This 30-Day Ab Challenge Will Help You Start the Year Right
Every new year begins with a new slate. Once the calendar hits January 1, you have the opportunity to develop different habits, find engaging hobbies, and instill different attitudes for how you go about day-to-day life than you did the year before.
For most people, this focus on the "new" falls apart after just a few weeks, and their mindset falls back to how they were before the ball dropped on the previous year. The problem for most people is that they don't have a well-structured plan, an easy-to-follow set of instructions, a predetermined calendar, or a community to hold themselves accountable. They set out to accomplish an abstract goal without any tools. We're here to give you all of those things with the aim of accomplishing a specific goal for the first month of 2022: train your abs every single day to build a stronger core. This is the Men's Health 30-Day Abs Challenge.
The key to your success will be the programming. Rather than randomly assigning a set of crunches or planks from one session to the next, each day will focus on a specific function of the muscle group. Your abs handle several key functions for you every day, and your core training can be broken down by those functions. Your abs are responsible for spinal flexion (as you do during sit-ups). They also brace your spine, protecting it against all motion (their key responsibility during planks) . They also help you rotate (or twist) your torso, and they help you fight all rotation (as you do during Pallof presses).
During the first four days of each week, you’ll focus on one key function each day. During the last three days, you’ll work through sessions that blend multiple core responsibilities and challenge your abs in all directions. The seventh day of each week will push you to attack your abs for five consecutive minutes without stopping (you can return to these “test” workouts and see if you can improve whenever you want an ultra-quick challenge for your core. To keep your workouts organised over the 30 days of the challenge, use these helpful shortcuts. Go to the Abs Exercises to learn the moves, then proceed to the sections for Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, and Week 5.
Each workout will take no more than five minutes, meaning you can squeeze these sessions in at the end of any other gym session you take on. As the weeks wear on, you’ll take on progressively more challenging sessions; they’ll still be quick, but they’ll ramp up the intensity on your abs.
The Men's Health 30-Day Abs Workout Challenge
Week 1
Day 1: Bracing Hollow Hold — 4 sets of 30 seconds on, 30 off Day 2: Rotation Hollow Hold Russian Twist — 4 sets of 30 seconds on, 30 off Day 3: Anti-Rotation Plank Shoulder-Tap — 4 sets of 30 seconds on, 30 off Day 4: Spinal Flexion Modified V-Up — 4 sets of 30 seconds on, 30 off Day 5: Combination Modified V-Up - 30 seconds; Hollow Hold Russian Twist - 30 seconds. Rest 30 seconds. Repeat 3 rounds. Day 6: Combination Modified V-Up - 30 seconds; Hollow Hold Russian Twist - 30 seconds; Hollow Hold - 30 seconds. Rest 30 seconds. Repeat 3 times. Day 7: Nonstop Core Challenge Plank Shoulder-Tap - 10 reps; Hollow Hold Russian Twist - 10 reps; Modified V-Up - 10 reps; Hollow Hold - 20 seconds. Repeat as many times as possible in five minutes.
Week 2
Day 1: Bracing Hollow Rock — 4 sets of 30 seconds on, 30 off Day 2: Rotation
Side Plank Thread the Needle — 2 sets per side of 30 seconds on, 30 off
Day 3: Anti-Rotation
Uneven Hollow Rock — 2 sets per side of 30 seconds on, 30 off
Day 4: Spinal Flexion
Situp with Cross-Body Fist Punch — 4 sets of 30 seconds on, 30 off
Day 5: Combination
Hollow Rock - 30 seconds; Uneven Hollow Rock - 30 seconds per side. Rest 30 seconds. Repeat twice.
Day 6: Combination
Hollow Rock - 30 seconds; Uneven Hollow Rock - 30 seconds per side; Hollow Hold - 30 seconds. Repeat twice. Finish with 1 full minute of Situp to Cross-Body Punches.
Day 7: Nonstop Core Challenge
Hollow Rock - 10 reps; Hollow Hold Russian Twist - 10 reps; Modified V-Up - 10 reps. Repeat as many times as possible in five minutes.
Week 3
Day 1: Bracing Plank Reach — 4 sets of 30 seconds on, 30 off Day 2: Rotation Tipping Hollow Rock — 4 sets of 30 seconds on, 30 off Day 3: Anti-Rotation Plank Up-Down — 4 sets of 30 seconds on, 30 off Day 4: Spinal Flexion V-Up — 4 sets of 30 seconds on, 30 off Day 5: Combination Plank Reach - 30 seconds; Plank Up-Down - 30 seconds. Rest 30 seconds. Repeat 3 times. Day 6: Combination Plank Reach - 30 seconds; Plank Up-Down - 30 seconds; V-Up - 30 seconds. Rest 30 seconds. Repeat 3 times. Day 7: Nonstop Core Challenge V-Up - 10 reps; Plank Reach - 10 reps; Plank Up-Down - 10 reps. Repeat as many times as possible in five minutes.
Week 4
Day 1: Bracing Hollow Hold - 30 seconds; Hollow Rock - 30 seconds. Rest 30 seconds. Repeat 3 times. Day 2: Rotation Side Plank Thread-the-Needle - 30 seconds per side; Tipping Hollow Rock - 30 seconds. Rest 30 seconds. Repeat 3 times. Day 3: Anti-Rotation Plank Shoulder-Tap - 10 reps; Uneven Hollow Rock - 10 reps per side. Rest 30 seconds. Repeat 3 times. Day 4: Spinal Flexion V-Up - 10 reps; Modified V-Up - 10 reps. Rest 30 seconds. Repeat 3 times. Day 5: Combination V-Up - 30 seconds; Plank Shoulder-Tap - 30 seconds. Rest 30 seconds. Repeat 3 times. Day 6: Combination Side Plank Thread-the-Needle - 30 seconds per side; Plank Up-Down - 30 seconds, Hollow Hold - 30 seconds. Repeat 3 times. Day 7: Nonstop Core Challenge Tipping Hollow Rock - 10 reps; Uneven Hollow Rock - 10 reps per side; Hollow Rock - 10 reps. Repeat as many times as possible for five minutes.
Week 5
Day 1: Plank Moves Challenge Plank Shoulder-Tap - 10 reps; Plank Reach - 10 reps; Plank Up-Down - 10 reps. Repeat as many times as possible in five minutes. Day 2: Hollow Hold Challenge Uneven Hollow Rock - 10 reps per side; Tipping Hollow Rock - 10 reps, Hollow Rock - 10 reps. Repeat as many times as possible in five minutes. Day 3: V-Up Countup Challenge 5 V-Ups, 5 Modified V-Ups, 20-second Hollow Hold. Repeat as many times as possible in five minutes. Every round, add 1 V-Up and 1 Modified V-Up.
The Abs Exercises
Spinal Flexion-Focused Moves
V-Up Modified V-Up Situp with Cross-Body Punch Hollow Hold Hollow Rock Plank Reach Side Plank Thread-the-Needle Tipping Hollow Rock Hollow Hold Russian Twist Uneven Hollow Rock Plank Shoulder-Tap Plank Up-Down
Bracing-Focused Moves
Rotation-Focused Moves
Anti-Rotation-Focused Moves
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