Crunchless Core Workout

Who likes to do crunches? They are boring, painful, and unmotivational. Crunches are not an essential move for a great core workout. In fact, you don’t have to do one more crunch for the rest of your life and still obtain a sexy stomach from the top of your ribs to below your belly button.

Tell Me More About this Ab Core Workout!

Okay, okay! Calm down, I’ll tell you! I’m sure you were raised with the fitness world telling you about crunches being the magical move and doing a gazillion of them in PE class. I was too, but I didn’t stay with them long after I was out of high school.

If you don’t mind doing crunches, fine. Read a different article. But if you hate the back aching, neck stretching, painful process of crunches, this article is for you!

Standing Core Workout
For this workout, you don’t even have to get on the floor. Sound good so far? There are five simple moves in this core workout that will target your core muscles and get your heart rate up for the best stomach flattening workout routine. For each move, you must keep up a quick pace without sacrificing your form, keep your stomach muscles tight, and breathe. By the end of the workout you should be breathing hard, and your abdominal muscles should be burning!

Double Handed Wood Chop
To perform this move, stand with your feet wide and your knees slightly bent. Clasp your hands together and bring them over one shoulder. Bring your hands down across your body as if you were chopping wood. Repeat to the other side.

Side Bends
To perform this move, get in the same stance as with the wood chop, only clasp your hands behind your head. Bend to the side at the waist and use your stomach muscles to pull your torso back up. Repeat on the other side.

Balancing lunge
To perform this move stand on one leg with your other leg behind you and your hands on your hips. Use your core muscles to stabilize yourself as you bring the leg behind you forward, bend the knee and bring it in towards your torso. Go back to start position and repeat. Finish all the repetitions on one side before you switch to the other.

Cross crunch
This isn’t a crunch, I promise! To perform this move, you will be standing and bringing one knee to the opposite elbow. Repeat on the other side.

Forward kicks
This is the last move of your crunchless core workout. To perform this move, simply kick your leg forward with the heel, not the toes. Make sure to keep your core strong and your back straight. Don’t hunch but don’t lean back, either. Repeat with the other foot.

If you do each move for two minutes you will have successfully completed a 10 minute calorie burning, core strengthening routine without doing one crunch!