Fit and Well Logo

Our Policies About Us Contact Us

Home > Fitness > 10 Minute Abs Workout

A 10-minute Abs Workout

Tone up your Abs

By | Updated .

checked symbolFact Checked

Fact Checked

×

All the content published in our website is fact checked to validate its accuracy.
Visit our guidelines web page to learn more about our strict processes regarding how we review our content's sources: reliable and reputable journals, media websites, universities, colleges, organizations, and professionals.
Our articles are based on scientific evidence, and the references are included in its footnotes, which are clickable links to sound scientific papers.

First published: 11.Oct.2018

Exercises to get your abs into shape

This is a simple routine that only requires ten minutes to complete. It will help you tone and tighten your abdominal muscles.

It also works your oblique muscles, lower back, and core muscles.

In this Article (Index)

Getting fit, toning up your belly.

man displaying his 6-pack abs
Six-pack abs

Easy Abdominal workout Program

This is a very short abdominal workout (10-minutes only). Add a 5-minute warm-up routine before starting to avoid injuries, and to get your muscles warm and oxygenated, and a 5-minute stretch after your workout, to cool down and unwind.

Total time needed: 20 minutes

Warm-up before you start!

Warming up helps to prevent injury by putting your muscles and joints into action gradually. It activates your cardiovascular system, increasing blood flow to your muscles.

The activity will also raise your body temperature. It will help to reduce muscle soreness after your exercise routine.

Warming up before your workout

> > See our Warm-up Routine.

Read this before you start

Before participating in any diet or exercise program described on Fit-and-Well.com, we strongly recommend that you consult with a physician or other healthcare provider.

If you know or suspect that you may be pregnant, have an eating disorder, have diabetes, or have any other physical, psychological, emotional, or medical condition, seek the immediate advice of your doctor or before using our Fitness or Wellness Content.

Please read our Medical Disclaimer for more information.

The Ab Exercise

We divided the workout into five separate exercises:

  1. Stomach Crunch
  2. Oblique crunch or Side Crunch
  3. Plank
  4. Side Plank
  5. Stomach Crunch with raised legs

1. Stomach crunch

a drawing showing a man performing stomach crunch

Stomach Crunch

Start with the "stomach crunch", it targets your abdominal muscles exclusively.

Crunches will have a gradual effect, building up your abdominal muscles over time.

As shown in the image, lie on the floor (use a mat to prevent back pain). Bend your knees and place both feet hip-width apart, flat on the floor.

Rest your hands on your thighs (alternatively, you can place them behind your ears or across your chest).

Slowly raise the upper part of your body, head, and chest towards your knees, feel your abs as they tense.

Exhale as you rise.

Curl upwards until your shoulders are roughly 3 inches (7.5 cm) off the mat.

Hold it there for a couple of seconds and then slowly lower down back to the lying position.

Inhale as you lower.

Repeat 12 times.

Tips for safe and effective stomach crunches

  • Don't go overboard in your first stages: crunches may cause back pain for beginners.
  • If you place your hands behind your ears, don't pull on your neck.
  • Raise your head in a gradual smooth movement (don't yank it off the mat).
  • Maintain the same angle between head-neck and back. Don't tuck your chin into your chest.
  • The strength has to come from your abs, not from your upper body

2. Oblique or Side crunch

3 drawings showing a man performing side crunch abs training

Side Crunch

This exercise targets your oblique muscles, which are on either side of your abdomen, between your hips and your pectoral muscles, and roughly half the way inwards towards your midline.

Again, lie on the mat, bend your knees with your feet hip-width apart resting flat on the floor.

As in the stomach crunch, you can place your hands behind your ears or lying across your chest.

Now roll your knees sideways to one side, down, to the floor.

In this position curl upwards slowly -as in the stomach crunch- until your shoulders are 3 in. of the mat (7.5 cm).

Hold this position for a few seconds and, slowly lower your upper torso until it rests on the mat.

Repeat 12 times

Now shift your knees to the other side and do another 12 reps.

Tips

As with the stomach crunches, you must rise smoothly (no yanking) and keep your neck and head in their original angle (don't push your head forward towards your chest as you rise).

3. Plank

a drawing showing a man performing the plank

Plank

This exercise focuses on your lower back muscles and your core muscles.

Lie face down on the mat. Rest your forearms beside your head, face down and your toes touching the mat.

Push upwards until you are propped up on both forearms and toes only.

Your face should be facing down, looking towards the mat.

Your upper arm should form a 90° angle with your forearms, shoulders directly above your elbows.

Your legs should be straight (keep your hips up), and your back and neck too.

A straight and rigid (plank-like) position from head to toe.

Focus on keeping your abs contracted.

Hold for 5 to 10 seconds and repeat.

Repeat 10 times

woman doing plank posture during training
Plank

Plank tips

Beginners can start with an easier version of this exercise: keep your knees (not your toes) on the floor.

Don't lift your head to look forward, look down at the floor.

Focus on keeping your hips in line with back and legs, don't let them drop.

4. Side Plank

a drawing showing a man performing the side plank

Side Plank exercise

The side plank targets your lower back muscles and your core muscles (like the plank).

Lie on one side, propped up on your elbow, your lower arm at a right angle with your body, shoulder directly above your elbow.

The upper arm should rest straight along your upper side (see image), or you can raise it into the air (picture below).

Keep your legs straight and lift your hips off the mat to form a straight (plank-like) rigid posture from head to toe.

Don't bend your head downwards, keep it in line with your position, look outwards.

Contract your abdominal muscles as you hold the position for 10 seconds.

Repeat 10 times

Switch sides and do it again, 10 times

man doing side plank posture during training
Side Plank

Side Plank tips

Keep your shoulders down and away from your ears.

Beginners can do a less strenuous version by keeping their knees on the mat and forming the "plank" with their torso, hips, and upper legs.

Keep your hips forward throughout the routine.

5. Stomach Crunch with raised legs

a drawing showing a man performing the Stomach Crunch with raised legs

Stomach Crunch with raised legs

This exercise focuses on your lower abdominal muscles.

Lie on your back, on the mat with feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart and knees bent.

Place your hands across your chest. And keep your head and back resting firmly on the mat.

Slowly raise your knees and pull them inwards, towards your chest, keep them bent 90° until your buttocks and your coccyx (tailbone) are off the floor.

Hold this position for a few seconds and then lower your legs (keep them at the same angle) until feet touch the floor again.

Repeat 12 times

Tips

As with the regular crunches, don't yank up your neck, keep back resting on the mat.

Harder version

This one requires you to raise your legs as before, but don't drop them. Instead perform 12 reps by slowly raising your upper back off the floor 3 inches (7.5 cm), and then holding it in this position for a few seconds before slowly returning to a lying position -legs upright.

Basically, it is a stomach crunch but with your legs in the air instead of bent, with feet resting on the floor.

man doing stomach crunch with raised legs
Harder version of the raised legs stomach crunch

Finish your routine with a 5-minute stretch session

After you've completed your workout, unwind and stretch.

Effect of abs exercise on abdominal fat

A study by Vispute et al., (2011) (1) investigated the effect of abdominal exercises on abdominal fat. The scientists took a group of 24 healthy sedentary men and women (ages 18 to 40 years) and assigned them at random into two groups.

One group performed abdominal exercise (Abdominal exercise group or AG), the other didn't (control group or CG).

The AG worked out for 6 weeks 5-days a week using a routine of 7 different abs exercises -in 2 sets of 10 reps each.

They all maintained their same intake of calories.

The study found that "There was no significant effect of abdominal exercises on body weight, body fat percentage, android fat percentage, android fat, abdominal circumference."

Six weeks of abdominal exercise training alone was not sufficient to reduce abdominal subcutaneous fat and other measures of body composition Vispute et al., 2011

The positive note is that the abdominal workouts improved their muscular endurance much more than that of the non-exercising control group.

Take-home point:

Abs workouts will not reduce waist circumference or subcutaneous belly fat.

But don't despair, there is plenty you can do at home to flatten your belly and eliminate abdominal fat. You will also see some results after a few of weeks.

HIIT and aerobic exercise are effective against abdominal fat

A statistical analysis(2) of 32 studies involving 1900 participants showed that high-intensity interval training or HIIT, and aerobic exercise "of at least moderate intensity" helped reduce visceral abdominal fat or VAT. It also showed that resistance exercise alone or combined with aerobic exercise, and sprint interval training "had no significant effects." It also vounc that belly vat reduction wasn't affected by exercising more or less than 150 minutes per week. The authors suggest an effective exercise program as follows:

The effective dosage of exercise for reducing VAT was three times per week for 12 to 16 weeks, while duration per session for aerobic exercise was 30-60 min, and either less than 30 min or 30-60 min of high-intensity interval training accomplished sufficient energy expenditure to impact VAT. Chang, Yang and Shun (2022)(2)

Tips for a Flatter Belly

Read about how to get a flat tummy with exercise and lifestyle changes:

> > Tips for a Flatter Belly

Closing Comments

This workout will help you firm up your abdominal muscles and it will strenghten your abdominal core. It will not eliminate belly fat; for that you will need to follow an aerobic or high-intensity interval training program.

References and Further Reading

(1) Vispute SS, Smith JD, LeCheminant JD, Hurley KS., (2011). The effect of abdominal exercise on abdominal fat, J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Sep;25(9):2559-64. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181fb4a46

(2) Chang YH, Yang HY, Shun SC., (2022). Effect of exercise intervention dosage on reducing visceral adipose tissue: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Int J Obes (Lond). 2021 May;45(5):982-997. doi: 10.1038/s41366-021-00767-9. Epub 2021 Feb 8. Erratum in: Int J Obes (Lond). 2022 Apr;46(4):890. doi: 10.1038/s41366-022-01078-3. PMID: 33558643

National Health Service, UK. 10-minute abs workout, reviewed 16 January 2018.

About this Article

A 10-minute abs workout, A. Whittall

©2018 Fit-and-Well.com. First Published: 11.Oct.2018. Updated Nov. 06, 2024, next update scheduled for 11.Nov.2027. https://www.fit-and-well.com/fitness/ten-minute-abs-workout.html

Tags: abdominals workout, fitness, exercise, belly fat.

More Articles: Read on

woman smiling in plank position exercising happily

Exercise is effective against Depression

Exercise is an effective therapy to treat depression, dancing, aerobics, walking or training combat the negative effects of depression.

More...

woman walking in the snow, warm and happy

Keeping Warm & Well this Winter

Tips and advice to get yourself and your home ready for the winter season. Stay safe, warm and healthy during the cold period

More...

a cycle of microplastics in nature

What are Microplastics?

Found everywhere in nature, and also in your body, organs and brain, these tiny particles of plastic are raising health concerns. They cause inflammation, hormone disruption, alter your microbiome and may cause cancer.

More...

Health Advice and Advertisements Disclaimer

The material appearing on Fit-and-Well.com is for educational use only. It should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

We do not endorse products or services that are advertised on the web site. Advertisers and advertisements that appear on this website are served by a third party advertising company.

Share

Our Social Media

visit our Facebook click to send us an e-mail visit our blog follow us on Instagram

Policies

Terms & Conditions

Privacy Policy

Affiliate Disclosure

Advertisement Policy

Don't Sell my Personal Information

Cookie Policy

Publishing Ethics

Editorial Guidelines

Medical Disclaimer

About

About Us

Contact Us

Accessibility

Site Map

Patagonia Wellness
Liniers 440, B1602 Florida, Buenos Aires, Argentina

E-mail: info@fit-and-well.com

Copyright © 2018 - 2024 Patagonia Wellness. All rights reserved.

Fit and Well: Health, Fitness, Diet & Food information website
Our website is a reliable source of up-to-date, scientifically proven information on health, fitness, wellbeing, diet, food, and nutrition.
Our mission: Educate and inspire with reflective evidence-based reasoning. Information and News that you can trust.

Last updated V.1