No sit-ups, no equipment needed — this 10-minute core…

No sit-ups, no equipment needed — this 10-minute core workout sculpts your abs and obliques

When it comes to training consistently to stay fit and healthy, working out what you’re actually prepared to do and not do regularly is vital.

For example, I love running and will happily do it for hours on end each week, but when it comes to strength training, I rarely have the motivation to train for longer than 10-15 minutes at a time.

That means I’ve pulled together a wide variety of 10-minute workouts I can do when I have the time and urge to train, and this 10-minute core session from fitness trainer Kat Boley is going straight on my to-do list.

It’s a six-move workout done at a fast pace that targets all the muscles in your core and you don’t need any equipment to do it, though if you have one of the best yoga mats, it will make some of the moves more comfortable.

Watch Kat Boley’s 10-minute abs workout

A post shared by Kat Boley | Home Workouts for Women (@katb_fit)

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There are six exercises in the workout, and you do three rounds of all six moves in total, resting as required but aiming to keep breaks short to keep the total time under 10 minutes.

You do 20 reps in total of the moves where you alternate sides, and 10 reps of the moves where you don’t.

Boley has demonstrated each move in her Instagram post, so scroll through to see how to do the exercises before you start.

Mountain climbers — 20 reps
Leg raises — 10 reps
Side plank dips (L) — 10 reps
Flutter kicks — 20 reps
Side plank dips (R) — 10 reps
Bridge kicks with twist — 20 reps

Aim to maintain a fast, controlled pace and complete the reps for each move without taking breaks to maximize time under tension for your abs.

The session contains a mix of moves to challenge your entire core in different ways, so you hit the upper and lower abs, the obliques, and the deep stabilizing muscles in your core.

Along with strength, the session builds foundational stability that will transfer well to everyday life and other workouts, and the fast pace of the session means you cram a lot of effective exercise into just 10 minutes; just be prepared to work hard.

One 10-minute workout is not going to change everything about your health and fitness, but it’s a good place to start, and if you can line up two or three sessions like this to do each week, you’ll get into the great habit of training consistently.

In the long term, that’s what matters most — moving regularly and consistently, even if it is just for 10 minutes at a time, though if you can occasionally stretch to longer sessions then all the better.

I like core workouts like this to support my main sport of running because having a strong core helps to maintain good form deep into long races like marathons. It’s easy to tack this workout onto the start or end of an easy run too, since it is so short.

If even 10 minutes seems too long right now, you can try this seven-minute core workout instead. Anything is always better than nothing!

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