Health And Fitness For Life

ATHLETES OF ALL sports—from baseball to football to hockey—base their physical training on improving the strength of their core using compound movements. That’s great for pro athletes, but what about guys who just want to get a ripped six pack

First off, let’s acknowledge a hard truth: Not all abs are created equal. Some guys need to work their belly too exshaution before they can carve out abs while other dudes seem to get theirs to pop without a single situp.

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Regardless of where you fit on the fitness spectrum, effectively training the core comes down to the three planes of motion: frontal, sagittal, and transverse. Doing abs exercises style keeps the intensity high and will likely lead to more fat loss.

In the faster-is-better world we live in, carving out 30 to 45 minutes a day for a good workout can seem like a major challenge—and that can totally mess with your quest for a strong core. Enter: the 7-minute workout.

This strategic, super-effective form of high-intensity circuit training is supported by science. To complement the original—and give you even more 7-minute options, we asked Yusuf Jeffers certified personal trainer and Head Coach at Tone House in New York City, to create a companion abs workout that requires only your body weight.

A killer combo of core-strengthening moves and cardio, this circuit’s designed to “attack” not only your abs and obliques, but also the muscles in your back, pelvic floor, and even your shoulders, says Jeffers. And, truth be told, it beats doing hundreds of crunches. “If you’re training for a sport—or just for everyday life—you usually don’t use any one muscle in isolation,” he says. “This correlates closer to actual, functional movements.” And that’s a good thing: While crunches certainly strengthen your abs,it will also make our body more strength

Though it’s important to remember that high-intensity interval training isn’t meant to be a daily workout, it’s a great tool to have in your exercise arsenal, particularly on days when all you’ve got is 7 minutes to spare.

How to use this list: Perform each move below for 30 seconds, resting 5 to 10 seconds in-between. With this circuit, the goal is to go big or go home—meaning, working at the highest possible intensity for as many reps as you can without sacrificing form. Expect to perform anywhere from 15 to 20 reps, though remember that quality always tops quantity, says Jeffers. (So don’t stress if your rep count is on the lower end the first couple of times you try this—there’s always time to improve.) If time allows, you can repeat the circuit 2 to 3 times.