Quick 10 Minute Abs Workout

The 10 minute abs workout in the video below can help you get in shape without making a big dent in your busy schedule. This intense workout includes just three abdominal exercises:

1) elbow-to-knee crunches, 2) the plank, and 3) mountain climbers. No equipment needed.

Although I'm calling this a 10 minute abs workout, many people complete it in just 5 minutes!

For extra calorie burning, push it to 10 minutes or more by repeating the three moves. Believe me, after doing this routine for just 5 minutes you'll be pretty wiped out.

The goal of the routine is to push your abdominal muscles to the limit in a very short time. If you do this workout regularly (several days a week), it will strengthen your ab muscles and help pull in your stomach.

Be sure to combine this short abs routine with a well-rounded exercise routine and healthy diet, so you can burn lots of fat and uncover those awesome ab muscles you're building.

Mike is in really good shape. Don't be discouraged if you are not lean and toned like him. Everyone begins somewhere! Mike had a big belly when he first started out.

This 10 minute abs (or less) routine can be performed up to 5 times per week. However, let's be clear about something:

It makes sense to work out your ab muscles. Those muscles do need to be trained, and this 10 minute abs routine certainly does that. However, many people have the misconception that they only need to work out their abs in order to get a flat stomach.

No! To get rid of your belly, you need to bring down your overall body fat percentage. A flat stomach is the the result and reward of getting rid of the excess fat stored in many different parts of your body.

And what is one of the best ways to burn overall body fat? What you've heard before and maybe don't want to hear again: follow a regular exercise program that includes weight training and bursts of intense cardio.

The Afterburn Effect

If you are not exercising with weights, you are depriving yourself of one of the best ways to lose fat: The Afterburn Effect. You can tap into this whether you are a woman or man, and regardless of the shape you are in now.

Here's the difference between burning calories with cardio versus with weight training. Cardio activities like running, cycling, or jumping rope burn fat only while you do the exercise.

Every weight training workout, on the other hand, sparks a continous fat-burning cycle that lasts for 24 to 48 hours. That is what is meant by the Afterburn Effect.

Not only does the Afterburn Effect created by lifting weights help you burn more fat, but muscle itself requires more calories to maintain than fat does. Muscle increases your resting metabolism. The more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns (the higher your metabolism is), even while watching TV or sitting around.

So in addition to this abs routine, start a workout program like CrossFit, P90X, Body-for-Life, Sixpack Shortcuts, or any other proven diet and exercise system that seems a good match for your lifestyle. Most such programs require you to work out at least three days a week with weights and cardio.

Get on a lean diet as well. Then watch that fat melt off!

What These Ab Exercises Do

The three exercises in this 10 minutes abs routine target your abs, obviously. But in case you were wondering, here is how each exercise affects the stomach muscles:

1. Elbow-to-Knee Crunches. This exercise primarily works the upper, central abdominal area.

2. The Plank. This exercise works the upper and lower central abdominal area.

3. Mountain Climbers. This exercise works the lower central abdominal muscles.

What you might notice is that none of the three abs exercises in this 10 minute abs workout target the side abdominal muscles (the obliques) primarily.

For that reason, I'd suggest that once or twice a week you substitute side planks, alternating elbow-to-knee crunches, or some other oblique abdominal exercise for one of the three above.

That way you'll work out the entire abdominal area and not just the central ab muscles.

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