Hello and welcome back to “Getting active with Ashley”, where I help you achieve the body of your dream! This week’s blog is for all of you who are looking to tone up your abdominal area. For those who are unsure of what that is, “Your abdominal muscles are a set of strong bands of muscles lining the walls of your abdomen (trunk of your body). They’re located toward the front of your body, between your ribs and your pelvis. There are five main muscles in the abdomen:

• External obliques.
• Internal obliques.
• Pyramidalis.
• Rectus abdominis
• Transversus abdominis.”

To put it into simpler terms, the exercises in this blog will be aimed towards obtaining a toned belly.  This workout will be in the form of high-intensity interval training which means that there will be a variety of hardcore workouts that you will do repetitively in brief segments. With effort and determination, engaging in this workout will allow you to attack your core muscles in every way. This fifteen-minute workout will give your abs the perfect combination of intense isometric workouts that will twist, contract, strengthen, and burn your muscles right into shape. So, let’s get started!

Directions

• Do each of the workouts below for 45 seconds, while taking a 30-second break after every two exercises.

1. Russian Twist: This exercise is an effective way to build your core through a repetitive twisting motion.  To do this you sit with bent knees and your heels pressed into the floor in front of you. Lean back slightly while keeping your spine straight, exhale and twist your torso to the left. Inhale and you twist back to the center and exhale as you twist back to the right. Continue these steps as you twist from left to right for 45 seconds.

How to Do a Russian Twist | Ab Workout – YouTube

2. Toe-touch sit-ups:

This calls for you to lay on your back with your feet straight up towards the ceiling. Also, extend your hand up towards the ceiling and lift the back of your shoulders slightly off the ground so that the tips of your fingers meet the tips of your toes. Leave your legs elevated as you continue the motion of reaching for your toes the lowering your shoulders back down to the ground.

Crunch, Toe Touch (Lv 2) – YouTube

*30-second break*

3. Side plank:

Lay on your left side and prop your upper body up on your elbow which would lie parallel to your shoulder. Hold this position for 45 seconds. Switch to your right side after 45 seconds, and each side will count ass your two exercises before your next break.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkMmABQ9SkM

*30-second break*

4. Flutter kicks:

lay on your back with your feet elevated about 6 inches off the ground. Keep your arms on the ground parallel to your body as you flutter your feet in an alternating motion for 45 seconds. You should feel the burn in your lower abdominal muscles.

How to do Flutter Kicks by Wodstar – YouTube

5. Standard plank:

In this exercise, you will first go into a push-up position with your entire body in a straight line from your shoulders down to your ankles. From that position, instead of being on your hands, you will move to support yourself from your elbows. Hold that position for 45 seconds and try to squeeze your core tight for the duration of the set time.

How To Plank | Nuffield Health – YouTube

That concludes one set of this HIIT workout. After doing all these workouts, you will have targeted all of the main abdominal muscles mentioned previously in the blog. I encourage you to push yourself to take about a 3–5-minute break after the first set, and if you feel like you can, you for another round! If you are consistent with this workout, I guarantee that you will begin to see a lot more definition within your abs over time!