While I love doing a frenetic HIIT workout from time to time, more often than not, I prefer to take a more measured approach to my strength sessions.
I find controlled, steady workouts more approachable and easier to motivate myself to do, and when it comes to core strength, keeping your movements slow can help engage the target muscles longer and get your abs burning faster than an all-out HIIT blast.
This 15-minute workout from fitness trainer Mikala, better known as FitByMik on YouTube, works your whole core, including the abs, obliques and deeper stabilizer muscles, all while keeping the pace steady and controlled.
It’s a challenging session but includes modifications so anyone can try, and you don’t need any equipment to do it, though rolling out one of the best yoga mats will make it more comfortable on hard floors.
Watch FitByMik’s 15-minute deep core workout
You do 15 exercises in the session, working for 45 seconds, then resting for 15 seconds while getting into position for the next move.
Mikala does the whole workout with you and gives guidance on your form and breathing throughout, as well as some encouragement to keep going when things get tough. It’s worth making sure you can see and hear her throughout.
The 45-second sets feel long, but the aim is to keep moving throughout, working at a slow, steady pace so you don’t burn out quickly, but instead, challenge your core muscles to keep going for the whole time.
Working at a controlled pace gives you more of a chance to focus on your form, ensure you’re engaging the right muscles with each move and use your core to drive the movement rather than relying on other muscles or momentum.
One thing I always notice with slower abs workouts is that I’m better at keeping my lower back imprinted on the floor for moves where I’m lying on the floor — this is something I often lose track of when doing fast abs workouts.
Moving more slowly also helps you keep your breathing steady while moving. Timing your inhales and exhales to the movements will help you work through longer sets, and sometimes during HIIT sessions I forget to breathe for long stretches.
If you enjoy the slower approach to core training, but don’t have even 15 minutes to spare, try this eight-minute Pilates session instead.
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