Looking to spice up your cardio workout? This HIIT abs routine will do just the trick. High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, is a quick—but intense—way to amp up your regular workouts and squeeze in some dedicated core work.
Setting aside some time for core exercises is important, since core strength is vital to your daily life. Your body creates tension through your core, which allows you to perform everyday tasks like getting out of the bed in the morning or carrying heavy grocery bags.
“The core is the cornerstone of a strong and functional body,” ACE-certified personal trainer Sivan Fagan, CPT, owner of Strong With Sivan, tells SELF. “Your ability to contract your core muscles creates stability within the spine, which is needed to prevent injuries and lower back pain.” Your core also plays a role in compound lifts during your workout—you need a strong core to deadlift heavy weight from the ground or push dumbbells over your head.
Remember, though, your core doesn’t include only your rectus abdominis, or the muscles you may think of as your abs—those which run vertically along the front of your abdomen. Rather, your core wraps around your entire midsection. Your core also includes your diaphragm, obliques (muscles along the side of your abdomen), transverse abdominis (your deepest core muscles), erector spinae, and more. There are a bunch of internal and external core muscles, and dedicated core routines help you work all those muscles together.
You can work these core muscles through anti-movement (say when you are holding a position that resists bending, like a plank) and more dynamic movements (like a flutter kick, which involves a wide range of motion). Training your core to resist movement is a great way to improve stability, while bringing in movement helps you crank up your heart rate, making these kinds of exercises work well with HIIT programming. That way, you can get in your core work and a dose of cardio, too.
This HIIT abs workout that Fagan created for SELF below checks both boxes: It targets the muscles of your core while giving you a cardio boost as well, thanks to its dynamic nature and shorter rest periods.
“Because of the work-to-rest ratio, it makes it a lot more intense and effective,” says Fagan.
A quick note before you get started: Make sure you’re breathing during this routine, Fagan adds.
“When working your core, it’s important not to hold your breath, but to focus on inhaling through the nose, and exhaling through the mouth,” says Fagan. When you exhale, you’re using your transverse abdominis. And this extra abdominal pressure from exhalations stabilizes your body so you’re able to move the joints you intend to move.
There are just four exercises in this quick, 8-minute abs workout that Fagan created, but they are challenging. If you’re a beginner, you may want to try the modifications written below each exercise.
Ready to give this HIIT abs routine a try? Your core—yep, the entirety of it—will thank you.
The Workout
What you need: Just your bodyweight. You may also want to use an exercise mat for comfort.
Exercises
- Flutter kick
- Single-leg inchworm
- Thread the needle
- Alternating jackknife
Directions
- Perform each exercise for 40 seconds, resting for 20 seconds after going on to the next move. Repeat for 2 rounds total—giving you an 8-minute workout.
Demoing the moves below are Heather Boddy (GIF 1), a group fitness instructor and creator of the Geeknasium workout program; Lanoa Curry (GIF 2), a group fitness instructor in NYC who teaches classes at Mile High Run Club and Crunch Gym; Shauna Harrison (GIF 3), a Bay Area–based trainer, yogi, public health academic, advocate, and columnist for SELF; and Amanda Wheeler (GIF 4), host of the Covering Ground podcast.
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Katie Thompson1 Flutter Kick
- Start lying face up and place your hands right along the sides of your butt to give your lower back some support.
- Engage your abs and lift both legs about 6 inches off the floor.
- Kick your feet (like you’re swimming freestyle). Make sure to keep your core tight and lower back on the floor as you move your legs.
- Continue for 40 seconds.
This move uses dynamic motion—your feet are always kicking—which works your lower rectus abdominal muscles and hip flexors. You can make the flutter kick easier by bending your legs and raising them higher off the floor.
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Katie Thompson2 Single-Leg Inchworm
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and arms at your sides. Keep your left leg planted and raise your right foot off the ground.
- Bend at your waist and place your hands on the floor.
- Walk your hands forward to come into a high plank with your hands flat, wrists stacked under your shoulders, and your core, quads, and butt engaged. Pause for a second.
- Walk your hands back to your foot and stand to return to start. That’s 1 rep.
- Continue for 40 seconds. For your second round, complete the move on your other side.
If the single-leg inchworm is too difficult, you can put both feet on the floor to make the move easier, since it takes out a lot of the balance component. This move challenges your core through both anti-movement and dynamic work. The process of walking your hands forward and back on the floor is what makes this exercise dynamic, and when you hold the plank part of the move, it counts as anti-movement.
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Kelsey McClellan3 Thread the Needle
- Start in a forearm side plank with your right shoulder over right elbow, left hand extended to the ceiling, and your left foot stacked on top of your right.
- Engage your abs, and reach your left hand down toward your right obliques. Follow your arm movement with your eyes and head. Try to keep your hips from lowering or twisting.
- Lift your left hand back up to the ceiling for one rep.
- Continue for 40 seconds. For your second round, complete the move on your other side.
To make this move easier, you can drop to your knees and scrap the reach-through.
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Katie Thompson 4 Alternating Jackknife
- Lie faceup with your legs extended and arms by your sides. Contract your abs to press your low back into the ground. This is starting position.
- Squeeze your thighs together, squeeze your glutes, and simultaneously lift your right leg and upper back off the ground, reaching your left hand forward to meet your right foot. Your torso and your right leg should form a V.
- Keep your core engaged as you slowly lower to return to starting position; repeat on the other side. Continue alternating for 40 seconds.
To make the single-leg jackknife less intense, you can keep both feet on the ground, reaching your opposite hand towards your opposite foot.
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