Whether you don’t have access to a gym or just want to get in a quick ab workout without leaving the comfort of your living room after a ride, it’s still possible to build a strong and stable core with limited space and equipment.

Doing an abs workout at home—and even if you have a very small space to do so—can actually be very effective, explains Amber Rees, certified instructor at Barry’s in New York City and cofounder of Brave Body Project. All you need is a bit of space, a yoga mat or towel, and something to help you focus your form (like a pillow) for this four-move circuit she put together.

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“The focus of this ab workout is not about resistance and weight, but it’s all about form,” Rees says. “The benefit of using a prop like a pillow or a towel is that it forces you to slow down and be more specific with form placement.”

If you have weights, water bottles, or books you can fill a backpack with, you can use those for more of a challenge and extra resistance. However, be sure to master proper form first before adding weight, especially if it has an awkward shape or its center of gravity can shift.

How to do it: Perform each movement for 50 seconds with a 10-second recovery in between. Repeat 2 to 3 times. Do this program on its own or add it to any at-home workout for an additional core challenge. Grab a mat and a pillow or anything else you have available at home to challenge yourself.

preview for At-Home Ab Workout

Sit-Up With Arm Raise

Lie faceup, feet planted on the floor with your knees bent, holding the pillow over your chest with arms extended straight. Perform a sit-up by engaging abs and slowly curling your shoulder blades off the mat as you raise the pillow up toward ceiling, keeping neck long. When you reach the top of the sit-up, your arms should be outstretched overhead. Slowly roll back down to starting position. Repeat with control.


Rock Back With Russian Twist

Start lying faceup, holding pillow in hands with knees bent at 90-degree angles, feet in the air. Draw chest up toward knees to come into a V-position, using your core to balance on your tailbone. From your torso, twist right so pillow comes to right hip then twist left so pillow comes to left hip. Return to center and slowly roll back along your spine. Use the momentum to rock back up to V-position and repeat.


Sit-Up With Pass Under

Lie faceup, feet planted on the floor with your knees bent, holding the pillow over your chest with arms extended straight. Perform a sit-up by engaging abs and slowly curling your shoulder blades off the mat as you move the pillow toward knees. As you reach the top, lift your left leg and pass the pillow under, concentrating on not dropping the pillow. Return to center and roll back down. Repeat the sit-up then pass pillow under right leg. Continue to alternate legs with each sit-up.


Jackknife Pass

Lie faceup on a mat, holding the pillow between your feet, with knees slightly bent. Engage core to lift head, neck, and shoulders off the mat as you bring the pillow toward your chest and draw feet toward hands. Pass the pillow from feet to hands at the top of the move. Lower legs slowly and bring arms overhead with the pillow clasped between hands. Reverse the motion to return the pillow from hands to feet on the next rep. Repeat.


[WATCH] TRY THESE OTHER WORKOUTS:

preview for Weekend Workouts
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Jordan Smith
Digital Editor
Jordan Smith is a writer and editor with over 5 years of experience reporting on health and fitness news and trends. She is a published author, studying for her personal trainer certification, and over the past year became an unintentional Coronavirus expert. She has previously worked at Health, Inc., and 605 Magazine and was the editor-in-chief of her collegiate newspaper. Her love of all things outdoors came from growing up in the Black Hills of South Dakota.