A 7-Minute Core Training Program for Complete Novices

Core strength goes deeper than looks – it’s vital for preventing back pain and injury and increasing sports performance. This is an excellent way to begin working out your abs.

Beginner-friendly ab exercises like Bird Dog strengthen several core muscles, helping stabilize the spine for everyday movements.

Your midsection, also known as your core, is used in almost every movement you perform, including reaching for a glass of water, squatting with a heavy load, and walking your dog. Try this incredibly beginner-friendly exercise if you have not been working out these muscles or have not in a while. 

According to Maricris Lapaix, a Los Angeles-based personal trainer accredited by the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), "the core is where all movement originates." Maricris Lapaix leads exercises on the Centr app. 

The pelvis and spine are stabilized and controlled by the core, which is made up of several abdominal muscles as well as muscles in your hips, pelvic floor, and spine. This has an impact on both upper- and lower-body motions.

Robust core muscles not only facilitate and ease daily activities, but also enhance safety and effectiveness in exercise endeavors by enhancing balance, stability, and alignment. According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, having a strong core is also one of the best strategies to prevent back discomfort and injuries as you age since the muscles in your torso support your spine. According to some research, core strength may also improve performance in other sports, such as running.

Beginner's Bodyweight Core Workout

Are you prepared to begin building up your abdominal muscles? Lapaix included five exercises in this program just for complete novices. 
The five exercises are straightforward but powerful. “They need you to be in certain positions that provide maximal possibility to feel your core activate,” Lapaix explains, adding that the positions don’t leave much room for error or poor form.

The Workout Program

The muscles in your hips, spine, and pelvic floor, as well as your abdominals, make up your core. These muscles make everyday activity possible and fitness activities safer by maintaining balance, stability, and posture. This program consists of five easy exercises that will assist beginners strengthen their core. 

1. Dead Bug

With your arms extended straight up from your shoulders to the ceiling, lie faceup on the floor. With your shins parallel to the floor, bend and elevate your knees to create a ninety-degree angle. Press your lower back against the floor while bracing your abdominals. Next, raise your right arm behind you and your left leg straight out in front of you, so that the extended limbs are only a few inches over the floor. Return to the starting position. After doing so with your left arm and right leg, switch sides once more. 

2. Glute Bridge

Arms lowered by your sides, lie on your back. With both feet flat on the ground and hip-width apart, bend your knees. With your toes pointing forward, your heels should be six to eight inches apart from your glutes. Lift your hips toward the ceiling by contracting your glutes and your abdominal muscles. Your body should form a straight line from your knees to your hips to your shoulders. Only raise your hips as high as you can without arching your back. Before lowering your hips gradually to the floor, squeeze your glutes for two seconds in the highest position. Repeat.

3. Bird Dog

Start with hands and knees on the floor; stack your shoulders over your wrists and your hips over your knees. Gaze toward the floor so that your neck aligns with your spine, forming a straight line from the crown of your head to your hips. While keeping your core engaged and stable, raise your left arm straight in front of you and extend your right leg straight out behind you, reaching both away from the body and parallel to the floor. Hold briefly; then return your hand and knee to the floor. Repeat with your right arm and left leg, and continue alternating sides. 

4. Bear Plank With Knee Taps

Start with hands and knees on the floor; stack your shoulders over your wrists and your hips over your knees. Press your palms into the floor and engage your abdominal muscles by pulling your belly button in toward your spine. Keep your abdominals tight as you lift your knees about an inch off the floor. Hold this position as you alternate tapping the floor with one knee. Keep your head in line with your spine the entire time. 
If this exercise causes wrist discomfort or pain, modify it by forming fists with your hands instead of placing your palms on the floor.

5. Modified Side Plank

Lie on the floor on your right side and bend your knees so your feet are behind you. Place your right forearm on the ground with your elbow underneath your shoulder. Brace your core and push off the ground so your upper body is supported by your right arm and knee. Then, lift your hips; your body should form a straight line from head to knee. Hold this position for 30 to 45 seconds, then repeat on the other side.

What to Know Before You Try These Exercises

Is this workout safe and appropriate for everyone?

It’s a good idea to get clearance for exercise from your doctor if you have any ongoing or underlying health issues. You should also check with your doctor about starting this workout if you have back pain or injury, are recovering from abdominal surgery, are pregnant, or recently gave birth.

What equipment will I need?

All you need to perform this routine is a yoga or exercise mat.

How do I warm up?

The exercises in this routine are gentle and don’t require a warm-up. If you’re feeling stiff, Lapaix suggests warming up with Cat-Cow (get on all fours; arch your back and lower your chin to your chest on an inhale; drop your back down as you lift your head on an exhale), knee drops (lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor; keeping your upper body in place, gently drop both knees to the floor on your left side; lift your knees back to center and gently drop them to the floor on your right side), and Cobra (lie on your stomach with your palms on the floor beneath your shoulders; draw your legs together and press the tops of your feet into the floor; press into your hands to lift your chest, draw your shoulders back, and straighten your arms; gently release to return to the starting position; repeat). Do as many repetitions as needed to loosen up.

How often should I do the workout?

Perform the routine three to four times per week on nonconsecutive days.

Do each exercise for 30 to 45 seconds and rest for 15 seconds before moving on to the next one. Start with one set (it should take about 7 minutes) and gradually progress to four sets as you get stronger.

While this workout is a great way for beginners to build core strength, your fitness routine should also include cardio and strength exercises that target every major muscle group.

Best Exercises for Stronger Obliques

Your oblique muscles play an important role in good body posture, balance, and coordination. The right exercises will help you keep them strong.

The obliques are major muscles in the abdominal area. There are two types — internal and external obliques — that extend diagonally from the ribs to the pelvis, according to Marshfield Clinic Health System. The obliques plus the rectus and transverse abdominals make up the abdominal wall, according to The American Council on Exercise (ACE). These muscles work together to control movement in the spine, rib cage, and pelvis

Obliques, like the rest of the muscles of the core, are important for everyday movements.

“If you look at the anatomy of the obliques, as far as where they attach on the pelvis and rib cage, they’re involved in the stabilization of the pelvis, so it’s important to make sure they’re strong and they’re working as they should,” says Rondel King, CSCS, a corrective exercise specialist and personal trainer in New York City. “They make for a strong core, which provides stability throughout the entire movement system.”

According to ACE, your oblique muscles allow you to bend over and twist your body from side to side.

Sculpting a strong core isn’t just about making your midsection look trimmer — strengthening these muscles helps promote better posture, balance, and coordination; reduce the risk of injuries; and improves fitness and athletic performance, according to Marshfield Clinic Health System. To strengthen your obliques, you’ll likely be strengthening other muscles in the process (like the rest of the core muscles), helping with mobility and overall functioning.

Developing a strong core (obliques included) also seems to be crucial for low-back health. A March 2015 review published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science concluded that core strength training can alleviate low back pain. A strong core also protects your spine, according to the ACE.

How to Do Oblique-Strengthening Exercises

Even though the usual recommendation is to strength-train two to three times per week, King says: “You can actually do oblique-strengthening exercises every single day and not overtrain.” It’s rare that you’ll tire out the abdominal muscles so much that you need a recovery day, he notes.

Brooke McManus, a certified personal trainer and yoga teacher based in Denver, outlined the eight top exercises for oblique muscles below. Do these moves for 30 to 45 seconds each with no more than 30 seconds of rest in between. Repeat for a total of two or three rounds, she says.

McManus recommends doing the following set of exercises three to five times per week by adding them onto another workout to get noticeably stronger muscles.

1. Side Plank

Lie on your left side with your right leg stacked on top of your left leg, and your left forearm on the ground with your elbow underneath your shoulder. Brace your core and push off the ground so your body is being supported by your left arm and foot; your body should form a straight line from head to feet that makes about a 45-degree angle with the ground. Raise your right arm up toward the ceiling without letting your hips dip. Beginners can keep knees on the ground in a slightly bent position. To make it more advanced, lift your right leg up and down while holding the side plank, keeping the rest of your body in that straight line from head to feet. Hold a light dumbbell in your right hand to make it more challenging. Repeat on the other side.

2. Standing Trunk Rotation

Stand with your feet hip-width apart and hold a medicine ball between your hands in front of your chest. Keeping your core tight, your arms bent at right angles at the elbows, and your elbows hugging your sides, rotate your torso slowly to your right, keeping head and chest rotating along with it. Hold the twist briefly before rotating to your left.

3. Standing Wood Chop

Stand in a split stance with your right foot forward and your feet slightly wider than hip-distance apart. Hold a medicine ball in your hands and lift it to your right so it is slightly higher than shoulder height and extended diagonally away from the body. Keep your head and shoulders pointing straight ahead. Then, in a fluid motion, bring the medicine ball toward your left hip. Then raise it back to the starting position. Increase the speed so you feel your oblique muscles engaged. Repeat for a total of 30 to 45 seconds; then switch sides.

4. Russian Twist

Sit on a mat with your feet on the ground and legs slightly bent in front of you. Activate your core as you lean back so your torso and thighs form a V shape and lift your feet slightly off the ground (cross your ankles to make more challenging). Hold your arms straight out in front of you, then twist your torso to one side in a controlled motion, tapping the floor before rotating to the other side and repeating. Hold a dumbbell or medicine ball with bent elbows in front of your chest as you twist to make the move more challenging.

5. Mountain Climbers

Begin in a plank position with hands on the ground, shoulders above your wrists, and holding your body to form a straight line from head to toes parallel with the ground. Engage your core as you bring your right knee into your chest, keeping your right toes off the ground. Return to the plank position and repeat the move with your left knee. Continue alternating legs in a quick, smooth motion.

6. Side Bend

Start standing with your feet hip-width apart, letting arms hang by your sides. Bend your upper body sideways toward the right, creasing at the waist. Pause and then return to standing while squeezing your left side obliques. Repeat on the left side, being sure to keep the weight close to your body as you bend. Continue alternating sides. Do the movement with a dumbbell to make it more challenging, using heavier weights to make it more difficult.

7. Dead Bug

Lie on your back with your arms extended up toward the ceiling. Bend your knees so shins and thighs form a 90-degree angle (shins should be parallel to the floor). Engage your core and lower your right arm straight back behind you at the same time you extend your left leg out long in front of you, lowering it so it hovers just above the ground. Return them to the center, and repeat on the opposite side. For an added challenge, hold light dumbbells in each hand as you complete the move.

8. Extended Side Angle Pose 

Start standing. Place your hands on your hips with your feet in a wide stance. Turn your right foot so it’s pointing to your right. Bend your right knee and lower body down into a lunge position: Your knee should be bent at a 45-degree angle, and not extending past your ankle; left leg is extended behind you. Bend your right elbow and rest it on your right thigh, twisting your torso so it faces your left side, keeping the head aligned with your spine and also facing left. Lift your left arm overhead with your palm facing the floor and stretch it alongside your left ear so you feel your entire left side lengthen. To increase the difficulty, place your right hand on a block or all the way to the floor instead of resting on your knee. Hold for 30 to 45 seconds and then switch sides.

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