If You’re Yawning Over Old-School Crunches, Have We Got an Abs Challenge for You

Raise your hand if you are officially bored AF of doing crunch after crunch (after crunch after crunch) for the sake of a stronger core. Yeah, same.

To combat the core workout fatigue we've been feeling of late, we tapped Le Sweat founder Charlee Atkins to put together a 4-week abs challenge as the inaugural leader of our Trainer of the Month Club. The best part? It's accessible via our Instagram, completely free, and requires absolutely zero equipment. So basically, you can do it every day without having to leave your living room or put on pants.

Week one's workout works for all fitness levels, and we will be doing it here at Well+Good HQ every day (sadly, we will have to put on pants for our own routines). A few tips from Atkins? "In all of these core exercises, the focus is to stabilize the core around the spine," she says. "So in any supine (or lying) exercises the emphasis is pressing the lower back into the ground. And for any prone exercises the focus is on keeping a flat back, head in line with hips or heels, depending on exercise."

Try it out for yourself, and keep an eye on our Insta because Atkins' abs challenge will be hitting your feed for three more Mondays. When that's a wrap, we'll have a new trainer of the month in May to keep challenging us even more.

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Introducing... TRAINER OF THE MONTH CLUB! ??⚡️? Trainer of the Month Club is bringing a new top trainer to your Instagram feed at the top of every month. How will it work? Check in on Mondays for our sweat drop, where you’ll find the workouts to follow along for the entire week. ⁣⠀ ⁣⠀ To help us kick things off, @charleeatkins is serving up a 4-week abs challenge with 7-minute daily workouts. Ready to try it yourself? ➡️ Swipe through for a demo on each move then head to the link in our bio for a full explainer on every move and reps. ⁣⠀ ⁣⠀ WEEK 1: BASIC BODYWEIGHT⁣⠀ ⠀ MOVE 1: Leg lowers⁣⠀ MOVE 2: Dead bug⁣⠀ MOVE 3: Prone plank hold⁣⠀ MOVE 4: Side plank right⁣⠀ MOVE 5: Side plank left⁣⠀ MOVE 6: Bird dog ⁣⠀ MOVE 7: Plank slides⁣⠀ Move 8: Walk out with knee pull ⁣⠀ ⁣⠀ #iamwellandgood #fitness #trainerofthemonthclub #sweat #abs #fitness #workout #igworkout

A post shared by Well+Good (@iamwellandgood) on Apr 1, 2019 at 9:08am PDT

Complete each exercise for 30 seconds, 2 times through with no rest (7 minutes total)

Leg Lowers

1. Start lying on your back, legs extended straight up towards the ceiling, hands palms down by your side. Press your lower back into the floor to stabilize the core.
2. Inhale as you slowly lower one leg straight down towards the ground.
3. Pause when the heel is one inch off the ground.
4. Exhale to return leg to start.
5. Inhale and repeat.

Dead Bug

1. Start on your back with your hands in fists extended straight up towards the ceiling and knees and hips at 90-degree angles. Press your lower back into the mat to stabilize your core.
2. Inhale as you slowly extend opposite leg and opposite arm.
3. Extend the leg until heel is one inch off the ground. Extend the arm until biceps are by the face.
4. Pause and on an exhale return to start.
5. Switch sides and repeat.

Prone Plank Hold

1. Start with your feet together and your elbows on the ground, directly below your shoulders which should be pressing down into the mat. Keep your head and heels in line the entire time.
2. Hold the position with controlled breath.

Side Plank Hold

1. Keeping the head and heels in line the entire time, put your right elbow on the ground, directly below the shoulder and feet.
2. Hold the position with controlled breath.
3. Repeat on the left side.

Bird Dog

1. Start in quadruped position, shoulders above wrists, knees below the hips, keeping the back flat the entire time.
2. Slowly reach opposite arm and leg in the opposite directions.
3. Keep the extended arm and extended heel in line with the head and tailbone.
4. Pause and slowly return to start.
5. Switch sides and repeat.

Plank Slides

1. Start in Prone Plank Hold, with sliders (or towels) underneath your feet.
2. Using the elbows to drive into the ground, push and pull the body away creating a sliding, rocking motion.

Walk Out with Knee Pull

1. Start standing with sliders (or towels) underneath each foot, and forward fold to place both hands on the floor in front of your feet.
2. Slowly walk out to a push-up plank position.
3. Pull one knee in to your chest, stopping when knee is at the hip.
4. Repeat on each foot.
5. Walk hands back to standing and repeat.

For another to make your abs quake—sans crunches—try this plank series that legit made me cry. And here's the one plank modification that could actually be wrecking your form.