Place hands directly under your shoulders (slightly wider than shoulder-width apart) and extend your legs behind you keeping toes on the floor (Video 1)
Squeeze your glute (butt) muscles to stabilize your body
Don’t let your hips drop to the ground or lift upwards, keep them in line with your body (one straight line from your shoulders to your feet)
Hold the position for the desired amount of time
Planks can also be done from the forearms by placing your elbows directly underneath your shoulder and palms face down on the floor (Video 2)
Breathing: breath throughout the duration of the exercise
Variations to add an extra challenge during your plank hold:
Plank mountain climbers (video 3)
Plank walks (video 4)
Plank pillow drags (video 5)
Leg Lifts
Form:
Lay on your back in a relaxed position with your legs straight and place your hands underneath your low back by your butt for support
Press your lower back into the floor and raise your legs towards your body as far as you can
While lowering legs, stop once you feel your back lifting off the floor, try to control the feet from touching the ground
Keep legs together and inner thighs engaged
Breathing: inhale while lowering legs, exhale while lifting legs
Bicycle Kicks
Form:
Lay on your back in a relaxed position with your legs straight and place your hands behind your head
Press your lower back into the floor and slowly bring your right leg towards the chest, bending at the knee
Once the right leg is at the chest, begin bringing the left leg towards the chest while lowering the right leg back to the starting position
Don’t let the legs touch the ground during this exercise
Breathing: breath throughout the duration of the exercise
Sit Backs
Form:
Sit on the floor with your knees bent and your arms folded across your chest
Keep your back straight as you slowly sit back to a lying position
Count down from five as you lower and once you hit zero, your back should be on the ground
Return to starting position by using your arms to assist you or by bending knees up, grabbing them, and rolling yourself forward (demonstrated in the video)
Make sure your feet stay in contact with the floor. You can put your feet under a couch or drawer to help keep them on the floor
Breathing: exhale while lowering, inhale while returning to a seated position
Side Bends
Form:
Stand in the middle of the resistance band, feet shoulder-width apart, holding each end of the band in one hand
Bend to one side as far as it feels comfortable and pause
Return to a standing position and complete the desired reps on one side and then repeat on the other side
Don’t lean forwards or backwards, stay as sideways as possible
Breathing: inhale when bending down, and exhale when standing back up
Standing Oblique Crunches
Form:
Stand upright with your feet on the floor shoulder-width apart and toes facing forward
Keep your hands behind the head with the fingers interlocked and the elbows spread out to the sides
Place your body weight on the right leg and lift your left leg out to the side keeping your knee bent
Bending to your left side, lower your elbow while you bring the left knee up so that they both meet
Return to a standing position
Complete the desired number of reps on one side before switching to the next
Breathing: exhale when bringing elbow to knee, inhale as you return to stand
Dead Bug Variations
Form:
Begin by lying down on your back, bringing arms above the torso and legs in the air with a 90ยบ bend in the knee
Keep your back flat on the ground throughout the exercise, while engaging the core
Slowly lower opposite arm and leg toward the floor and return to the starting position
Alternate this movement between sides and complete the desired amount of reps each side
Other variations include lowering the legs in isolation with bent or straight legs depending on the level of comfort with this exercise
Breathing: exhale while lowering arms and legs, inhale while returning to starting position
Flutter Kicks
Form:
Lay on your back in a relaxed position with your legs straight and place your hands underneath your low back by your butt for support
Press your lower back into the floor and raise your legs off the floor slightly and “flutter” your legs up and down quickly
Keep legs straight throughout
Complete the desired amount of reps on each leg
Breathing: breath throughout the duration of this exercise
Russian Twist Variations
Form:
Start in a seated position, keeping feet flat on the floor
Keeping the back straight, lean back slightly and hold hands together
Slowly twist the torso to the right side, bringing your hands down beside your right hip and then twist to the left side and repeat
Complete the desired amount of reps on each side
To make this more challenging, you can lift your feet off of the ground slightly while twisting from side to side (video 2)
Breathing: exhale while twisting to one side, inhale while resetting
