Beginner Ab Workouts You Can Do At Home

So, I call this a beginner ab workout, but honestly I was struggling midway through. Abs are something I struggle with EVERY SINGLE TIME I work them out. Even the thought of working out abs makes me slightly cringe. It always has. I am just keeping it real with you girls; you know I am always good for that. So lets jump right in! The only thing I recommend for this is some sort of workout mat. If you do not have that, you can use a large towel or a rug so that your feet don’t slip for the last exercise (plank).

The exercises

Full sit up or roll up – These are good to start with and stretch out. Looking at my form, I need to work on keeping my back straight. Posture is something I struggle with. These are probably the toughest exercise that I showed you all. So if you have a hard time doing 25 of these, start with 10 or 15. Don’t get discouraged. As you can see in the video, I was having a tough time completing the last one. You can always put your knees up and do a regular sit up as well to make it a little easier too.

Flutter kicks – These are equally as good for your legs and thigh muscles as they are for your core/ab muscles. By the end of doing a few rounds of these, your legs will be shaking. Try hard to keep your legs straight and your core nice and tight.

Scissors – This exercise is also good for the quads and will help tighten up those thigh muscles. Once again, try and keep that core nice and tight. I always try and imagine I am pushing my belly button in towards my spine. If your lower back is hurting during any of these, stop and take a break. When doing ab exercises, the lower back can get injured easily. This is where having a personal trainer to modify is so nice. You can always look up modifications on YouTube if you have lower back pain.

Wipers (Windshield Wipers) – Okay, I am sooo not an expert or even at an intermediate level of doing this exercise. These are difficult. It is very important to keep your arms flat out like I show you in the video. Also, only go as far as you can when you extend your legs. This gets a nice workout in the obliques. If this is too hard, you can bend your knees at a 90 degree angle and still do the wiper motion with your knees bent. It takes. little time to get used to the feeling of this one.

Plank – I have a love/hate relationship with planks. I love when I am making progress and seeing results with planking. And mid plank, I have extreme hatred with planks. When my legs are shaking and I feel like I can not hold myself up for 10 more seconds, thats when I feel like I can’t stand them. Start slow with planks and gradually increase your time. Start with 20-30 seconds and add 10-15 seconds each week. It is not a race with planks. These help build strength in your core. One of the most important things when doing a plank is keeping your butt down low to the ground. When you lower your booty, you are going to feel it in the lower back. If you have bad pain in your back, stop. It is normal to feel a stretch in your back, because you are working your core. But you should not feel “bad” pain.

the equipment

This workout mat is awesome and I got it on Amazon – It is a yoga mat and it is 1 inch thick. Here is the link.  It is really nice to use for outside workouts or put down on the living room floor. My elbows are super sensitive on carpet or hardwood floor when I am planking, so this comes in handy.

If the above full yoga mat is not in your budget, but you still want to protect your elbows on the ground/carpet for planking, I also have this knee yoga mat but it can also be used as an elbow mat (which is what I use it for) when I plank if I do not want to get out the large yoga mat. Here is the link for this one. It is great to relieve pressure on knees, elbows, and I have even used it on my lower back when doing ab exercises.

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Thank you so much for joining me for my first ab workout!! I can’t wait to see you back for more fun exercises. Even though I DREAD doing abs, I think it will be easier since we can do them together!!

Love and hugs, Maddie ♥