View this post on Instagram[1]
We love a low-impact circuit [3] — it's easy on the joints and, depending on your ability level, less intimidating — but we also love a high-impact workout that challenges our athleticism (because we're all athletes in our own right!). And, when it comes to challenges, Jasmine Blocker [4], a NASM-certified personal trainer who also runs track and field for Team USA, wants you to forgo crunches for something a little more interesting: dynamic core exercises.
"Dynamic core exercises are an amazing way to strengthen and define your ab muscles while elevating your heart rate," Blocker, part of a world-record-setting [5] 4x400-meter mixed relay team [6] at the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships, wrote on Instagram.
The circuit Blocker shared features the following five moves, which she said to perform for a few rounds (we recommend two to four rounds with 30 seconds to one minute of rest in between each round depending on your fitness level):
- High knees: 30 seconds
- Tuck jump: 10 reps
- Ski abs: 10 reps per side
- Mountain climber: 30 seconds
- Plank jack: 25 reps
Blocker noted on Instagram that if you don't want to perform these moves as a high-intensity circuit, you can simply add some of the exercises into your next workout. Watch her demonstrate each move in the video above, and get ready to say, "Crunches, who?!"