Daily Ab Routine for a Toned and Cut Midsection

10-minutes to a tighter core!

The forearm plank is included in this Daily Ab Routine for a Toned and Cut Midsection because it targets every muscle group in your core.

There are certain things we do every day to stay healthy. We brush our teeth, drink plenty of water, and eat our daily dose of veggies. Another thing we should add to this list is a daily ab routine. Don’t think you need to do abs every day? Let me tell you why you should!

Our core works all day long. From the time we sit up in the morning to the time we lay down at night, our ab muscles are busy stabilizing our bodies, keeping us upright and allowing us to rotate, bend, and more. That’s why performing a daily ab routine is so important! Maintaining strong, healthy muscles helps us perform every function as optimally as possible and protect us from injury.

I know it may sound difficult to commit to a daily ab routine, but hear me out. This core workout only takes ten minutes to complete. Think about how much time you spend on social media or on the couch watching TV. Chances are good that, if you’re truly honest with yourself, you can find ten minutes in a day to build strong, amazing abs!

Perform this routine as a stand-alone workout, after your morning run, before your strength routine, or during the commercial breaks while you’re watching television in the evening! I promise it will be worth it.

Uncover Your Abs with a Healthy Eating Plan

7-Day Meal Plan to Lose Body Fat

Our daily ab routine for a toned and cut midsection will strengthen and tighten your abs, but will it make them visible? There’s a saying: “Abs are made in the kitchen.” While this claim holds some weight, it’s not totally accurate. Abs are made in the gym but revealed in the kitchen. To see the effects of your hard work, you need to shed the excess fat above those abs. The best way to accomplish this is by following a proper diet.

The first thing you need to do is figure out how many calories your body needs daily to lose weight. No two people are the same. The more specific you can be, the better!

Once you know that, try eating more nutritious and delicious recipes. If you’d rather us do the work, jump into one of these awesome, predesigned meal plans:

Daily Ab Routine for a Toned and Cut Midsection

Side planks are included in this daily ab routine in order to target your obliques!

This ab routine can be performed using your own body weight. If you want to increase the difficulty of some of the moves, grab some ankle weights, a weighted medicine ball, or one or two dumbbells.

As we mentioned earlier, your core muscles are involved in pretty much every move you make — even standing. For this reason, it often takes a little more effort to challenge and build these muscles. Adding extra resistance to the exercises can help you progress faster and see results sooner.

There are eight exercises included in this daily ab routine for a toned and cut midsection, two of which are to be performed on each side.

  • Beginners should perform each exercise for 30 seconds, resting for 30 seconds in between each move.
  • Intermediate level participants can perform each exercise for 40 seconds and rest for 20 seconds.
  • If you’re advanced, try to perform each move for 50 seconds, giving yourself only 10 seconds of rest between each move. 

Go through each exercise once, for a ten-minute workout. Be sure to watch the included instructional videos below to ensure that you’re using proper form. We’ve made notes for modifications below, in case you want to up the challenge!

The Exercises

1. Forearm Plank: This exercise targets all of the muscles that make up your core musculature, including the transverse abs, obliques, and the rectus abdominis. If you’d like to make this move harder, elevate your feet on a step or stool.

2. Side V-Ups: This is the first exercise that will need to be done on each side. They target your obliques, which are the side ab muscles that pull your waist in.

3. Reverse Crunch: This incredible exercise hits your rectus abdominis, which is the most superficial muscle group of the core musculature (also known as the six-pack). See how to up the challenge in the video below.

4. Side-to-Side Crunches: This move, also known as the Russian twist, is another excellent way to target your obliques and cinch your waist. Increase the difficulty by holding a medicine ball or dumbbell.

5. V-Ups: V-Ups are hard, but so worth it — especially if you want a 6-pack! Make them even harder by wearing ankle weights, holding a light pair of dumbbells, or both!

6. Side Planks: This is the second exercise that will need to be performed on each side. It targets all the muscles in your core. Remember to keep breathing and keep your abs tight. You can make side planks more challenging by adding in a slow and controlled hip dip.

7. Scissor Kicks: This exercise also targets all of the ab muscles, as well as the muscles of your lower body. Up the challenge by throwing on some ankle weights! 

8. Heel Taps: Last, but certainly not least, we have heel taps. Hit your obliques one more time and really tighten that waist by performing this exercise in a controlled manner. Squeeze those abs, and increase the difficulty by grabbing a light pair of dumbbells!

Instructional Videos

Forearm Plank

Side V-Ups

Reverse Crunch

Side-to-Side Crunches

V-Ups

Side Planks

Scissor Kicks

Heel Taps

When you combine this daily ab routine with a healthy, appropriately-portioned meal plan, it won’t be long before you start to see real results!

If you want to see more routines like this, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Pinterest. Don’t forget, you can also subscribe to our eNewsletter to get the latest routines, healthy recipes, and more delivered directly to your inbox!

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Erin Miller

Erin is an NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist. She is also a Performance Nutrition Coach, certified through the Clean Health Fitness Institute. Some of Erin’s favorite hobbies include hiking, kayaking, and hanging out at the beach, although weight lifting is her greatest passion. She says, “Weight training is one of the most empowering things a person can do. Not just seeing, but feeling yourself transform… There’s just nothing else like it.”

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