The 10-Minute Pilates Core Workout That Left Our Instructor ‘Shaking’

When life gets really busy—you know: work, side hustle, home, family, endless emotional labor, unwatched Squid Game episodes, etc.—ten-minute workouts are a real godsend. This brings us to the latest episode of Good Moves, which features a 10-minute Pilates core workout with a block to optimize the efficacy of each and every one of those minutes.

The routine is designed and demoed by Chloe de Winter of Go Chlo Pilates, and it features recognizable mat core exercises, with a twist. And that twist takes the shape of a yoga block, the use of which helps to fire up the core more completely, thereby giving you the best bang for your buck with every move.

The yoga block can be foam or cork, and de Winter notes that if you don’t have one, you can use a Pilates ball for most of the exercises instead. And if you have none of the above props, that’s okay, too! You’ll still get a super legit core workout.

If you’re curious as to how the addition of a yoga block can fire up otherwise standard core exercises, de Winter explains that it can help to activate other muscle groups that you might not necessarily associate with your center. “I love incorporating inner thigh work into my core work because it really helps find a deeper connection into your core muscles,” she explains. “Our muscles don’t work in isolation… they work in different groups… and inner thigh work can really help us connect into our deep core muscles and help give us a better activation.”

By the end of the short-but-sweaty workout, even de Winter’s spent. “I hope your abdominals are shaking, because mine are,” she says. That’s a pretty good endorsement for making this your one workout of the day or, if you want to live a long and healthy life, tacking it on to your cardio or other muscle-group-specific workouts. Press play on the video above to sculpt a strong core to carry you through your too-busy life.

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