I hate doing abs. I think I did one too many crunches back in 2001 trying to get Britney’s abs (you know the ones) and burnt myself out. Whatever it was, the thought of laying down and doing a crunch now crushes my soul.
Ironically, I LOVE THIS WORKOUT! I had less than an hour to spare at the gym yesterday and was craving a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am sandwich workout. Then something occurred to me… I’ve done {arm} sandwiches and {lean leg} sandwiches but never an {amazing abs} sandwich workout.
Done and done. 15 minutes of ab-tastic HIIT moves smooshed between 30 minutes of cardio and there’s not one crunch to be had in the entire workout. It actually took me longer to create the printable pdf and pinable photo for this workout than to actually do it!
printable pdf with notes: {amazing abs} sandwich #1
Notes about the moves:
- Sliding Towel Planks: Start in a plank position (hands slightly ahead of shoulders keeping knees, hips and shoulders in a straight line, butt down.) and place one small towel under the balls of your feet, legs together. Bring your knees in towards the center of your chest, squeezing your abs, straighten back out to full plank and repeat. Similar version here.
- Standing Cross-over Knee Crunch: Stand with your shoulders in line with your hips, and extend your arms up to the left (holding a weight if you want more of a challenge) and your right leg to the side, toes pointed. As you lower your elbows, raise your right knee, contracting your abs and squeezing when your knee and hands meet. Return to the starting position and repeat. Similar version here.
- Touch & Go Mountain Climbers: Start in plank position. Bring left food forward and touch it on the floor under your chest. Quickly return leg to starting position and repeat with the other leg. Alternate back and forth for 30 seconds. Similar version here.
- Side Plank Walk + Pushup & Pulse: This one is actually fun if you follow closely!
- Plank position
- 1 Pushup
- Walk hands to left side plank, free hand on hip, pulse right leg
- Return to center plank
- 1 Pushup
- Walk hands to right side plank, free hand on hip, pulse left leg
- Rinse and repeat
Great post! Abs are an interesting muscle as you can do so many different exercises to get them going. You are right though, we sell a lot of different machines for ab work outs as people really don’t like a good old standard crunch!!! :-)
I’m sorry, but you had me at “sandwich”… is that a bad thing since this is for ab workouts? hahaha. This workout does look good though, so I’m excited to give it a whirl. I need a switch up routine. Thanks, Elle!
This looks like an awesome workout! I too fell victim to the 2001 Britney abs era so the fact that there are minimal crunches in sight is perfect.
I can see why these would take a lot of time to put together. Looks awesome – thanks for continuing to post fun, new workouts!
Wow – I am bummed I already worked out my abs today – I can’t wait to try this!