- Lie on your back. Bring your knees up to a 90-degree angle. Shins should be parallel to the floor. Place your hands behind your head and bring your shoulders off the ground.
- Exhale and contract your abdominals. Bring your head towards your knees while moving your knees toward your chest.
- Pause and return to the starting position.
Beginner Core Engage 32-Min Bodyweight Abs
32 min
·
10 exercises
32-minute beginner core and abs session — no equipment needed! Building on familiar exercises with slightly increased work times and some fresh new movements. Develop core stability, endurance and that all-important ab definition. Stay focused and engage that core!
Complete these non stop for 45 seconds
Left side only here! Non stop for 35 seconds!
1:00 rest
Aim to flex and extend these positions at a relaxed tempo (move with your slow breath) for the full 30 secs!
1:00 rest
Complete these non stop for 45 seconds
Right side only here! Non stop for 35 seconds!
1:15 rest
Hold this position for the full 30 seconds. Don\'t forget to breathe!
1:00 rest
Complete the core by training that lower back!
C Flip things over and perform these for 60 seconds!
Hold each leg twice for 30 seconds, or more if you fancy it!
1:00 rest
Move non-stop for the full 30 seconds!
About this workout
Beginner Core Engage 32-Min Bodyweight Abs is a free 32 min workout plan with 10 illustrated exercises for your abs and back. Follow the workout online, save it to your WorkoutLabs Fit account or download it as a printable PDF.
Tap any exercise in the workout to see the muscles worked, clear exercise illustrations and step-by-step instructions. Each workout includes sets, reps, rest times and notes so you can follow the plan without guessing.
Workout details
- Duration: 32 min
- Exercises: 10
- Training focus: Abs and back
- Equipment: NO EQUIPMENT
- Level: Beginner
- Format: Interactive workout and printable PDF
For more ready-made training plans, try WorkoutLabs Fit. You can follow visual workouts, build your own routines, manage your training calendar and track your progress. Sign up today to claim your free week.
Questions about this workout
What equipment do I need for this workout?
No equipment is needed – every exercise in this workout uses your own bodyweight, so you can do it at home or anywhere.
How long does the Beginner Core Engage 32-Min Bodyweight Abs take?
The full workout takes about 32 minutes, covering 10 exercises with prescribed sets, reps and rest periods. Using the built-in timers and auto-advance keeps you on pace from start to finish.
Is this workout suitable for my fitness level?
Yes – this is a beginner-friendly workout. Every exercise includes an illustration and step-by-step instructions, so you can learn proper form as you go. Start with lighter weights and focus on technique.
What muscles does this workout target?
This routine primarily works your abs, obliques, lower back. Tap any exercise in the workout to see a muscle diagram showing exactly which primary and secondary muscles it activates.
How often should I do this workout?
For get toned, increase endurance, aim to do this workout 2–3 times per week with at least one rest day between sessions. Progress by gradually adding weight or reps, and pair it with workouts for other muscle groups during the week.
Can I download or save this workout?
Yes – you can download this workout as a free printable PDF using the download button, or save it to a free WorkoutLabs Fit account to follow it on your phone, customize the exercises and track your progress.
Beginner Core Engage 32-Min Bodyweight Abs
32 min
·
10 exercises
32-minute beginner core and abs session — no equipment needed! Building on familiar exercises with slightly increased work times and some fresh new movements. Develop core stability, endurance and that all-important ab definition. Stay focused and engage that core!
Double Crunches
A
Complete these non stop for 45 seconds
Primary muscle group(s):
Abs
Primary muscle group(s):
Abs, Obliques
Secondary:
Glutes & Hip Flexors, Quadriceps
- Lie flat on an exercise mat on the floor keeping your lower back straight with no arching of your spine and with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
- Place your hands lightly on the sides of your head.
- Curl your torso upwards so your shoulders are slightly raised off the floor..
- Raise your knees until your thighs are at a right angle to the floor and your calves are parallel to the floor. This is the start position.
- Slowly move your legs in a pedaling action as if you are riding a bicycle.
- As you do so, exhale and bring your opposing elbow close to each knee by crunching to one side. Left elbow to right knee. Right elbow to left knee.
- After each crunch, return to the start position inhaling as you do so.
- Without pausing, repeat the movement to the other side.
- Repeat without pausing for the desired number of repetitions to each side.
Do not use your hands to pull your head and neck up during this exercise. Doing so may cause injury. Concentrate on a slow rhythmic cycle from side to side with perfect form for each repetition.
Primary muscle group(s):
Abs
Secondary:
Glutes & Hip Flexors
- Lie flat on an exercise mat, extending your arms straight back behind your head.
- Fully extend your legs also. This is the start position.
- Bend at your waist and at the same time, raise your legs and arms to meet in a closed jackknife position. Exhale as you do this.
- At this point, your legs should remain fully extended at between 35-45 degrees from the floor.
- Your arms should be fully extended, parallel to your legs.
- Your upper body should be raised off the floor.
- Return to the start position by lowering your arms and legs back to the floor, exhaling as you do so.
- Repeat.
Oblique Crunches
A
Left side only here! Non stop for 35 seconds!
Primary muscle group(s):
Obliques
- Lie on a padded surface on your left side. Stack your legs and bring your right hand behind your head. Lie your left arm in front of you or across your body. Brace your core.
- Pulling from the obliques, bring your elbow up and towards your feet. Do NOT pull yourself with your hand.
- Pause and feel the contraction in your obliques then slowly return to the starting position.
Primary muscle group(s):
Obliques
Secondary:
Abs
- Lie on an exercise mat, with your back flat, knees bent and your feet flat on the floor slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Fully extend your arms down the side of your body, palms facing in. This is the start position.
- Exhaling, crunch your torso forward and to the right until you can touch your right heel with your right hand. Hold for a count of one.
- Return to the starting position smooth motion, inhaling as you do so.
- Repeat the movement, this time to your left side.
- When you have completed the movement on both sides, you have done one repetition.
- Repeat.
Backward Camel Stretch
Aim to flex and extend these positions at a relaxed tempo (move with your slow breath) for the full 30 secs!
Primary muscle group(s):
Lower Back
Secondary:
Upper Back & Lower Traps
- Kneel on a mat with your hands and knees shoulder-width apart.
- Pull your abs in, hunch your back up and extend your spine.
- Hold the stretch and then release, push your abs back outwards to the starting position, flexing your spine as you do so.
Double Crunches
B
Complete these non stop for 45 seconds
Primary muscle group(s):
Abs
- Lie on your back. Bring your knees up to a 90-degree angle. Shins should be parallel to the floor. Place your hands behind your head and bring your shoulders off the ground.
- Exhale and contract your abdominals. Bring your head towards your knees while moving your knees toward your chest.
- Pause and return to the starting position.
Primary muscle group(s):
Abs, Obliques
Secondary:
Glutes & Hip Flexors, Quadriceps
- Lie flat on an exercise mat on the floor keeping your lower back straight with no arching of your spine and with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
- Place your hands lightly on the sides of your head.
- Curl your torso upwards so your shoulders are slightly raised off the floor..
- Raise your knees until your thighs are at a right angle to the floor and your calves are parallel to the floor. This is the start position.
- Slowly move your legs in a pedaling action as if you are riding a bicycle.
- As you do so, exhale and bring your opposing elbow close to each knee by crunching to one side. Left elbow to right knee. Right elbow to left knee.
- After each crunch, return to the start position inhaling as you do so.
- Without pausing, repeat the movement to the other side.
- Repeat without pausing for the desired number of repetitions to each side.
Do not use your hands to pull your head and neck up during this exercise. Doing so may cause injury. Concentrate on a slow rhythmic cycle from side to side with perfect form for each repetition.
Primary muscle group(s):
Abs
Secondary:
Glutes & Hip Flexors
- Lie flat on an exercise mat, extending your arms straight back behind your head.
- Fully extend your legs also. This is the start position.
- Bend at your waist and at the same time, raise your legs and arms to meet in a closed jackknife position. Exhale as you do this.
- At this point, your legs should remain fully extended at between 35-45 degrees from the floor.
- Your arms should be fully extended, parallel to your legs.
- Your upper body should be raised off the floor.
- Return to the start position by lowering your arms and legs back to the floor, exhaling as you do so.
- Repeat.
Oblique Crunches
B
Right side only here! Non stop for 35 seconds!
Primary muscle group(s):
Obliques
- Lie on a padded surface on your left side. Stack your legs and bring your right hand behind your head. Lie your left arm in front of you or across your body. Brace your core.
- Pulling from the obliques, bring your elbow up and towards your feet. Do NOT pull yourself with your hand.
- Pause and feel the contraction in your obliques then slowly return to the starting position.
Primary muscle group(s):
Obliques
Secondary:
Abs
- Lie on an exercise mat, with your back flat, knees bent and your feet flat on the floor slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Fully extend your arms down the side of your body, palms facing in. This is the start position.
- Exhaling, crunch your torso forward and to the right until you can touch your right heel with your right hand. Hold for a count of one.
- Return to the starting position smooth motion, inhaling as you do so.
- Repeat the movement, this time to your left side.
- When you have completed the movement on both sides, you have done one repetition.
- Repeat.
Cobra Abdominal Stretch
Hold this position for the full 30 seconds. Don\'t forget to breathe!
Primary muscle group(s):
Abs
Secondary:
Lower Back
- Lie face down with your hands under your shoulders.
- Point your feet downwards to lengthen your spine.
- Slowly push your torso up as far as you comfortably can – try to get your hips to rise off the floor slightly.
- Hold the stretch and then lower down to starting position.
Avoid this stretch if you have back problems.
Bird Dogs
C
Complete the core by training that lower back!
Primary muscle group(s):
Abs, Lower Back
Secondary:
Glutes & Hip Flexors
- Position yourself on all fours with knees underneath the hips and wrists under the shoulders.
- Engage your abs and keep your spine neutral, pulling the shoulder blades towards the hips.
- Lengthen the left leg until it is straight out and in line with your hips while simultaneously raising and straightening your right arm until it is parallel to the floor. Keep your head and shoulders aligned at all times.
- Gently lower your arm and leg back to the starting position and alternate with the other arm and leg.
Primary muscle group(s):
Glutes & Hip Flexors, Upper Back & Lower Traps
Secondary:
Lower Back, Shoulders
- Lay on a yoga/exercise mat or towel with your arms outstretched, palms down in front of you, and your legs outstretched with your soles facing up.
- Simultaneously lift your right arm and left leg off the floor.
- When you reach your flexion point, hold for a second before slowly lowering back down to the floor.
- Repeat the same movement with your left arm and right leg.
Primary muscle group(s):
Glutes & Hip Flexors
Secondary:
Abs
- Position yourself on all fours on a mat.
- Position your hands underneath your shoulders and place your knees under your hips.
- Keep your right knee bent at 90 degrees and flex the foot as you lift the knee until it is level with the hip.
- Lower the knee without touching the floor and repeat the lift.
- Once you’ve completed the reps on the right leg, switch legs.
Dead Bug
C
Flip things over and perform these for 60 seconds!
Primary muscle group(s):
Abs
- Lie on your back. Extend hands straight above towards the ceiling. Bring your knees up to a 90-degree angle. Shins should be parallel to the floor. Exhale and bring hips off the floor.
- Begin by extending one leg forward. The foot should be hovering just above the ground.
- Pause then return the leg to it’s starting position while extending the opposing leg. Keep alternating legs while maintaining a tight core.
Primary muscle group(s):
Abs, Obliques
Secondary:
Glutes & Hip Flexors, Quadriceps
- Lie flat on an exercise mat on the floor keeping your lower back straight with no arching of your spine and with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
- Place your hands lightly on the sides of your head.
- Curl your torso upwards so your shoulders are slightly raised off the floor..
- Raise your knees until your thighs are at a right angle to the floor and your calves are parallel to the floor. This is the start position.
- Slowly move your legs in a pedaling action as if you are riding a bicycle.
- As you do so, exhale and bring your opposing elbow close to each knee by crunching to one side. Left elbow to right knee. Right elbow to left knee.
- After each crunch, return to the start position inhaling as you do so.
- Without pausing, repeat the movement to the other side.
- Repeat without pausing for the desired number of repetitions to each side.
Do not use your hands to pull your head and neck up during this exercise. Doing so may cause injury. Concentrate on a slow rhythmic cycle from side to side with perfect form for each repetition.
Primary muscle group(s):
Abs
Secondary:
Glutes & Hip Flexors
- Lie flat on an exercise mat, extending your arms straight back behind your head.
- Fully extend your legs also. This is the start position.
- Bend at your waist and at the same time, raise your legs and arms to meet in a closed jackknife position. Exhale as you do this.
- At this point, your legs should remain fully extended at between 35-45 degrees from the floor.
- Your arms should be fully extended, parallel to your legs.
- Your upper body should be raised off the floor.
- Return to the start position by lowering your arms and legs back to the floor, exhaling as you do so.
- Repeat.
Knee-to-Chest Lower Back Stretch
Hold each leg twice for 30 seconds, or more if you fancy it!
Primary muscle group(s):
Lower Back
- Lie on your back on a mat with your legs extended in front of you and backs of heels on the floor.
- Grab hold of your right knee and gently pull it up to your chest until you can feel a slight stretch in your lower back.
- Try to bring the knee as close to your chest as is comfortable while keeping the left leg relaxed.
- Hold the stretch and then release the leg to starting position.
- Repeat with the left leg.
Bicycles
Move non-stop for the full 30 seconds!
Primary muscle group(s):
Abs, Obliques
Secondary:
Glutes & Hip Flexors, Quadriceps
- Lie flat on an exercise mat on the floor keeping your lower back straight with no arching of your spine and with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
- Place your hands lightly on the sides of your head.
- Curl your torso upwards so your shoulders are slightly raised off the floor..
- Raise your knees until your thighs are at a right angle to the floor and your calves are parallel to the floor. This is the start position.
- Slowly move your legs in a pedaling action as if you are riding a bicycle.
- As you do so, exhale and bring your opposing elbow close to each knee by crunching to one side. Left elbow to right knee. Right elbow to left knee.
- After each crunch, return to the start position inhaling as you do so.
- Without pausing, repeat the movement to the other side.
- Repeat without pausing for the desired number of repetitions to each side.
Do not use your hands to pull your head and neck up during this exercise. Doing so may cause injury. Concentrate on a slow rhythmic cycle from side to side with perfect form for each repetition.
Primary muscle group(s):
Abs
- Lie on your back. Bring your knees up to a 90-degree angle. Shins should be parallel to the floor. Place your hands behind your head and bring your shoulders off the ground.
- Exhale and contract your abdominals. Bring your head towards your knees while moving your knees toward your chest.
- Pause and return to the starting position.
Primary muscle group(s):
Obliques
Secondary:
Abs
- Lie on an exercise mat, with your back flat, knees bent and your feet flat on the floor slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Fully extend your arms down the side of your body, palms facing in. This is the start position.
- Exhaling, crunch your torso forward and to the right until you can touch your right heel with your right hand. Hold for a count of one.
- Return to the starting position smooth motion, inhaling as you do so.
- Repeat the movement, this time to your left side.
- When you have completed the movement on both sides, you have done one repetition.
- Repeat.
Primary muscle group(s):
Abs
Secondary:
Glutes & Hip Flexors
- Lie on a mat with your hands under your buttocks and raise your legs slightly, keeping knees straight and ankles together.
- Keep abs engaged and perform short kicks in an alternating fashion.
- Repeat as needed and then lower legs to the ground.
Workout done!
Exercises done
of 10
Total time
Access 1000+ more workouts, build your own plans and track progress with Fit
Start my free week
Free 7-day trial • No charge today
We're not done yet!
Exercises done
of 10
Approx. time left
32:15
You can switch gender of illustrations here
Got it
Swap that with...
What's new
Recently added
- Copy calendar contents between clients (Jan 19)
- Disable messaging for individual clients (Jan 19)
- Sort your client list in a few practical ways (Jan 19)
- Message multiple or all of your clients at once (Jan 17)
- 10 new exercises (Jan 10)
- Sidebar 'notepads' for privates notes (Dec 23)
- Supersetting functionality (Nov 22)
- 15 new exercises (Nov 12)
- Clients can now move workouts (Nov 7)
- 15 new exercises (Oct 10)
- 9 new exercises (Sep 14)
- 10 new exercises (Aug 30)
- Share workouts on Instagram and browser notifications (Aug 29)
Coming soon
- Your branding in client email notifications
- Share workouts on Pinterest
- Tools and resources to help you find new clients
Get more updates on Twitter
Uh oh! 5 workouts in your calendar will be permanently overwritten. Proceed?
The 5 mile run at the park with Mary custom activity will be deleted. Proceed?
Permanently delete ALL FUTURE WORKOUTS and activities in your calendar? This cannot be undone.
You've used your
5 free workouts limit. Start a free 7-day Fit trial to keep training, save workouts and build your own plans 👍
5 free workouts limit. Start a free 7-day Fit trial to keep training, save workouts and build your own plans 👍
Free 7-day trial • No charge today
Committed? Upgrade to yearly and save 25%!
Our yearly subscription is only $89.95 – $29.45 less than paying monthly*. That’s only $7.49/mo!
*$9.95/mo x 12 months = $119.40
OMG YES! Switch to yearly
, join thousands of users worldwide!
★★
★★
★★
★★
★★
4.5 user rating
Enjoy hundreds of workouts
or edit and create your own
Follow simple illustrations
with videos and written instructions
Manage your calendar
to get fit on your schedule
I'm committed 💪
$89.95
per
year
year
Comes to $7.50/mo
Save 25%
Best value &
popular option
popular option
One step at a time
$9.95
per
month
month
billed monthly
Where should we send
the workout link? 📲
the workout link? 📲
We’ll never call or send spam, and your number will
remain private. 🔒 or view the workout here
remain private. 🔒 or view the workout here
We’ll never call or send spam, and your
number will remain private. 🔒
number will remain private. 🔒
Delete forever?
Yep, toss it!