Welcome to Trainer of the Month Club, our brand-new fitness series, where we tap the coolest most in-the-know fitness leaders to create a month-long fitness challenge. On Mondays, we have our "sweat drops" where you'll get access to the week's workout that you can follow along at home. In June, Meg Takacs is bringing your her strength-building series, starting with building a strong core.
I like to track my workouts by how many songs it takes to finish them. A three-mile run suddenly seems a lot more manageable when I realize it will only take me six or seven Justin Bieber tracks to get through it, and 45 minutes on a spin bike is basically just nine Ariana Grande jams before I'm outta there and onto brunch. So when I found out that this week's Trainer of the Month abs series would only take six minutes—AKA less than two songs—I was pumped. "That's nothing!" I thought to myself.
Boy, was I wrong. Trainer Meg Takacs' latest core workout may be quick, but man-oh-man is it intense. It focuses on every part of your core, from your midsection through to your inner and outer obliques, leaving no muscle un-worked. Thankfully, she shares some modifications to help get you through it, and even those will leave you burning.
Pop on your favorite playlist and follow along with Takacs to burn out those abs, and don't forget to check back next week for an entirely new workout.
Do each movement for 30 seconds, and cycle through the series twice.
1. Hollow rocks: Balancing on your glutes, straighten your arms and legs to create a hollow “V” shape in your body. Roll back through your spine, keeping your legs straight. Think about crunching your belly button into your spine, keeping the tension in the core. Let the momentum of your legs carry your body back and forth, taking care to let your feet and shoulder blades only kiss the floor. To modify, hold your hands by your chest.
2. Single leg sit-ups: With your legs bent on the floor, roll up through your spine, and touch the opposite foot with your hand. Twist your body from your core as you crunch. Repeat on the opposite side.
3. One push-up into four mountain climbers: Starting in a high plank, do a push-up. Then, cycle through four mountain climbers, keeping your core tight and puling each knee in toward your elbows. To modify, drop down to your knees and do the push-up from there, then push into your high plank and cycle through your mountain climbers.
4. Low plank oblique crunches: Start in a forearm plank with your shoulders stacked. Bring your knee to the side of your elbow (on the same side of your body), squeezing your obliques. Keep your body parallel to the ground and your shoulders and hips squared to the center.
5. High plank trunk rotations: Start in a high plank and twist your body to one side extending your bottom leg out underneath you and reaching your top arm toward your toes. To modify, tap your hand to your knee instead of extending your leg out all the way.
6. Side plank crunch: From a side plank, crunch your top knee into your elbow, squeezing your obliques. Be sure to never let your foot hit the ground. To modify, place your top foot on the ground in front of your leg, and lower and raise your hip to the floor.
For more at home workouts, try Charlee Atkins' 8-minute abs sequence, and Emily Turner's full-body burner.
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