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To help you reach your health and fitness goals, we tapped Karena and Katrina from Tone It Up for their advice. Here, they'll let you in on all their wellness secrets, as well as a few tips and tricks along the way.
Sculpting a strong core is essential for everything you do, from your workouts to something as simple as sitting up in bed! Working your core increases your balance, protects you from injury, and helps you stand tall and confident. With correct form, you can tone and strengthen your waistline with essentially every workout move. The best core exercises for women can often be accomplished using just your own body weight and are easy to practice at home. Others only require simple equipment like dumbbells. Today we're sharing our top five moves to strengthen and tone your gorgeous core.
Go through three rounds of the core-sculpting below. You've got this.
Deadlift
Tones your booty and hamstrings, and strengthens your lower abs.
Begin standing with legs hip-width apart with a slight bend in your knees, holding dumbbells in front of your hips. Slowly hinge forward at the hips as you engage your lower abs and lower the dumbbells down toward the ground, tracking the weights along your shins. Make sure to maintain a neutral spine and a slight bend in your knees. Use your booty to pull the weights back up and return to start. Complete 21 reps. Try performing a drop set to really challenge your body. Start with a set of heavier weights for the first seven reps, then lower down to medium weights for the next seven, and complete the last seven with lighter weights.
Standing Knee to Elbow Crunch
Tones your waistline.
Start standing with your arms bent in front of your chest. Bend one leg toward your chest while bringing the opposite elbow to the knee. Switch sides.
Complete 21 reps on each side.
Russian Twist
Tones your waistline.
Hold one dumbbell with both hands in front of your chest and sit back into a V position with knees bent and core engaged. Twist chest and dumbbell to one side, then twist to the other.
Repeat for 21 reps on each side.
Byrdie Tip
Try performing a drop set to really challenge your body. Start with a set of heavier weights for the first seven reps, then lower down to medium weights for the next seven, and complete the last seven with lighter weights.
Plank Tuck Jumps
Strengthens your entire core while raising your heart rate.
Begin in a plank position with wrists directly below shoulders and core engaged. Jump your legs toward your chest and land on your toes. Jump back to plank.
Complete 21 reps.
Ball Crunch
Tones your core.
Lie on the ball so your back is supported but head is off the ball. Bend knees in front of you with feet hip-width apart for support. Place hands behind your head and slowly crunch up. Use your core to avoid pulling your neck forward. Slowly lower back down.
Complete 21 reps.
