Happy Thursday to you all! Eeek, it's Thursday and this is my first post for the week. Sorry to leave you guys hanging! How was your weekend? How about the workweek? Going okay for you? We're almost through, so hang in there!

On to the fitness for today - how have your workouts been going lately? Abdominal workouts are suuuuuper popular right now (or, well, super popular always), so here's another one for ya! This one uses just a medicine ball and some floor space. You'll alternate between a strength move and bout of cardio, each using the medicine ball in some capacity. Ready to work those abs and sweat? Keep reading for details! (Also remember these workouts are pinnable, so pin 'em to that fitness Pinterest board now and save 'em for when you're hitting the gym or need a good routine to do at home!)

Medicine Ball Cardio Interval Abs & Core Workout

All you need is a 5-7 lb medicine ball (one that's hard on the surface, not the soft slam balls) and some floor space. I suggest going through these exercises twice, but feel free to do more or less depending on your time and desired intensity. Let's get started!

20 Straddle Sit Ups - lie on the floor, legs out in a straddle, arms stretched up by your ears holding the med ball. Keeping your arms raised above you, do a sit up. As you come up, reach up tall to the ceiling first, and then lean over to one side touching the ball to your toes. Slowly lower yourself back down, sit up again, and lean to the other side. Keep alternating sides for 20 reps.

Cardio: 1 Minute Med Ball Burpees - like regular burpees, but you're holding the medicine ball in your hands and planking out on it when you go back. Take your time here. Try to go quickly, but don't rush them so much that your form suffers.

30 Toe Ball Rolls in Plank - start in a plank with the ball under your right toes. Staying in a plank, bring your right knee up to your chest, rolling the ball with your toes as you do it (think of using the top of your toes to roll it up, stopping the ball with the under side of your foot as your knee reaches your chest). Keep rolling the ball out and in for 30 reps on the right leg, then switch and do 30 on the left.

Cardio: 1 Minute Toe Taps to Ball - place the ball on the ground and quickly tap your toes to it, alternating feet. Think of it kind of like a soccer drill. Keep going for 1 minute.

20 Supine Feet-to-Hand Passes - lie on your back with the ball in your hands, arms by your ears, and legs out straight. Using your abs, raise your arms and legs simultaneously, passing the ball from hands to feet. Lower back down. Raise yourself back up and pass the ball back to your hands. Each pass counts as 1 rep. Continue for 20 total.

Cardio: 1 Minute Jump Squats with Upward Reach - start in a squat position, holding the med ball lowered to the ground. Propel yourself up into the air, reaching upward toward the ceiling with the ball. Come back down - landing softly on your feet! - lowering yourself immediately back down into a squat, touching the med ball to the floor again. Keep going for 1 minute. Trainer Tip: if the cardio gets to be too much here, nix the jump and just squat up and down in place with the ball.

30 Supine Toe Touches - lie on your back with your legs straight up into the air forming an L, holding the med ball above you. Engage your abs and reach that med ball to your toes, lifting your shoulder blades off the floor and keeping your head looking upward. Slowly lower yourself back down. Do 30 reps.

Cardio: 1 Minute 3-Point Hops Holding Med Ball - this one is tough to explain so bear with me here. Stand upright holding the ball close to your body with elbows bent to 90˚ holding the ball out in front of you. Keep the ball stationary (your arms and the ball stay in the exact same position the whole time - it shouldn't move with you) and hop to face the right, back to center, face the left, back to center, etc. Keep hopping for 1 minute.

30 High-Low Russian Twists - start seated with your hands down on your left side holding the med ball on the ground. Twist quickly and reach your hands up diagonally to the right, ending with arms overhead on the right side. Do 30 reps left to right, then 30 on the other side, right to left. Trainer Tip: easier = keeping your feet on the ground (knees bent); for more of a challenge, lift the legs to a 90˚ angle.

Cardio: 1 Minute Side Lunge Hops - start in a side lunge on your right holding the med ball touching the floor by your right foot. From here, hop your right foot to meet your left bringing the med ball up to your chest, and immediately step the left foot out into a side lunge (like a side shuffle). Touch the med ball down to the ground on the left. Keep alternating shuffles side to side, touching the med ball to the ground in each lunge, for 1 minute.

Try to get through one more round of these exercises for the full workout today!

Readers: chat with me! How was your weekend (long overdue question, I know)? Do you use medicine balls in your workouts? What are some of your favorite med ball exercises? How about for your abs?