straight with only your toes and elbows in contact with floor. Slight lift each body part off the ground and hold for required duration before placing back down and swapping for another. The purpose of this is it throw off your center of balance which in turn engages a whole new mix of muscles to adjust. More effective than a standard plank!

30 second rest

30 Second right side plank, 30 Second mountain climbers

How/Why: Like a regular plank, lay on your right side and prop your body up with only your foot and right elbow in contact with ground. Keep as straight as possible, purpose of this as it will target all your core muscles and stabilizers on your right side, primarily the obliques. Switch into mountain climbers.

30 Second left side plank, 30 Second mountain climbers

How/Why: Same as above, although this time we are targeting the opposing side (left obliques). Crossing between static(still) and dynamic(moving) contractions and exercises like this gives you the best of both worlds in strengthening, conditioning (toning) and getting those abs to pop out!

30 Second Rest

30 Second Open hip Crunches

How/Why: Lay down on the floor face up, bring one leg up to your bum. Halfway between that leg and the outstretched leg is where both feet should be. From this position, open your hips and drop knees out to the side. ‘Crunch’ your torso up into this open space, high enough to touch the floor with your hands. The purpose of open hips is it will disengage your hip flexor muscles and prevent them from tightening up. This puts all the focus where it should be, on your abs!

15 Second Left Side Crunches

How/Why: Lay down on your back, feet in same position as previous exercise although keep knees together. Drop your knees off to the right side roughly 45 degrees from the floor. ‘Crunch’ your upper body down the midline of your body (not in direction of your knees).

15 Second Right side Crunches

How/Why: Same as above, although now drop your knees off to the right side and perform same movement. The purpose of this exercise is it will target a unique mix of your oblique and abdominal muscles not yet used in previous movements.

45 Second bicycle elbows to knees alternate crunches (15 second moderate, 15 second fast, 15 second slow)

How/Why: Lay down on the floor, bring your knees up, so your femur (upper leg) is vertical. Keep your hands behind your head with elbows flared out. Mimic a bicycle pedaling motion bringing your right elbow, to left knee, and left elbow to right knee. Adjust pace as listed. The vast variation in dynamics of this exercise regarding pace and movement will provide optimal results in terms of engaging and bringing out all of those abdominal muscles!

15 Second Rest

45 Second Laying Leg raises (Last 15 seconds hold 45 degrees)

How/Why: Lay flat on your back with legs outstretched. For the first 30 seconds slowly raise both legs together up to 45 degrees from the floor. Return to floor and back up in a slow and controlled manner. In the last 15 seconds hold both legs in the air for 15 seconds before releasing! The purpose of this exercise is to target the lower abdominal group, the longer lever (legs outstretched) changes tension to the area around/below the belly button. All this ties into giving you a thorough and effective ab workout! Enjoy!

*Check out our list of other WORKOUTS