You’ve almost made it through Week 2, and to celebrate we have a fun, heart-pumping cardio abs routine on tap for today. In other words, you’ll work your core and spike your heart rate—really getting the best of both worlds here.
Since today marks the halfway point of this challenge, you’ve probably realized that a great cardio workout doesn’t have to mean steady-state exercise, like biking or running. The cardio workouts in this Spring Reset Challenge show that combining heart-pumping calisthenics moves with other dynamic exercises can really train your endurance, especially if you’re doing them in interval fashion (longer periods of work with shorter periods of recovery).
In this cardio abs routine, you’ll be starting with jumping jacks, a gym-class favorite that will get your body moving and your heart rate rising for the rest of the circuit. Then you’ll go into the inchworm—basically a dynamic, walking plank—which will also help you work on flexibility and shoulder stability too. You’ll wrap it up with three straight dynamic core moves: the bear crawl, the V-up, and the scissors kick.
Remember, when you’re doing any kind of abs moves (or any kind of strength training, really), it’s important to activate your core throughout the duration of the move. This will help you keep your low back in a safer position, which can guard against injury, and can also make sure you’re using the muscles you want to be using. For instance, by making sure your core is firing, you can reduce the likelihood of other muscles, like your hip flexors, taking over.
Because this workout uses periods of intense work interspersed with shorter periods of recovery, it’s really important that you don’t come into this routine cold—your muscles should already be ready to go from a solid warm-up. (You can find some of our favorite warm-ups here.)
Ready to burn out your core and end Week 2 strong? Read on to find out how to do this cardio abs routine.
The workout below is for Day 14 of the SELF Spring Reset Challenge. Check out the full month of workouts right here. Or go to the workout calendar here. If you haven’t signed up to receive daily emails, do that here.
WORKOUT DIRECTIONS
Do each move for your selected period of time. At the end of each circuit, rest for 90 seconds. Do the entire circuit 3–5 times. After your last circuit, try the optional extra credit.
- Option 1: 30 seconds of work, 30 seconds of rest
- Option 2: 40 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest
- Option 3: 50 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest
EXERCISES
- Jumping Jacks
- Inchworm
- Bear Crawl
- V-Up
- Scissors Kick
EXTRA CREDIT
Do 2 minutes of the exercise below. Be sure to take breaks when you need to, especially if your form starts to falter and you begin to feel the move more in your lower back or hip flexors.
- V-Up x 2 minutes