Hi friends! I’m glad you enjoyed my post about How to Interpret Blood Test Results yesterday. Thanks to those who provided feedback and edits, too – appreciate your input! And now, because I like keeping you guys on your toes (literally), I’m switching gears to share a good 5 minute core workout for runners!
Before the core workout, though, a run! As I mentioned, my high school BFF Jenny is in town visiting right now, so we met up for a run yesterday morning. We had a beautiful morning for it!
We were planning on 4 miles but it was so lovely out we did 5 instead. The miles flew by thanks to chatting away the whole time!
When we got back, Jenny offered to lead us in a fun core workout. She is a certified personal trainer and teaches fitness classes down in Georgia where she lives, so I was all about it! Here’s what we did, since I thought you guys would like to try it, too. Great way to strengthen muscles that compliment running – try adding this quick 5 minute routine on to the end of your runs.
Here are some photo examples to go with the exercises!
For the crunches, mix it up by not letting your shoulders touch the ground and doing little pulses. It’s so hard!
Supermans are a great back strengthening exercise. To modify this, put your hands out to in a T shape, put your hands behind your head, or put your hands down along your body.
The side planks with arm sweeps are a favorite of mine – amazing oblique strengthening move! Start in a side plank with your top arm lifted up above you. To modify, lower your bottom leg’s knee to the ground, and you can do this on your forearm instead of your hand if your wrists bother you. Do 30 seconds on one side, then switch.
Then sweep your arm down like so, and repeat! Make sure you don’t dip your hips down and keep your core tight!
For flutter kicks, lie down on your back with your hands under your butt for stability. Lift your legs slightly off the ground, then move them up and down slowly. You don’t want to raise your legs all the way up to a 90 degree angle – just lift them a little.
And finally, plank holds! You can hold for longer than 1 minute if you like – challenge yourself! We made it 3 minutes and 30 seconds and called it a day. Whew!
Thanks for the fun core workout, Jenny! I hope you guys enjoy it, too!
What’s your favorite core/ab exercise? I really like planks since they are tough but effective!
p.s. If you like this post, you can see the other pinnable workouts I’ve shared over on my fANNEtastic workouts Pinterest board!
p.p.s. I also have a whole page here on the blog with Strength/Ab Exercises (some of them include videos, too). Enjoy!
