Abs & Obliques Slider Tabata Workout (+ A Clothing Discount!)

Tabata workouts are quickly becoming a favorite of mine, and sliders are also becoming a favorite piece of exercise equipment, particularly for targeting the abdominals.  All of these moves will require you to really focus on your abs to do the majority of the work.  It's a Tabata style workout, too, so I want you to try to give it your all during every round of 20 seconds.  "Giving it your all" here doesn't mean going fast, either.  I mean really focus on your breath and engage your abs with each move.  So, with the exception of the mountain climbers, the slower you go, the better.  Ready to get started?

Abs & Obliques Slider Tabata Workout

What You'll Need: a set of sliders or furniture moving pads.  If you don't have either of those,  a sturdy plastic plate or paper plate will work.  (Don't use ceramic or glass plates here!  They could break right in your hand and cause some serious injuries.)
What You'll Do: you're doing every move for 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest.  Each 8-round Tabata = 4 minutes, so you should be done in about 25-30 minutes with breaks.

Mountain Climbers - start in a plank position with the sliders underneath your feet.  From here, quickly alternate sliding your feet up bringing your knees to your chest.  Maintain proper spinal alignment here, and focus on engaging your abs as you bring your knees in.

Heel Slide Crunches - start in a reverse plank position with the sliders under your heels, hips raised as much as possible and legs straight.  Keeping your legs as straight as you can, slowly draw your hips back past your hands, focusing on using your lower abdominals to do the work.  Reverse the movement, pushing your legs back out to the plank position.

Alternating Knee-to-Elbow Push Ups - start in a push up position with the sliders under your toes.  Go down into a push up and slide your left leg out to the side, bringing your knee to meet your elbow.  Push back up, sliding that leg back to starting position.  Do another push up, and slide the other leg out to the side.  Keep alternating which leg slides with each push up.

Side Plank Tucks - start in a low side plank position with your feet stacked on one slider, hips raised to keep the spine aligned, elbow in line with your shoulder.  From here, draw your knees into your chest keeping your hips raised the entire time.  Extend them back out.  Keep going on one side for the full 20 seconds, and switch sides with each round.  Trainer Tip: to make this move slightly easier, use two sliders and place the top foot in front, bottom foot behind.

Sliding Pike Ups - start in a plank position with the sliders under your toes.  From here, keeping your legs as straight as you can and arms planted, slide up into a pike position, drawing your feet towards your hands.  Focus on using your abdominals to do the work.

Kneeling Plank Slides w/ Push Up - start in a kneeling plank with the sliders under your hands.  From here, slide your hands out straight in front of you until you're hovering just over the floor (but not touching!).  Hold that position for a few seconds, engaging your abs and shoulders to keep your body elevated.  Once held, lower your body all the way to the floor, then slide your hands out wide and around so they're under your shoulders ready to push back up to plank.  Push back up to plank position and repeat.

There you have it!  I hope you enjoyed the workout today!  Now onto the fun part....

Blog readers get 10% off at Evolve Fit Wear with code INFITINHEALTH10!

First off, how awesomely blue (and printed!) are these Cory Vines leggings?  I received this pair (and this buttery soft Joah Brown tank) from my friends at Evolve Fit Wear recently.  The leggings are super comfortable and perfectly stretchy.  They were a tad long on me though, so I had to roll up the ankles.   I'm loving printed leggings lately, and these ones foot the bill if I'm in the mood for something funky, but not too "out there."  And the tank is just a perfect muscle tank that's so soft, I wish I could wear it when I wasn't working out!  (But, low arms holes + normal bra = no go on that..)

And in case you haven't heard of them, Evolve Fit Wear is an online retailer of some of the top brands in athleisure and activewear.  Some of the activewear lines on the site are a bit higher end, but others are definitely more reasonably priced (these Cory Vines leggings go for $48, and the tank, $34).  Regardless, I'm super excited to be able to give you all a 10% discount with code INFITINHEALTH10!  Go score yourself some bright printed leggings for spring! 

Readers: chat with me!  Have you ever used sliders for a workout before?  What are some of your favorite moves to do with them?  If you don't have actual sliders, would you use furniture slider pads for your workout at home?  What are some of your favorite athletic wear trends for spring and summer this year?

Disclaimer: I was not compensated to write this post, however this post contains affiliate links which means if you decide to make a purchase, I receive a teensy bit of compensation.  Thank you for supporting the brands who support the blog!

Stability Ball Abs & Obliques Circuit Workout

Stability balls are a great piece of equipment to have in your fitness arsenal.  You can use them for so many different exercises, but my favorites target the abs.  Today's workout is circuit style, meaning you'll go through the 5 different exercises in a circuit, 3 times.  This workout not only targets the transverse & rectus abdominals (deep ab muscles and those "6-pack" abs respectively), but also your internal and external obliques.  That's a full ab workout right there!  So grab your stability ball and get moving today, or save this one to that ab workout Pinterest board for later. 

Stability Ball Abs & Obliques Circuit Workout

What You'll Need: a stability ball, an exercise mat, and some floor space
What You'll Do: go through the workout doing 10 reps of each exercise, trying not to take breaks between moves.  Repeat 3 times through for the full workout.

10 Forearm Circles (each direction) - start in a plank with your forearms balanced on the stability ball, abs engaged to keep your spine neutral (i.e. no sagging back) and chest off the ball.  Maintaining a plank position, slowly circle your forearms in one direction for 10 circles.  Without stopping, immediately switch directions for 10 more circles.  Trainer Tip:  to make this easier, you can do these from your knees.  Just remember to keep your spine in a straight line and lean on the ball instead of keeping it directly underneath you. 

10 Plank Leg Lifts (each leg) - hold a plank on the stability ball, either a full plank on your feet (harder), or from your knees (easier).  From here, while maintaining the plank position, lift one leg up as high as you can, then bring it down and tap your toe to the floor.  Do 10 lifts on one leg, then immediately switch to the other leg without stopping. 

10 Pike Ups - start in a plank with the tops of your feet elevated on the stability ball, core engaged, spine aligned, and shoulders over your wrists.  From here, keeping your legs straight, engage your abs and pike up.  Do 10 reps.  Trainer Tip: to make this move easier, bring your knees into your chest in a tuck position instead of a pike.  Easier still, drop down to a regular plank on the ground and alternate bringing each knee to the opposite side of your chest. 

10 Slow Sit Ups (4-count up & down) - start lying face up with your legs straight, heels on the ball, and arms extended straight above you.  Keeping your legs as straight as you can, do a full sit up slowly rolling up for a count of 4, touch your toes (or shins) and roll back down for a count of 4.  Continue the slow sit ups for 10 reps, going slowly, and focusing on using your abs to lift you (not momentum from your arms).  Trainer Tip: if the ball is too much, get rid of it and drop your feet to the floor.  Remember to go slowly on the way back down, too.

10 Opposite/Opposite Shin Holds - lie down on your back, left leg extended straight up in the air and right hovering over the floor, like an L.  Hold the stability ball between your left leg and right arm (left arm out to the side).  Squeeze the ball between your right hand and left shin to hold it firmly in place, which will engage your abs.  Hold that position, squeezing the entire time, for 10 seconds.  Then immediately switch to the other side by bringing your left arm and right leg up to the ball, hold, and extending the other arm/leg out to the side.  Squeeze and hold for another 10 seconds.  Keep alternating sides for 10 reps (5 each side) of 10-second holds.

Repeat the moves 2 more times for the full workout.

Readers: chat with me!  Do you use stability balls in your regular fitness routine?  What are your favorite ways to use them?  Favorite exercises for your abs?  How was your weekend? 

10-Minute Ab Burner Workout (no equipment needed)

Today's ab workout takes a quick 10 minutes, but you'll definitely be feeling it before then!  This one mainly targets the obliques, and you'll also get some sneaky shoulder work in with the plank variations.  There are 5 different exercises, alternating between a plank move and a move on the ground.  Each exercise is done for 1 minute (or in some cases, 30 seconds on each side), and you'll repeat the full thing twice.  Ready to work those abs?!

10-Minute Ab Burner Workout

What You'll Need: just a mat and some floor space
What You'll Do: go through each exercise, timing for 1 minute each (or 30 seconds in some cases).  Repeat the full workout 2 times for a total of 10 minutes.

Alternating Knee to Elbow Planks - start in a high plank position, spine aligned.  Bring your left knee out wide and up to reach your left elbow.  Place that leg back on the ground and bring your right knee out and up to meet your right elbow.  Keep alternating legs for the full minute, maintaining a flat back and tight abs.

Side-Lying Oblique Crunches - lie on one side, keeping your bottom arm extended out on the floor and top arm bent with your hand behind your head.  From there, crunch up to the side so your elbow meets your knees.  Continue the crunches for 30 seconds on one side, then switch to the other.  Trainer Tip: if you want to make it easier, crunch up using only your top leg, and keep the bottom leg extended out straight.  Harder = keep both legs straight and "V" up.

Hip Twist Planks - start in a high plank position and rotate your hips to one side, keeping your upper body still and hips high.  Immediately twist your hips to the other side.  Keep alternating twists for 1 minute.  Trainer Tip: remember to keep your hips at relatively the same height (i.e. you're not dipping your hips to the floor, but rather twisting them slightly side to side.

Raised-Leg Russian Twists - sit on the floor with your feet raised, upper body leaned back slightly to engage the abs.  Alternate twisting quickly from side to side for 1 minute, watching your hands as you twist (allows for more torso rotation and therefore more oblique engagement).

Cross-Body Mountain Climbers - one of my favorites!  This one is a little more cardio-heavy but still workouts your obliques just the same.  Start in a high plank and quickly alternate bringing your knee to the opposite side of your chest.  In the pictures it looks like I'm just stepping up, but try to make this more of a cardio move by "running".  Keep going for 1 minute.

Repeat 2 times through for the full 10-minute workout.

Outfit Details: sports bra & leggings c/o MPG Sport; tank - Alo Yoga

I got to partner with Mondetta Performance Gear (MPG Sport) for this workout and review a few pieces of clothing.  I'm wearing their cardio cropped tights and tangent sports bra in geo print.  The tights are really high quality and SUPER comfortable.  They're knit compression tights and are completely seamless around the legs, which makes for a snug fit in the best way possible.  The sports bra is a fun black and white geo print pattern, which I'm loving because it easily pairs with colored tanks or black/white for a monochrome look.  It's made for medium support, which it definitely gives (I've tried jumping around in it and it holds up) and it has a keyhole back for more breathability.  Loving these pieces, and best of all, MPG's price point is super affordable.

To shop these pieces and all the other MPG Sport collections (they have these new cut-to-length leggings which look awesome!!), you can check them out on their website here, and on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Readers: chat with me!  What are some of your favorite bodyweight ab exercises?  Do you like planks?  Do you have a favorite plank variation?  How was your weekend?

Disclosure: I was gifted the leggings and sports bra from MPG Sport for review.  This workout and all opinions (as always!) are my own.