I have been experimenting with various ways to warm up the entire body and have found one method that really seems to get the entire body hot and ready for my workout. Using your warm up to train your abdominals will ensure you put a lot of attention on the almighty core. A strong core is vital for reducing stress on joints and is extremely important for childbearing.
For the next 4 weeks, I challenge you to add onto three of your FBL workouts, this circuit of exercises and let us know how much your abs are popping after 4 short weeks.
Example: DAY 1, DAY 3 & DAY 5.
Here is the warm up:
Medicine Ball Double Crunch
15-20 reps
- Make sure to get the glutes and shoulders
off the floor, and squeeze the medicine ball.
best abs workout for women
Side-plank with Hip Dip
15-20 reps/side
- The higher you get those hips, the more
you are engaging those obliques. When you
dip, make sure your hips almost touch the floor.
Stability Ball Twists
10/side
- This one is tough! Start with straight legs and
slowly bring you knees to try to meet the elbow.
Think about doing a side crunch off the ball.
Repeat for a total of 3 sets
For more great abdominal exercises, see Abdominal Exercises For Women
These look great..I don’t have a stability ball..do you have an alternate exercise to do??Thanks for the inspiration..
For my clients who aren’t yet strong enough to use a ball, we use a towel on a smooth surface or paper plates on carpet. 🙂
Great tip!
Challenge accepted!! Can’t wait to start!
Nice, set of ab exercises, Flavia.Personally I don’t do any crunch movements, but many people like them. About the second exercise, try to do it sating on your palm instead of elbow, it has impact on your shoulder also and the dip is much deeper and challenging. As for the third exercise, this is one I need to master, lots of core balance is involved and I find it difficult. Thank you for posting these.
Lisa, Since I’m a dvd exercise junkie, there is a move in Insanity that you can use instead of the stability ball. It’s called ski abs. Get in the high plank position, keeping your legs together, jump your feet to the right side as high as you can, then jump them back to plank, then jump them to the left and back to plank. That is 1 rep. I can do about 4 then i need to rest in plank and then maybe i can eek out another 3-4. (Maybe that’s because its in the center of an exercise group and not a stand alone exercise.)
Great, thanks for the exercise, gonna give it a try.
Thanks Flavia I will start them next week and tell you how it goes! do you repeat twice for a total of 3 times like the other FBL circuits? I workout first thing in the morning. Usually I will run in place or do some jumping jacks then do some stretches then start into FBL, so do I need to continue to do that and ad the ab circuit or just do the ab circuit as my warm up? what do you recommend? Thanks again!
Yes, repeat them for a total of 3 sets each. I would use only this for a warm up and you could throw in your jacks where you have ads in the circuit.
ok, will do, thanks so much!
these are very challenging! I’d love if you could have alternate exercises for older and less fit clients!?
I have tried to do that exercise with a stability ball and the ball always jet’s out from under my feet. It’s just too difficult for me to do!
Great challenge Flavia! I’ll definitely incorporate these into my next workout!
I’ll post you my progress in a month 😉
Thanks Flavia for the exercises. I am on for the challenge. Can’t wait to see the results.
These look terrific! My middle is my biggest challenge; can’t wait to get started. For Kelly, on the stability ball ‘jetting’ away: try a stability ball that is weighted with sand (I have purchased one at both Target and Walmart.) It doesn’t roll away from you yet gives you all the challenge of a using non-weighted ball. You might also start out just rolling the ball back and forth straight to your abs and gradually work up to the twists.
I was looking for a great ab set…THANKS!!!
Wow – I have just done day 1 of the home workout yesterday and I’m gearing up for day 2 – I can’t wait! So hard but fun at the same time challenging myself. I’m going to add in these exercises today for my warm up and I’ll report back.
The only info I couldn’t find in the pack was how soon after eating you can workout – should I wait an hour or more or less?
Good question and the answer depends on the individual. Usually people feel better waiting an hour after eating and don’t wait more than 2 hours so you will still have energy.
Thank you very much Flavia, although I’m still doing your 3-day home version ( just that now I’m doing them 5 times a week) I will add up these warm ups you suggested and see what happens.
Thanks Flavia,
You mentioned in one of your fbl DVDs that you use core exercises for warm up, I’ve been wondering what they are so I’m thrilled that you have shared them with us. I’ll be adding them for sure.
Thank you!!
Sami x
What size med ball are you using. I have an 8 lb and I couldn’t keep it between the knees, it was just too heavy or maybe it kept slipping out . Could I use a DB and cheat by having it between feet instead of knees
You need to squeeze the medicine ball with your tights so essentially you are working your thighs too. If you find the dumbbell easier, start with that or even with a 5lb med ball.
Hello, I have been reading and using lots of your ideas from you site. I had downloaded a 5 part series video workout with you and another very large muscular man, it was a whole body workout out. My desktop crashed and I lost everything. I have been searching your site but have not seen it. Any chance you would be giving it out again. Loved it and would like to keep using it. Thanks and and keep up the great work.
Sure, just email [email protected] and state that you need the furry workouts that you already entered your email for and my assistant will give you the link.
Hello Flavia, I bought lots of exercises of the net but saw no results but to my nice surprise I started seeing results with your program right away. Am just into second week. I have real difficulty doing exercises with Stability ball. Am hoping it is function of time and core muscle strengthining because right now I can not do some exercise
i do these core exercises every two days i do pushups 5 sets of 20, then i do the russian twists 5 sets of 20, then the three ab workouts u mentioned above for 5 sets of 20 for each…is that good or bad..please let me know then i can make my newyear fitness goals..
Depends what you are trying to acheive, and you want to switch it up here and again.
Hey Flavia, Thank you for the free fitness gifts. I really like your amazing abs routine, I am going to start incorporating them into my workouts. I am better than I used to be, but I am still very unflexible. My hamstrings are tight as to where I can’t squat deep if my feet are close together. If you had any flexibility tips or wanted to do some stretching videos that would be great. Thanks!
You’re very welcome.
Flavia – Thanks for the free gifts!! I love the advanced ab circuits. I’m wondering if we can mix and match some of the circuits? And can you do a circuit routine everyday? For instance, I think there are 5 circuits about 20 min each. Would it be okay to do one a day for 5 days?
Thanks again for posting!! I LOVE your workouts and tell everyone I know about you!
Thanks Michelle, yes for sure you can mix and match. Abs recover quickly, so yes, you can do 5 days in a roww. Listen to your body and take a break if you need to.
Hi Flavia, loving the website so much information and tips! I’m just wondering how can I work on my love handles??? No matter what exercises I do, it doesn’t seem to get rid of them. Also what should I avoid in my diet and include more of to have a toned stomach?? V
All oblique work without weight. Weight will add size to your midsection which us women do not want to do. There are a lot of foods to avoid, but mainly: wheat, white flour, sugar. If you avoid these in all the forms they come in, you will succeed. Have a look through the blog for more information.
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