Here’s a great at home workout routine you can use to start getting lean powerful abs.
I still use these movements as part of my abdominal day and I will likely use them forever.
They are great for targeting all the muscles of the core you’ll need to build up that midsection strength that is critical for all kinds of physical activity.
In addition to these moves, you should also be aware of eating the right kinds of food so that you’re not packing on the pounds of fat around your belly that will counter all this great work you’re going to do.
Check out my article about How To Start Losing Belly Fat to get a start on balancing meals and exercise to conquer the belly fat blues.
For now, I want to focus on helping you build your core strength with the moves that have done wonders for me.
This combined with a healthy diet will help you towards that strong lean midsection that everybody wants so bad.
And it happens to be really good for you.
You can mix these exercises in with other parts of your workouts. And with a little bit of dedication completing these movements a couple times a week you’ll be on your way to becoming a lean mean fitness machine.
So let’s get started.
Arms Up Crunch
The great thing I learned about working out your abs a while ago is that all those “old school” ideas about doing a million sit ups really don’t do much for you.
You don’t have to knock yourself out doing full sit ups because your abdominal muscles really only benefit from a short range of motion.
Trust me, this is good news.
So instead of the sit up, along came the crunch. It’s great.
Lie down flat on your back with your knees bent up so that your feet are flat on the ground. Keep you legs together.
Point your arms straight up in the air so they are reaching straight up towards the ceiling or sky depending on where you are.
From this position you sit up, lifting your upper body off the ground just enough so your shoulder blades clear the floor, engaging your stomach muscles as you do it.
Inhale as you lower yourself back down to the ground and exhale each time you sit up.
You should really be feeling this movement in your core.
Remember, you only have to lift your upper body up enough to get your shoulder blades off the ground and you want to keep your arms straight up to the sky the whole time.
Consider each time you go up and down as a single repetition. Try and do 10-15 for starters. A great beginning to this at home workout routine.
Here’s a good demonstration of how to do the straight arm crunch from the folks over at Fitastic.
That’s all there is to it. This simple move will deliver great benefits. It will strengthen your core and help you out will all kinds of other movements.
When done correctly, there’s no undue strain on your neck or back, it will build your stomach muscles and help improve upper body stabilization.
If you’ve never worked on your abdominal muscles before you should really be feeling these.
In the event that you are one of those rare people who can do these forever and just don’t feel anything, try holding some kind of weight while you’re doing these.
That will make it a little more of an advanced movement and I’m sure you’ll be feeling it after that.
Related Article : Plank Workout For Beginners – The Challenge
Flutter Kick
When you first see this exercise being performed you might think, “That doesn’t look like much.”
I know when I first saw it, that’s what I thought. Then I tried it as part of my first at home workout routine and I learned how little I knew.
This is a great movement for your abs and easy to mix in with a variety of workouts. By including it in this routine just focusing on your midsection you will really feel the burn.
Start again by lying down on the floor, flat on your back. Keep your legs straight and together with your arms relaxed at your sides, palms down.
Now while keeping your legs straight and together, lift them up so that they are about 6 to 8 inches off the floor.
Very important to make sure your back is flat against the ground to avoid putting any unwanted strain on your lower back.
You should be feeling your core working already and if not, make sure to engage it now.
While holding your legs up off the floor, just start alternating left and right with a flutter kick with your feet in the air.
It doesn’t sound like much but you will feel this movement and it really focuses on your abdominal muscles.
If you’re looking for an added challenge with this exercise, gradually move your legs up and down while performing the flutter kick, never letting your feet touch the floor.
With this variation, you should feel the burn up and down your abs. Consider each time you kick both your left and right foot a single repetition. Try and complete 15-20 reps.
Here’s a great demonstration from Mindi Smith with the folks at Howcast.com for the flutter kick.
Great tips, especially the variation with the scissor form. This should also help from getting boring.
But I know you’ll never get bored exercising. (Oh yeah, sure.)
If you feel a little uncomfortable at first you can slide your hands under your butt for a little added support.
Just remember to keep your back flat against the floor the whole time.
Related Article : 5 Beginner Yoga Poses For Strength and Flexibility
Leg Lifts Meet The At Home Workout Routine
Sometimes you’ll hear me mention the granddaddy version of a particular exercise. Well leg lifts are definitely one of them when it comes to your abs.
This move really does a great job of targeting all the muscles of your midsection and there are ways of varying it so that it can always be a challenging part of your workout regimen.
For this version of the at home workout routine we’ll keep it to the most basic for beginners. Trust me, this is still crazy challenging for any level of fitness.
Start by lying flat on your back with your legs straight and together. Your arms should be flat by your sides palms down.
Again much like the flutter kick, during this exercise you want to keep your back flat on the ground. Don’t let it arch up.
Now while keeping your legs straight and together, lift them both about 6 inches off the ground.
From there, lift your legs together straight up until your feet are pointing up towards the sky and you’re forming sort of an “L”shape with your body.
Then lower your legs together back down until they are just about 6 inches off the ground.
That is one repetition.
At no time during the movement will your feet touch the ground until you’ve completed all the repetitions.
Remember to try and keep your legs straight and together throughout the entire movement.
It’s OK if your knees have a slight bend in them but you really want to brace your core and gradually control your legs coming down so they don’t get away from you.
This way you get the most from the movement coming down, just like when you’re lifting up. Try and do 10-12 repetitions.
Here is a great demonstration of the leg lift with Amy McCauley and the good folks at Livestrong.com.
Some really great tips there from Amy. The only thing I would stress is to really take your time coming down, keeping your core engaged so you’re not letting gravity do all the work.
Related Article : Best Exercises To Lose Weight
Put It All Together For A Great At Home Workout Routine
So let’s put these amazing exercises together for your at home workout routine for beginners and see what it looks like.
- 10-15 reps Arms Ups Crunch
- 15-20 reps Flutter Kick
- 10-12 reps Leg Lifts
My abs are hurting just looking at that list.
It may not look like much but I can assure you, this will burn up your stomach muscles. Give yourself about a minute or two break in between each exercise before going on to the next.
Try and do 3-4 rounds of all the exercises.
This should make for a great abs day routine. You can also incorporate it on a day when you’re doing another muscle group as well.
But let’s say you took a shot at this at home workout routine and decided it really wasn’t that difficult at all.
If that’s the case, maybe you’re not at much a beginner as you thought you were.
Or maybe you tried it and you just want a bit more of a challenge. In that case you can always…
Make It Metabolic!
Wait. What do you mean?
This at home workout routine can be turned into a great metabolic workout for beginners.
If you haven’t heard of a metabolic workout before and want to know what it is, here’s a general breakdown for you.
A metabolic workout tends to involve compound exercises. Compound exercises utilize multiple joints and multiple muscle groups at the same time.
So for example the flutter kick in this routine is a great compound exercise incorporating the muscles in your legs and glutes as well as your core. As you can imagine, it works multiple joints for these muscle groups to work together.
An advanced version of the leg lift can have you hanging from a pull up bar, and simply lifting your legs straight up from that position, utilizing your upper body as well.
Another good example of how a core exercise can be a compound movement.
A good metabolic workout will have you boost your metabolism with a good calorie burn. Your metabolism is generally measured by how many calories you burn while at rest.
The faster your metabolism the more calories you burn. The more calories you burn the better your chances of burning fat and losing some weight.
Metabolic training tends to incorporate large muscle groups in the body. Though it can be done with smaller muscle groups as well. It utilizes high intensity and you’ll definitely feel the burn in the muscles you are working.
The high intensity also means you’re able to workout for a shorter period of time to achieve the same results.
The benefits of a solid metabolic workout routine for beginners include improved cardiovascular performance and strength training. There also tends to be a boost in fat loss as a result of increased calorie burns.
Some studies indicated that following a good metabolic workout routine, a percentage of the increased levels of calorie burns continue while at rest. This has been referred to as the “afterburn effect”.
Also known as the excess post exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC. It’s really just a fancy way of describing the increased number of calories burned after exercise.
Related Article : High Intensity Interval Training Made Easy At Home
So now you’re wondering…
How Do We Make This At Home Workout Routine Metabolic?
No problem.
If you’re looking to turn this into a metabolic workout routine for beginners the best place to start is with your rest period in between exercises.
This is one way to boost the intensity. So instead of resting for a couple of minutes between each movement, cut your rest down to 30 seconds.
If that still doesn’t do it for you, take the rest out completely from in between exercises and go straight through from one movement to the next.
Save the rest for after completing all three exercises.
If you STILL don’t feel the burn at this point, try including 30 seconds of jumping rope in between each exercise.
This is definitely an advanced variation of this routine and if you’re a true beginner I’m sure just cutting back on the rest in between each exercise should do the trick.
By saving your rest period until completing the full round of exercises, you will considerably boost the intensity of this routine.
By boosting the intensity in this fashion you’ll reap the benefits of these movements in less time and effectively turned it into a great metabolic workout.
The Wrap Up
So there you have it!
A great at home workout routine for beginners to build strong and lean abdominal muscles.
If you’re able to jump right to the metabolic workout, I’d imagine you’re not quite a beginner and may be ready soon to take this workout to the next level by adding weight, incorporating a pull up bar or adding additional sets.
If you are a beginner, this routine should get you on track to building your strength and toning your midsection. Try and do it at least two to three times a week. Remember, you can work your abs on days you’re working other body parts.
Eventually this beginner routine will start to get easier for you and you won’t be such a beginner anymore. You’ll be on your way to the next level. Way to go!
