10 Best Core Exercises for Women

While the core does tend to be associated with the deep abdominal muscles, it also encompasses back muscles; in other words, the central core of muscles – front and back. So how can we exercise our core into proper, healthy, non-protruding shape? There are loads of great exercises for our core and you can do pretty much all of them from home, with minimal equipment.

Are you ready to lose those love handles and get ripped? Let’s find out.

Best Bodyweight Core Exercises

The following exercises can be performed anywhere in your home, as long as there is optimal space for you to move freely. Bodyweight exercises are a great place to start when it comes to building up the core and can provide you with a strong foundation.

Plank

First, set yourself as if you are about to do a push-up, only in this instance, place your forearms on the ground and keep your back straight with legs locked. Make sure everything is tight and engaged, but don’t slouch or arch your back. Now hold that pose for 10 to 20 seconds.

Do 3 to start and build from there.

With Shoulder Taps

Start in a straight line push-up position while being nicely balanced on your toes. Quickly bring your hand up and towards the opposite shoulder, then bring your hand slowly back to the ground.

Repeat with the other hand.

With a Twist

From a push-up position, raise your arm towards the ceiling and turn your head in the same direction. Go slowly to always make sure that the right muscles are engaged.

Repeat on the other arm and do 5 on each side to start.

Side

Lie on your side, elbow under your shoulder, feet on top of each other. Now slowly lift your hips off the floor until you form an angled, side-on plank. Hold for 30 seconds, bring your hips back down and relax.

Do 3 each side.

Sit-ups

Lie with bent knees, feet on the floor, arms either across your chest or behind your head. Lift to a sit and hold for 2 seconds before returning to the start position.

To start with, try 2 sets of 10.

V-sit Crunch

Lay on your back with hands on the floor on either side of your chest. Now bring your legs up so they are bent at 45 degrees above you. Extend your legs straight up, then back to the bent position.

Do 5 to start and build from there.

Hand to Toes

Lay flat on your back, arms flat on the ground. Raise your right foot and tap it with your left hand, then back. Raise your left foot and tap it with your right hand, then back.

Repeat 5 times on each side to start.

Arm-pull with Leg Crunches

Lie on your back, arms behind you, legs straight, initially. Raise your legs to 45 degrees and bring your arms up over your head. Now lift your shoulders off the floor and raise your legs to 90 degrees. Relax and repeat.

Do 2 sets of 10 (can also be done with dumbbells).

Bent Knee Raises

Lie flat on the floor with your arms at your sides, bend your knees at approximately a 75 degree angle and lift your feet off the floor using your lower abs. Bring them back down slower than you raised them, relax and repeat.

Start with 5 and build from there.

Best Core Exercises with Equipment

The following exercises can be done with equipment and are a little more advanced than the bodyweight exercises. We recommend doing those before attempting these as using any type of weight, no matter how small, increases the intensity of the exercise.

Chin Crunch

A hanging bar exercise. Simply hang from a pull-up bar with hands just outside shoulder width, pull yourself up to the bar and raise your knees to your chest in the top position. Hold for as long as you need and slowly come back to the starting position.

Barbell Rollouts

Kneel with a barbell loaded with small weights (which act as the wheels) and roll out to a full push up stretch, going as far as comfortable, and then pull yourself back to the start position.

Russian Twists

Use a weight you are comfortable with, sit with bent knees reach your arms straight out in front you and use your abdominal muscles to twist to the right, then back to center, and then to the left.

Kettlebell Windmills

We’ve saved the best for last. First, clean and press the kettlebell overhead, then bend to one side until the fingers of your free hand touch the ground while keeping the kettlebell high overhead in the other hand. Do this slowly, then swap hands and repeat.

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