You could go about a core workout in one of two ways. On one hand, you could ramp up your reps while doing a who’s who of proven abdominal burners like crunches, reverse crunches, leg lifts, rope crunches and every other manner of bringing point A (your sternum) toward point B (your hips) until your core cries for mercy.
Hey, if you’re a fan of that sort of intensity and wall-to-wall action, why not?
For those who aren’t so enamored with crunches and raises, though, there is another, less frantic road to a tighter, smaller, more dynamic core — one built on isometric and lower-impact movements coupled with something you do naturally all the time: breathe.
“This 30-minute workout will make your body believe you just worked out for an hour,” says Gretchen Zelek, an AFAA-certified group fitness instructor and functional aging specialist. “By focusing on belly breathing during each movement, you’ll engage deeper muscles within your core than typical shallow breathing.”
Zelek offers a few mental cues to help. “Make sure each breath starts ‘high’ at your collarbones, and when it reaches your belly, it expands outward like a balloon filling with air,” she suggests. “With each exhale, pull your belly in starting at your pubic bone and then all the way up toward your ribs. Think of ‘hollowing out’ your belly.”
The workout begins with a bridge that introduces this deep-breathing pattern to increase the stimulation, followed by a quietly intense wall sit. Next comes a circuit of plank variations you’ll do back-to-back-to-back with no rest in between, followed by dead bugs and a yoga favorite, the Child’s Pose, to finish things off.
The Core in 30 Workout
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