7-Minute Tough Core Workout

[MUSIC PLAYING] Welcome to your core. Today, we're performing three amazing exercises and we are channeling our inner Pilates and our inner dancer. Let's get started.

The first thing we're going to do is secure the small of the back. We're going to bring the knees into the body. It looks like this. Nice. You feel that? Beautiful.

Now we're going to drive all the way up, flex our feet, point the toes away from one another. We're going to travel down for four counts, in for two, and up for two. Again, four. In for two. And up for two.

Now you're welcome to place your arms at your side, like you're parallel, or create a T on the ground. I kind of love the T for extra support. Nice. Bring the knees in and all the way up. Again four. Nice. In. And all the way up.

I like using my arms like that. And if you notice, you're also stretching here. You're lengthening the hamstring muscle. You're working, obviously, the hip flexors. See, the body works as a whole. So you know when people say you want to spot train? It does not exist. OK? It does not exist. We know that. Yeah, not at all. So whatever you're doing right here, if you're doing right here. Nice.

And right here, we're going to start driving down now, alternating the legs. Flex your feet. Your left leg leads. Travel down and then back to center. Down and back to center. Nice. Beautiful.

Now where am I looking? Always look into your horizon. So now I'm facing the ceiling. My horizon is up here. I can turn my head because your head does swivel. You can do that. So look into your horizon. Try not to look forward. And I'll show you what that looks like, which is wrong. A lot of people do this. See? I can't even breathe. Nice. So you want to relax everything upstairs. This is full range.

There's so many different ways of performing this exercise. For example, if you want to make this a little smaller or you start to fatigue, instead of stopping, make it smaller. What did I just do? I shortened the lever. What's the lever? This. This is a lever from your ankle to your knee. That's one lever. From your knee to your hip, that's another lever. Nice. And one more. Yes. We're right there. Woo. Amazing.

See how easy that was? You're already here. Let's place the bottom of our feet together and create a diamond on the floor. Please, again, check in with the small of the back. And I like to add a weighted object. You don't have to. I'm going to use this sandbell. You can use a free weight. You can use a water bottle. We're going to start to chop through center, like this, traveling up just to the bottom of the ribcage. And when you're ready, let's chop it. What I love about this exercise, it's instant gratification. You feel it right away. Do you feel it? I do. Woo.

I love this. Beautiful. It's like your abs are on fire right away. Who doesn't want that? We don't have a lot of time. Not all of us do. So if you don't have a lot of time in your day, look how easy these exercises can be. We're going to give the left side some love now. We're going to take our left leg. We're going to travel into our right. We are going to start chopping on the same line. You're not going anywhere. Nice.

Now if you notice, once you have your technique going on, your technique and your range of motion-- how big you make something-- you can increase your speed. Look how fast I can get. Nice. You could even lose the weight. Nice. But I want my weight so I'm going to take that. Almost there. And last one. This is it.

But guess what? We're going to extend the leg. Did you see how I moved? Let me check in again. Check in with the back. Nice. Now bend the knee. Extend the leg now. Bigger lever. And when you're ready, chop. Chop. Nice.

So you see, I'm facing up, facing the ceiling. So this right now is your oblique. Again, everything's connected. This is your abs. It's the abs area. And you're connected. By the way, PS, which is really important, do you know what supports your abs? Your back.

So you want to make sure that that back is really secure right now. It's called your QL. Who needs to know that, right? It's called your QL. Right now my right QL is secure. All the way up. Hold it, ladies. And release. Nice. We're going to bend again. Go back to center. And let's chop to center. Why not? I love to check in right here. Nice. See that?

You know what's another cool thing you can do with a good weighted object, right? Something like this is just made of sand. You can actually start throwing it. This is fun. You could actually even do this with your baby, right? Say, for instance, you don't have time to train or you can't train because you're babysitting your own baby. Use your baby. See that? Nice. One more. Woo. Let's go on to the other side. I take the right to the left. Nice. You feel the back? And start chopping. Go for it, ladies. Woo. This can turn cardiovascular.

What's cardiovascular? It's your heart and your lungs working together. Heart and lungs delivering beautiful oxygenated blood to all your working muscles and organs so that you perform at your peak optimum in life, whether it's work, whether it's marriage. Woo. I'm going to make this longer. Ladies, let's extend that leg. Nice. And we're going to close. Nice. Excellent.

Again, instant gratification, which is what I love. We don't always have the time to do everything we want. Look at this. This takes no time. It takes no time. It's really simple and effective. Woo. Nice.

Actually, if I had a seven-pound baby, right? Who has a baby? I don't have a baby. I love babies. One more. Nice. We're going to bend at the knee. We're going to open, meet through center, and we're going to take that weighted object forward or just your hands. Nice. You can hold. Hold. Say, thank you, abs. Thank you, back, for supporting me. And peace out. [MUSIC PLAYING]