A 20-Minute Bodyweight Workout for Better Core Stability
Stabilizers are the small muscles that help hold your muscles and joints still when you do certain movements. And this week’s Sweat With SELF video—a 20-minute bodyweight workout—homes in on the stabilizers in your core.
This core-stability workout, led by athletic trainer Liz Letchford, Ph.D., ATC, and coach Paul Wright, is the final installment of a six-part series dedicated to helping you build optimal core strength. Because this workout references skills practiced in the first part of this series, you may want to watch the other videos before you do this routine, particularly the previous video about core stability. (Check out the other five videos here.)
Why are core stabilizers important? For one, they help hold your torso in place. They also help you resist rotating, leaning to the side, or flexing when you’re doing everything from lifting to running to simply bending to the side or sitting upright with proper posture, as SELF previously reported.
The transverse abdominis, a deep core muscle that wraps around your sides and spine, is “an intrinsic core stabilizer,” Cori Lefkowith, an Orange County, California–based personal trainer previously told SELF. That means it “helps stabilize your core and spine to help your body function correctly.”
Having a stabilized spine is important, as it translates to injury prevention at the gym—particularly when you’re doing big, compound lifts like squats and deadlifts. It also helps in everyday life, as when you’re hoisting a bag of groceries or picking up something from the floor, as SELF previously reported.
What’s more, core stability is the foundation for many athletic movements, as NSCA-certified personal trainer Renee Peel previously told SELF. By improving your core stability, you can in turn improve your ability to move efficiently and effectively in a lot of scenarios.
In sum, it’s worth the time it takes to strengthen your core stabilizers. And with this simple yet effective workout, you can get the job done.
So if you’re ready for this core-stability workout, grab a mat and follow along with the video below. Or, if you prefer to move at your own pace, keep scrolling for detailed workout directions and GIFs of each exercise.
Workout Directions
Start with the dynamic warm-up.
After the warm-up, rest for 30 seconds. Next, do the workout. Do each exercise for the designated time, taking 10–15 seconds to transition between moves. Repeat the workout 2 more times, resting 30 seconds between each round.
Dynamic Warm-Up
- Downward Dog to Plank x 60 seconds
Workout
- Bird Dog x 60 seconds
- Hollow Body Hold x 60 seconds
- Bear Crawl x 60 seconds
- Plank to Press x 60 seconds
- Single-Leg Deadlift x 60 seconds (repeat on each side)
*Rest for 30 seconds. Repeat the circuit 2 more times.
The Exercises
Courtesy of Spacestation1Downward Dog to Plank
- Start on your hands and knees, with your hands stacked under your shoulders and knees under your hips.
- Pressing your hands into the floor, lift your tailbone and press your butt up and back, drawing your hips toward the ceiling. Straighten your legs as best as you can and press your heels gently toward the floor so that your body forms an inverted-V shape.
- Your head should hang relaxed between your arms. Your back should be flat. This is Downward Dog.
- Hold, then shift your hips down and forward into a high plank. Keep your shoulders over your wrists; core, glutes, and quads are engaged. Your body should form one long straight line from the crown of your head to your ankles. Hold.
- Next, push your hips back up toward the ceiling to return to Downward Dog.
- Continue this pattern of shifting between Downward Dog and a high plank for 60 seconds.
Courtesy of Spacestation2Bird Dog
- Start on your hands and knees in a tabletop position with your wrists under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Engage your core. This is the starting position.
- Extend your right arm forward and your left leg behind you, maintaining a flat back and keeping your hips in line with the floor. Think about driving your foot toward the wall behind you.
- Squeeze your core and return your arm and leg to starting position.
- Repeat with your left arm forward and right arm back. This is 1 rep.
- Continue performing reps, alternating sides, for 60 seconds.
Courtesy of Spacestation3Hollow Body Hold
- Sit with your knees bent, feet planted on the floor, and arms gently hugging your knees. This is the starting position.
- Lean back, extend your legs, and raise your hands over head, hugging your arms close to your ears. Contract your core to press your lower back into the floor. Your legs and mid-back should both be off the floor, and you should be in the shape of a banana with just your lower back and hips on the ground.
- Keep your head in a neutral position so that you’re not straining your neck. Point your toes, squeeze your thighs together, and squeeze your glutes.
- Pause, then reverse the movement to return to the starting position. That’s 1 rep.
- Continue performing reps for 60 seconds.
- Make it easier: Instead of raising your arms overhead, extend them down by your sides.
Courtesy of Spacestation4Bear Crawl
- Start in a tabletop position with your wrists under your shoulders and knees under hips. Engage your core, push through your palms, and lift your knees so they’re hovering an inch off the floor. Keep your back flat and your core engaged.
- Walk your right hand and left foot forward an equal distance while staying low to the ground. Repeat on the other side, walking your left hand and right foot forward.
- Crawl a few steps forward, then reverse the movement to move backward. Continue moving forward and back for 60 seconds.
Courtesy of Spacestation5Plank to Press
- Start in high plank with your palms flat on the floor, hands shoulder-width apart, shoulders stacked directly above your wrists, legs extended behind you, and your core and glutes engaged. Place your feet hip-width apart.
- Lower your left arm so that your left forearm is on the floor. Then do the same with your right. You should now be in forearm plank position.
- Place your left hand back on the floor to extend your arm, and follow with your right arm, so that you end back in high plank. That’s 1 rep. As you move, keep your hips as still as possible and your core engaged throughout.
- Continue performing reps for 60 seconds.
- Make it easier: Widen your legs. Or, drop to your knees.
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Courtesy of Spacestation6Single-Leg Deadlift
- Stand with your feet together and your hands on your hips.
- Shift your weight to your left leg and, while keeping a slight bend in your left knee, hinge at your hips and tip your torso forward, while your right leg extends behind you, toes pointing down toward the floor.
- Keep your back flat and your core engaged. At the bottom of the movement, your torso and right leg should be almost parallel to the floor. (If your hamstrings are tight, you may not be able to lift your leg as high.)
- Keeping your core tight, push through your left heel to return to standing. Bring your right leg down to the floor to tap lightly, but try to keep the majority of your weight in your left foot. That’s 1 rep.
- Do all of the reps on the same side for 60 seconds, then repeat on the other side.
- Make it easier: With the majority of the weight in your left foot, place your right foot on the floor behind you, staggered about two feet behind your left foot. Perform the hip hinge movement with your core tight, leaning forward and allowing your torso to come almost parallel to the floor.
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