Finding new ways to work your abs is all kinds of fun — at least for me it is. And if I can incorporate moves I learned from my decade and a half in gymnastics [1], it's a win-win. So, when American Olympic gymnast Alicia Sacramone, now Alicia Sacramone Quinn, (seen above) posted an "anywhere" core circuit online featuring exercises like Supermans [2] and plank rocks, which we commonly did at the end of practices growing up, I knew I needed to give it a try.
Fun fact: Alicia has a total of 10 World Championship medals [3], which is the second most of any American gymnast behind Simone Biles [4] (Simone currently has 20 [5]). Alicia, now retired, is a mom of two — she gave birth to her second child in July 2018 [6] — and she frequently posts Instagram videos of her working out with her kids. The 31-year-old is exercising alone in her most recent ab routine but used hashtags like #fitmom and #naptimeworkouts to indicate that this particular sweat session took place while the kids napped (because that's as good a time as any to exercise!). Ahead, check out the full core workout, and keep reading for what I thought. Get ready, abs — here we come!
What I Thought About Alicia Sacramone's Ab Workout
I did this ab workout in a little over 10 minutes, with 30-second breaks between rounds, but if you need more time, like one minute, go for it. The superman variations at the end were a great way to work the posterior chain (back body) to balance out the anterior core work (muscles in the front of your body [12]).
Because planks get to the deepest part of your core — your traverse abdominis [13], or TVA — I really liked that Alicia had four different kinds, and the plank ankle taps were my favourite exercise because they're basically planks and single-leg V-ups [14] all in one! If you need a quick ab routine that targets your entire core (and then some), this workout does the job.