5 At-Home Core Exercises You Haven’t Thought Of

We’ve all been mostly confined to our homes for a while now, and perhaps you are running out of ideas for exercises. If you know anything about me, you know that I love doing core (i.e. abs) exercises frequently. Not just for show, but also because your core musculature needs to be strong to support your spine and other extremity movements, and to prevent things like chronic lower back pain from surfacing.

I’m always trying to think of new, fun, and challenging exercises to keep my workouts interesting. It’s even more crucial now since many gyms, including mine, are closed for the COVID-19 quarantine. I took a good look around my house today and came up with a few core exercises that can be done in sequence for a full ab-shredding workout, or as stand-alone exercises whenever you feel like doing them.

Read until the end for a few examples of how to structure these exercises.

Ab Slides

High Plank Oblique Slides

High Plank WTFs

High Plank Stair Walks

High Plank Couch Rotations

Core Circuit Workout

• 3 Rounds

  • Ab Slides (5-10 reps)

  • High Plank Oblique Slides (5-10 reps per side)

  • High Plank WTFs (3-5 reps per side)

  • High Plank Stair Walks (3-5 reps)

  • Couch Core Rotations (5-10 reps per side)

*Rest 15-30 seconds between each exercise*

*Rest 1 minute between each round*

Partner Core Circuit Workout

Get your partner off the couch to do this workout with you!

• Partner 1

  • 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

• Partner 2

  • 10, 8, 6, 4, 2

• Pick 3 exercises to do

• Partner 1 works while Partner 2 rests

• Partner 1 goes through a full round of each exercise for the prescribed number of reps (i.e. Round 1: Partner 1 does 2 reps of each while ascending in reps, Partner 2 does 10 reps of each while descending in reps) while your partner rests, then you rest while your partner exercises

• Continue in this fashion until all rounds are complete

*Oblique Slides: each left + right = 1 rep*

*WTFs: every 1 full WTF = 1 rep (e.g. the round of 2 will be 1 WTF on the right = 1 rep, and 1 WTF on the left = 1 rep)

*Core Rotations: it is the prescribed number of reps per side. Do all reps on one side before switching to the other*

*If you need more work, reverse the rep scheme and do it again the other way*

Single Core Exercise “Work & Workout”

• Choose any one exercise to do while you’re working

• Perform 5-8 rounds

  • 1 minute of exercise (split sides evenly)

  • Get back to your work and rest as needed until the next round

  • Repeat for the desired number of rounds

Mixed Core Exercise “Work & Workout”

• Choose any exercise to do at random while you’re working

• Perform 5-8 rounds

  • 1 minute of exercise (split sides evenly)

  • Get back to your work and rest as needed until the next round

  • Pick a different exercise to do next round

  • Repeat for the desired number of rounds

If you liked these exercises, leave me a comment below and follow me on YouTube and Instagram for more!

In good health,

Coach Adrian

Coach Adrian is a health and fitness professional with over three years of coaching experience. He holds a master’s degree in Kinesiology and is certified through several top health and fitness organizations including the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA), USA Triathlon, and Precision Nutrition. His mission is to help people of all backgrounds and fitness levels achieve their potential by providing high-quality online fitness training programs at an affordable price.