Advanced Workouts For Your Full Body - Abs And Core

I was a US Army solider not too long ago. I just got out in August of 2007. While I was in the Army, we were always looking for high intensity workouts with some work for abs, core, and full body to take our team of soldiers to a new level of fitness in preparation for our PT testing.

Basically, we had reached a plateau in our training and needed something really high intensity to take us to the next level. I’m going to share this workout with you!

Keep in mind that this workout uses bodyweight-only exercises, however, it is VERY intense and for people looking for advanced fitness levels, you should try this out.

With that said, keep in mind that if you're not yet at an advanced level, you can still use this by simply using the basic format of the workout, and just do less of whatever exercises you struggle with, or choose an easier alternate exercise that's similar.

Here goes...

We're going to keep the intensity super high here and use the whole body. Keep rest periods short, and use full-body multi-joint movements as much as possible.

I'll give you a killer workout idea below that not only incorporates abs and entire core, but the entire body as well in an intense fashion. Not sure what (if any) equip you have available, so I'll give you a great workout that's bodyweight based. Here's an example to take you through:

Start with a 2-3 min warm-up of light jogging, jumping jacks, or jump rope.

Then, move through these exercises in circuit fashion, one right after the other with only 10 seconds rest between each (repeat the circuit 3-5 times for a killer total body workout):

1. Bodyweight squats - 12 reps

-Position your feet slightly wider then hip-width apart with your toes slightly turned out.

-Hold your hands out in front of you at shoulder height. This will counter balance your weight and help you keep your balance

-Slowly and under control bend your knees and lower yourself down as far as you can without lifting your heels off the floor and then after a brief pause at the bottom push your weight back up until you are back at the starting position.

2. Plyometric pushups (clapping) - 10 reps

-Lower yourself into the standard push up position.

-Lower yourself to the ground and push up explosively so the hands leave the ground

-Clap once and return to the starting position

3. Walking lunges up 6 steps and back down 6 steps

4. Floor mountain climbers for 30 seconds

-Stand with your arms by your sides, feet together.

-Bend down and put your hands shoulder width apart on the floor.

-Place yourself in the basic push-up position with your arms in line with your chest and your legs extended outward.

-Rest on the balls of your feet while bringing one leg (for this example we'll say left leg) forward to your chest and back to its original position. Keep the right leg tucked during the forward and back movement of the left leg.

-Check to be sure your bent leg and hands carry the weight of your body and that you hold your head up during the back and forth leg movements.

-Repeat the motion described in Step 4 rapidly, alternating one leg forward and one leg back. This movement mimics the "climbing of a mountain."

-Repeat as many times as you can. Remember to inhale and exhale steadily during the entire mountain climber exercise.

5. Lunge jumps - 6 reps to each side

-This jump starts off by standing with your feet next to one another.

-Bend your knees and jump up as high as you can and perform a hip-flexion with one leg and bending the back leg knee.

-Before landing bring the feet next to one another.

-With the next jump up, alternate the legs.

6. Lying leg thrusts (abs) on floor - 12 reps

-Lie on your back.

-Perform a lying leg raise.

-Thrust your heels to the ceiling, breathe out; keep contracting the lower abs so that you are raising your torso.

-Lower out of the thrust back to your initial position, leaving your feet straight up.

- Lower your legs back to the starting position.

7. Squat jumps - 8 reps

-Stand with your legs in a normal squat position.

-Lower your body down so that your thighs are parallel to the ground.

-Explode into the air as high as possible. When you land, lower your body quickly into the parallel squat position.

-Hold this position for one second and repeat for the required number of repetitions.

-Upon landing, your feet should be in a strong, dorsi-flexed or "toes up" position. Use your whole foot to land and generate power, not just your toes! Maintain good posture in your upper body. Keep your chest and head up. Don't let your shoulders lean out beyond your knees. This can stress your lower back.

8. Side plank hold 30 seconds one side, then 30 sec opposite side

-Lift your body of the ground and balance on one forearm and the side of your foot.

-Contract your abdominals and relax your shoulders. And breath.

-No movement, just hold that position ... keep holding.

Rest 2 min after each circuit; repeat circuit 3-5x

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