Core on the Floor Workout

Posted on: March 5th 2013

Something new here – I’m really interested in your feedback on this one! I’ve recorded a real-time video here. No edits, no cutting between exercises. For the first time you can set up the video and do it along with me, at the same time.

Love it? Hate it? Let me know in the comments below!

Note: if you open up the video in YouTube, there are hyperlinks to the different exercises so you can skip through if you don’t want to watch me huff and puff through the whole 9 minutes.

The workout itself is a core strengthening routine. The whole thing happens down on the mat, and it will require a lot of weight bearing on your arms, so people with wrist, elbow, or shoulder injuries should modify according to their doc’s suggestions, or avoid this one altogether.  The workout begins and ends with a simple, gentle exercise called Bird Dogs, to engage your back muscles. We tend to focus on our abs too much and neglect our backs, so this will balance things out a bit.

Here’s the drill:

Equipment: yoga mat

Workout: (all rep counts are alternating sides, so you count rep 1 for the right side, and rep 2 for the left side, and so on back and forth)

  • Bird Dogs x 10
  • Angry Crabs ‘A’ x 20 | Pendulums x 30
  • Pushup + Praying Mantis Plank x 20 | Pendulums x 25
  • Side lifts left x 20 | Pendulums x 20
  • Side lifts right x 20 | Pendulums x 15
  • Angry Crabs ‘B’ x 20 | Pendulums x 10
  • Bird Dogs x 20

Please warm up first! Pay attention to your hamstrings, shoulders, and chest especially!  And do a cool-down stretch at the end.

Let me know how the full-length format works for you (or doesn’t!)

6 thoughts on “Core on the Floor Workout

  1. Love the real time workout! My only suggestion would be some vocal cues, so we can make sure we’re doing everything right & our timing matches yours!

  2. I love the real time workout a LOT! I agree with Boxcar, some verbal cues and some tips on form etc while doing it would be helpful. And maybe a few seconds to show each move before starting the reps?
    Great workout!

  3. Now that classes are over, I finally got a chance to do this workout. I really liked it, could feel it all over my core. Which is something I need. Is there any way to include modifications for those of us with less muscle tone? I can’t do the angry crabs, or praying mantis planks, the way you do so I changed it to fit where my level of fitness is.

    1. I sometimes try to include modifications, and will try to do more going forward. Thanks for the comment LilRedDeadlihood!

  4. This looks fantastic! I didn’t know what any of these exercises were so I’ve only watched it without doing it. I won’t be able to do most of these for another few weeks as I’m recovering from a broken wrist but I’ve bookmarked it and its given me so many more ideas to work on my core.
    It was awesome watching you huff and puff like a regular person haha, definitely makes me more inclined to do it.

  5. Is there a beginner version of this? Like a lower number count?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *