No equipment needed. Just 7.5 minutes!
If you need a quick core burner that will get your blood pumping and the sweat flying, you’ll want to try this Pyramid Workout.
The Pyramid Core Burner
Set a timer for 30 second intervals of work and move from exercise to exercise without resting. When you reach the Glute Bridge with Alternating Overhead Reach, you’re going to go backward through the moves. If you feel you’ll need to rest going backward through the moves, either modify the movements OR rest for 30-60 seconds instead of doing the Glute Bridges.
Complete one round through the Pyramid below.
PYRAMID:
30 seconds Burpee Sit Thru
30 seconds Wacky Jacks
30 seconds Rotational Squat to Lunge
30 seconds Push Up Step Knee Drive
30 seconds Diagonal Skaters to High Knees
30 seconds Side Plank Stars
30 seconds Rotational Row Sit Up
30 seconds Glute Bridge with Alternating Overhead Reach
30 seconds Rotational Row Sit Up
30 seconds Side Plank Stars
30 seconds Diagonal Skaters to High Knees
30 seconds Push Up Step Knee Drive
30 seconds Rotational Squat to Lunge
30 seconds Wacky Jacks
30 seconds Burpee Sit Thru
EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:
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Burpee Sit Thru:
To do the Burpee Sit Thru, start standing with your feet together. Then squat down and bend over to place your hands on the ground in front of your feet.
As you place your hands on the ground, jump your feet back into a Bulldog position so that your knees are bent with your knees under your hips and your hands under your shoulders.
From this bent-knee position, kick one leg under your body and through toward the opposite hand as you lift the opposite hand to “sit through.” Rotate open and try to kick through so that you could sit on the ground if needed. You can raise the lifted hand up toward the ceiling or simply lift it to your chest.
Then quickly bring the leg back under your body as you lower your hand back down to come back to the Bulldog position. Then sit through on the other side. You will again kick the leg under your body and through as you lift your opposite hand. You want to rotate all the way through so you could actually sit if you lost your balance.
Once you’ve performed a Sit Thru to both sides, jump your feet back in toward your hands and lift your hands up to come back up to standing. Jump up off the ground at the top and then repeat the movement.
Beginners may find they want to jump back into more of a plank position to make the Sit Thru easier. Advanced exercisers with more mobility will want to perform the Sit Thru from more of a Bulldog hold starting position and will want to move as quickly as possible.
Wacky Jacks:
To do Wacky Jacks, start standing tall and place your hands either behind your head or up just to the sides of your head. Bend your right knee up and out to the side as you crunch your upper body to the side, dropping your right elbow toward your right knee.
Then jump and switch, bending your left knee up and out to the side as you crunch your left elbow down toward your left knee.
Quickly jump and switch to the other side. Go back and forth between the sides as quickly as you can, crunching your elbow down to your knee as you raise your knee up as high as you can.
Rotational Squat to Lunge:
To do the Rotational Squat to Lunge, start standing with your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart. Squat down, sitting your butt back with your chest up. Sink to about parallel, making sure to sit back in your heels.
Then jump up off the ground, and as you do, pivot and bring one foot forward and the other back to sink into a lunge. If you pivoted to face toward the right, you will want to jump and land with your left foot in front and right foot back as you sink into a lunge.
Sink as low as you can without rounding over. Make sure your front heel is down on the ground and your weight is centered.
Then jump back up and pivot back center to land in a squat. Again jump up and this time rotate to angle toward the other side, jumping your other foot forward to sink into a lunge. So jump to face toward the left, landing with your right foot in front and left foot back.
Jump back center and sink into a squat.
Beginners can step instead of jumping and can even perform a shallower squat and lunge or even perform a straighter leg lunge to focus more on the glutes and keep it lower impact for their knees.
Push Up Step Knee Drive:
To do the Push Up Step Knee Drive, set up in a high plank position from your hands and feet.
Step one foot up and outside your hand. Really get the foot as close to all the way outside your hands as your mobility allows. Do not let your butt go way up in the air.
From that plank lunge position, tuck the opposite knee in toward the opposite elbow. Bring the knee in quickly then extend the leg back out.
Step the other foot back so you are back in the plank position. Then do a push up with your body moving as one unit. To modify, you can do the push up from your knees.
Once you’ve completed the push up and are in that high plank position, step your other foot up into a lunge on the other side and tuck the opposite knee in toward the opposite elbow. (Think of it as step then knee drive.)
Step back and repeat the push up. Another way to modify if you can’t do the push ups, is to only do one after a step knee drive to both sides instead of after each side.
Repeat moving as quickly as you can. Try not to let your butt go way up in the air as you move from side to side.
If you can’t do a push up or plank from the ground, you can also place your hands up on an incline.
Diagonal Skaters to High Knees:
To do Diagonal Skaters to High Knees, start to one side and the back of the space you have as you’ll be jumping laterally and forward. Stand and shift your weight onto your outside foot as you swing your arms across your body toward that side. You will lift that inside leg and even let it cross back behind your standing leg. Bend the knee of your standing leg slightly and load that leg and glute, even slightly popping your hip out toward that side.
Then jump laterally and forward at an angle to land on your other foot. Swing your arms across your body to help propel you further. Land on that other foot and quickly sink to load so you can jump diagonally forward and across to your starting foot.
Do that again to land on the other side. Think about completing 3-5 diagonal skater hops based on your space!
Once you’ve completed 3-5 lateral diagonal hops forward, high knee run backward or back pedal back to the start and repeat.
To modify, keep your lateral hops smaller while still moving diagonally forward and even march back instead of running back with high knees.
Side Plank Stars:
To do the Side Plank Stars, start in a side plank position with your elbow under your shoulder and your body in a nice straight line to your feet. You can choose to stack your feet or place your top foot in front. Beginners may need to drop their bottom knee down toward the ground.
Keeping your bottom hip up, lift your top arm up toward the ceiling as you raise your top leg up. Lift them up then lower them back down and rotate into a front plank with your elbows under your shoulders and your body in a nice straight line.
Do not let your hips sag or your butt go up toward the ceiling as you shift into the front plank. Do not touch your knees down or relax in this position although beginners may do this from their knees.
Then rotate into a side plank on the other side. In this side plank position, with your bottom hip up and body in a nice straight line, lift your top arm and leg up. Do not rotate toward the ground or rotate your leg way open as you lift.
Lower back down and rotate back into the front plank before switching to the other side.
Rotational Row Sit Up:
To do the Rotational Row Sit Up, lie on your back with your legs out straight and no wider than hip-width apart. Clasp your hands together and bend your elbows to bring your fists just above one shoulder and next to your head. Engage your abs and legs to lift your legs just a few inches off the ground.
Sit up and tuck one knee in toward your chest as you bring your hands down across your body and outside the hip of the tucked knee
As you lie back down, extend your leg back out ,so both are hovering a few inches off the ground, and bring your hands up above the other shoulder.
Sit back up and tuck the other knee as you rotate your hands down across your body and outside the other hip.
Lie back down and extend your legs out as you lift your hands above the shoulder you started on.
Really rotate your torso to face the knee you tuck in each time.
To modify, keep the leg that remains straight on the ground instead of having it hover just off the ground as you sit up. You can also do more of a crunch variation instead of sitting all of the way up.
Glute Bridge with Alternating Overhead Reach:
To do the Glute Bridge with Alternating Overhead Reach, set up as if you are doing the Basic Glute Bridge. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Your feet should be about hip-width apart and your knees should be in line with your feet and hips. Your feet should be just beyond your fingertips when you stretch your arms down by your sides.
For this variation, you can leave your arms down by your sides; however, bending your elbows can help you get a little more leverage for the bridge and reach.
Then driving through your heels and upper back bridge up, bracing your abs and squeezing your glutes to extend your hips. As you bridge up, reach one arm up and across your body to try and touch the ground on the opposite side just above your shoulder.
Stretch your back and feel your spine twisting and extending to reach, but do not hyperextend your low back to reach overhead. You want to get the mobility out of your mid and upper back not your low back.
Hold for a second or two then bring your arm back across and down to the ground as you lower down out of the bridge.
Then bridge back up and reach the opposite hand across and overhead.
You should feel your glutes working to help you bridge up and may even feel one side slightly take over as you reach overhead. This move will force each side to work slightly independently.
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28 days. 10 minute video workouts. No equipment needed!
Learn more here –> 28-Day Core Burners
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