Let’s face it, sometimes instead of suiting up and locating your hotel’s fitness facility, it is much easier to put yourself through a quick workout right there in your room. All you need is a couple square feet of space and your body weight to carry out this 20 minute core blasting workout.
After warming up, do 2-3 sets of the following 6 exercises. Two of the exercises focus on the frontal abdominals, two focus on the obliques or ‘sides’, and two exercises focus on the backside of your torso (dorsal).
Warm Up:
- Body Squats – 20x
- Standing with feet shoulder width apart
- Squat down like you’re about to sit in a chair (keep pressure on your heels)
- Squat all the way down until your thighs are parallel with the floor and return to standing.
- Forward/Lateral Lunges – 10x per side
- Take a big step forward with your right foot and sink down until your front thigh is parallel with the floor (make sure the knee of the front leg is not passing your toes. If it is, take a bigger step forward).
- Push off front foot and return to standing.
- With the same leg, take a big step to the right and bend the right knee until the right thigh is parallel to the floor. The left leg remains straight. Return to standing.
- The above is 1 repetition. Repeat 10x per leg and then repeat with other leg.
- Plank knee drives
- Starting in pushup position on your hands and toes (hand directly below your shoulders), hold and count to 20.
- After approximately 20 seconds, drive your right knee forward and towards your chest and return to pushup position. Repeat with your left leg.
- Continue for 20 repetitions.
Rectus Abdominis (frontal):
- Frogger – 20x
- Sitting on the floor with your knees bent, lift your feet off the floor and start by balancing on your sit bones.
- Extend your body to your legs are hovering a few inches from the ground and your back is doing the same.
- Return to your balanced position on your sit bones with your knees bent and feet off the floor.
- Leg Lowers – 20x
- Lie flat on your back with your legs extended and your hands resting under the top of your buttox for support.
- Raise your legs up until your upper and lower body forms a 90 degree angle
- Keeping your legs straight, let them drop until they are hovering a few inches from the ground. Raise them back up and repeat 20x.
Obliques (side):
- Heel Touches – 60x
- Lie down on the floor with knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
- Make sure feet are close enough to the buttox so that when you lean forward, you can graze your heels with your fingertips.
- Come up into a crunch position and shift to your right, touching your right heel with your hand and really feeling your right obliques contracting.
- Right away, shift to your left and touch the left heel.
- Glide back and forth, each time your touch your heel count one repetition.
- Windshield Wipers – 20x
- Lie flat on your back with your legs straight and extended straight up in the air so your upper and lower body forms a 90 degree angle.
- Extend your arms out to the side in a “T” position.
- Keep feet glued together, drop both legs to one side and hover them a few inches from the ground.
- Pulling with your obliques, bring your legs back up and over to the other side (mimicking the windshield wipers of a car).
Erectors (dorsal):
- Supermans – 20x
- Lie on your stomach with arms reaching forward overhead.
- Contracting the dorsal muscles of the back, lift both legs and arms 2 inches from the ground (and remain here for the duration of the exercise).
- One side after the other, lift opposite arm and leg an extra 2 inches in the air.
- Repeat 20x.
- Boat – 20x
- Lie on your stomach with arms extended by your side and palms facing down.
- Lift upper torso, arms, and legs off the ground by contracting the muscles of the back and buttox.
- Hold for 2 seconds and return back to the ground.
- Immediately contract and lift. Return back down and repeat.
This workout should last approximately 20 minutes and is an efficient way to attack your core before spending the day on the beach.
Gillian Johnson, BA CSCS