Time (or a lack of it) is often cited as the reason I skip a workout. Whether it’s because I’ve woken up later than I had hoped and have missed my allocated slot to work out, or I’ve decided to work through my lunch break in order to get my to-do list ticked off.
When you’re spinning lots of plates, something's got to give. And this year, it’s my fitness regime that’s often been the first thing to be ditched in favour of something else. However, in 2025, I think we can all agree that workouts don’t need to be long, super sweaty, or tedious to ‘count’ as being effective. If armed with the right workout, you can achieve a lot in not a lot of time at all.
But does a six-minute workout still hit the spot? After coming across this short and speedy abs workout from qualified physiotherapist and Pilates trainer Lilly Sabri, I decided to see for myself. After rolling out a yoga mat, I was good to go. Spoiler alert: my abs are still on fire!
What is the workout?
I’m a fan of most of Sabri’s YouTube workouts because they tend to be Pilates-inspired, quick and not-so-easy, so it still feels like you’re challenging your body despite the limited time you’ve got to do it in. And this six-minute deep core session is just that!
Containing 12 Pilates moves, the idea is to complete each exercise for 30 seconds, with no rests in between.
For example, some of the moves include:
- Pilates roll-ups
- Pilates Hundreds
- Toe taps
- Crunches
- Single leg stretch
- Hollow hold
What I found after completing this six-minute workout
Six minutes can be enough time to work out — especially if it’s all you’ve got. As I found after completing the first two exercises, my core was all fired up and feeling like it had been put through its paces.
That’s because Pilates is all about performing slow and controlled movements with the correct form that matches your breath. Doing so helps you move steadily and with precision during each exercise, which can then help you maximize the time under tension for your deep core muscles. And that it does!
For example, during the Pilates roll-ups, instead of completing as many reps of this move as possible during the 30-second stint, I focused on inhaling as I was slowly rolling my torso up and my arms reaching forward and then exhaling as I articulated through my spine, vertebrae by vertebrae, back down until I was lying flat on the mat. And this was a technique that was instilled into each move.
Doing so meant my core muscles were engaged the whole time, which helped me get more bang for my buck. So after completing all 12 of the best pilates exercises for my core, my trunk certainly knew it had had a workout.
Due to the fact that there are no rests in between each of these moves, you are therefore engaging your muscles for a sustained period of time through a series of controlled movements, which helped me boost my muscular endurance.
Plus, while the workout was over before I knew it, it provided me with some much-needed headspace before the busy day began.
The conclusion
I’d say this workout is ideal if you’re short on time, as you’ll still feel the burn (sometimes in muscles you didn’t know you had) even if you’ve only got six minutes spare.
In a perfect world, we’d be sticking to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, which recommend adults complete muscle-strengthening activities on all major muscle groups two or more days a week. So, of course, a short bout of Pilates can help get you closer to this goal, but if time allows, it shouldn’t be the only workout you do.
Either way, whether you try out this workout on its own, incorporate it into your full-body workout, or as an abs finisher, you’re bound to feel a handful of the benefits Pilates brings.
More from Tom's Guide
- 8 minutes, no equipment — this 8-move Pilates abs workout works your deep core muscles
- Pilates instructor shares full-body routine to strengthen muscles and boost posture — and it only takes 20 minutes
- 8 moves and 8 minutes are all you need to activate your deep core, sculpt your abs and improve posture, according to a Pilates instructor
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