10 Min Abs Workout – At Home Abdominal and Oblique Exercises

Use this 10 Minute Abs Workout to focus on strengthening and toning your midsection. This workout can be used by itself or you can use it in addition to another routine to get some extra abdominal work. Though you only go through each exercise once, the 45 seconds straight for each move is more than enough to get a good burn.

Using this routine by itself:
If you are only doing this routine, we suggest doing it two to three times a day at random times throughout the day and do this daily set up three to four days out of the week. To get more muscle definition out of this workout, you also need to incorporate a reduced calorie diet and more physical activity to get rid of any excess fat content that may be covering your midsection.

Using this routine with other workouts:
If you are using this routine in conjunction with other workouts (we suggest doing it this way) then you don’t need to do it as often. On top of a regular workout program (4 days per week strength training plus 1-2 days per week 45-60 minutes cardio; for example) then add this ab workout in on your cardio days and on two or all of your strength training days. On the cardio days you can do this ab routine before or after the cardio but on the strength training days try and do this routine at the opposite end of the day from your regular workout. This helps keep you from over stressing your core muscles, as well as increasing the number of calories burned in a day compared to doing both the strength and abs video at the same time.

Calories Burned:
A female weighing 140 pounds would burn an estimated 70 calories in the 10 minute of this routine. A male of 185 pounds would burn roughly 86.

The following is a list of the exercises you are going to be doing and the muscles they target.

Flutter Kicks: Though this motion does not cause the abs to move through a range of motion, they do cause the abs to contract to stabilize the hips. Focus on keeping your back on the ground to fully engage the stomach.

Rotation Reach Crunch: This motion not only works the abdominals but also targets the obliques because of the shoulder rotation.

Pilates Side Hip Raise: This focuses on the obliques and outside thigh for the motion but also uses the lower back and abdominals for support and balance.

Russian Twist: Using the abdominals and lower back for support, this exercise focuses on the rotational motion through the obliques. If you want to make this exercise a bit more challenging, lift your feet up off of the ground and you will also more heavily engage the hip flexors and quads, as they are called on to help you keep your balance.

Toe Touch Crunch: This is a great abdominal isolating exercise for both the upper and lower abs. To make sure you are getting the most out of this exercise, don’t let your abs relax when you are at the bottom of the crunch motion (when your shoulders are closer to the ground).

Pilates Leg Pulls (facing up): These work your lower back, glutes, and hamstrings. The hip flexor is also employed to complete the leg lifting motion and your quads are relied on for balance.

Pilates Leg Pulls (facing down): This facedown variation of the Pilates move also targets multiple major muscle groups, making it an excellent option for burning calories and toning up. You will feel this in your glutes, abdominals, lower back, hamstrings, deltoids, pecs, and quadriceps.

Pilates toe Taps: This is a simple move that is very effective at toning the abdominals and the front of the thighs. The constant tension in the abs makes this just slightly harder than it looks; be sure and keep your movements slow and controlled throughout the entire range of movement to keep it as effective as possible.

Knee Tuck Crunches: These are a great bodyweight exercise for abs that effectively engage the upper and lower abdominals simultaneously.

Remember that nutrition and eating habits are a huge part of having a flat stomach and defined ab muscles. Check out Fitness Blender Recipes for ideas on healthy meals.