This core workout is 25 minutes and is good for all levels. In this core workout, we focus on overall core strength as well as hip flexibility and hip mobility. The transverse abdominis is a complex group of muscles that make up the core.
When we talk about core strength, it encompasses more than just the traditional six-pack. One of the happy side effects of having a strong core is a six-pack, but more important than looking good is to live a life without back pain. Since there is a gang load of muscles that connect down around your lower back, hips, and pelvis (also known as the lumbo pelvic hip complex) it's important to make sure to spend some time down there.
I would like to share the motivation behind this workout since I feel that there are others out there who like me, would benefit from this core workout the most. I am the lucky dad of two boys who are full of energy, and creativity and like to rough house. At 4 and 6 years of age, they are getting big enough that when we play, we play hard. Initially, I would get back pain after a rough play session and that made me scared to be active on their level the next time we would get after it.
Instead of saying "No, daddy can't play because last time you jumped on my neck and I threw my back out. But I'll watch from over here." I would rather like to be the dad who says "Let's do this!" (and mean it!).
As a personal trainer and yoga teacher, I spend most of my days moving, picking heavy things up, and stretching a fair amount. But when covid-19 came to town and we all got the stay-at-home order, I found that I was sitting at a desk for most of the day with a few online classes here and there. I learned something that most of you already know, that sitting down for long periods of time sucks. Muscles began tightening up and lower back pain became more frequent.
I've only had to do a sit-down job for a few months, but if you have a job where you sit for long periods of time, I feel for ya. However, I found that by taking the time to do core work and mobility work for a few minutes every day, I was able to make a big improvement in my body's core health as well as get a flatter tummy.
This core workout video is 25 minutes long and covers a LOT of ground. The biggest reason I hear why people don't exercise on a regular basis is they don't have the time and they don't enjoy it. For the time issue, I totally get it! As a dad trying to get in shape, we have to juggle work and life, and true to form, time is tight. But I challenge any dad who can't carve out 25 minutes for self-care.
I know dads who spend an easy 25 minutes in the bathroom in the morning as "personal time" and I know that taking a dump doesn't take that long. Instead, take that time and do your core workout 2-3 days a week to take action to stay healthy and fit for your kids and your family.
Now, I know that most dads don't want to spend their sacred time doing hip mobility work and would rather spend their workout time lifting heavy things or doing cardio till they sweat like a pig because that feels like the most productive use of their time. And it is! But you are only as strong as your weakest link and for a lot of people out there, your weakest link is in your lower back.
If you have a strong core and full mobility in your lumbo pelvic hip complex, you will be able to lift more, workout harder, and make your "productive" workouts even more productive. If you are a dad with a dad bod and would like to make this year the year that you transform that dad bod into a father figure, then take the time for self-care. It will ultimately make your workouts more productive and get you more in tune with your body.
To make it easy for all my fellow dads out there, I made a 30-day program called Dad Bod Transformation. In this health and fitness course for dads, I lay it all down in an easy-to-follow 30-day course to help dads make a healthy change. Every week you get a workout program, eating strategy guide, and support. But more important than all that goodness, we take the time to address flexibility and mobility as well as create the groundwork for habit identification and creation.
The goal is that by the end of the 30 days, you will have the habit system in place to exercise daily, eat a 90% clean diet, and maintain better sleep habits. All of these steps are a part of the process that goes into making a dad bod transformation and no one action can do it alone. Put all these steps together and you begin to see a real lasting positive change like losing weight, building muscles, sleeping better, having more energy, being in a better frame of mind, and hopefully being better in bed.
Thanks for reading and I hope this workout was a good one for you. Stay healthy, stay safe, and stay awesome!
Nolan
Full transcript of the workout below ~
laying flat on your back
and we'll begin with some hip mobility
work
before we launch into the core exercises
so laying on your back we're going to
put your feet on either side of the mat
so you got like a good amount of space
in between your heels and your knees are
kind of far apart
and we're going to drop both knees over
to one side
so you got one knee kind of floating in
the air and your other knee gets really
close down to the ground taking a deep
breath so you're kind of getting a
stretch across the top part of your hip
right here
and then come on up to center and drop
both knees over to the other side
so again like you got one leg kind of
floating in the air
other knees kind of close down to the
ground and just letting the weight of
your legs
be the thing that's stretching out all
the muscles around your hip
read that one more time on each side so
getting both knees up drop and move to
the other side
just letting the weight of your legs
take it down so you kind of get that
stretch
taking a deep breath and as you exhale
let your legs be heavy
one more time come back up to center
dropping them over to the other side
the last time
holding for two breaths here
and then coming on back up and we can
bring your feet a little bit closer
together we're going to come to a set of
25 crunches straight up and down
and as you come up try and give a big
exhale
at the top of each crunch so you're kind
of emptying out your lungs
and it kind of allows you to hold the
top of the crunch for a moment
so going at your own pace going for 25
try to maintain that space between your
chin and your chest
foreign
once you finish up that set of 25 we're
going to hook your right
ankle over your left knee
and from here we're going to drop both
knees over to the right side
so you're letting the weight of that
ankle kind of provide a little bit of
pressure
on top of that hip
taking a deep breath as we continue
stretching out your lumbar
pelvic hip complex
two more breaths here
and then coming up to center we're going
to interlace your fingers
in between your thighs of the leg that's
kind of floating in the air
and then very gently we're going to pull
your legs towards your face
so we're stretching out the outside edge
of your right right bum cheek
hold here for a few breaths and we'll
pull just hard enough that you're
getting a good stretch through your hip
but not so
hard that like anything hurts hold here
for one more breath
and we'll plant that left foot down on
the floor
bring both hands behind your head and
we'll do 15
figure four crunches straight up and
down so you can use your hands to
support your head
or put your hands across your chest but
either way we're going to maintain that
space between your chin and your chest
and give a big
exhale each time you come up for the
crunch
and cool once you're done with that set
of 15
you'll just switch legs putting your
left ankle over your right knee
and then again dropping both your legs
over to the left side so you got that
ankle on top of your right knee which is
kind of providing a little bit of
pressure to push down to stretch out
through your right hip
on the top part taking a few breaths
here
and then slowly rotating back to center
you're going to slide your hands in
between your legs to grab onto the
outside edge
of your right thigh and then gently pull
your legs towards your face
so you're getting that stretch through
your left bone cheek give a little rock
side to side if you want to
two more breaths here
and then coming on down we're gonna
plant your right heel on the floor
and do figure four crunches on the other
side so going for 15 of these
either hands behind your head or across
your chest
and 15 crunches
great once you finish up that set of 15
we're going to straighten out your legs
and put your hands underneath your bum
we're going to come into a set of leg
lifts
so we're gonna do leg lifts a little bit
differently today
so as you do one leg lift that's great
and then the second one you're gonna
roll your knees into your chest
so we're gonna break it up straight leg
lift
and the knees into your chest i'm going
to go for 20 of these total
it's like that's one this is two
so going for 20. rolling through and as
you tuck your knees to your chest trying
to roll your
tailbone up off the floor and each time
you straighten out your legs try and
push your toes as far away from you as
you can
18 19
20. great
cool once you finish up your set of 20
we'll hug both knees into your chest
giving yourself a little rock side to
side massaging the muscles of your lower
back into the floor maybe draw a circle
on the ground
keeping both knees locked together we're
going to drop them both over to the left
side
so your knees are still stacked one on
top of the other we're going to bring
both arms out to either side
so that both knuckles are on the floor
from here we're going to bring your
hands behind your head and come into 15
oblique crunches so you're going to
crunch both shoulder blades up
squeezing from this part of your tummy
15 times
five six
seven
14 and 15. great
when you're done with those we'll come
back onto your back one more time both
knuckles out to either side
kind of getting that stretch through
your lower back
and then making your way to both knees
into your chest
we'll rock side to side and then we'll
drop both knees over to the right side
and repeat the whole process
so both hands coming out knees are
staying bent hands come behind your head
and then 15 oblique crunches
trying to get your right shoulder blade
up off the floor
10 11
12 13
bring both hands out to either side one
more time stretch not your lower back
making your way onto your
back one more time and a little roll
around
and then we're going to straighten out
both legs along the mat
raising your right hand over your head
we're going to try and touch your left
toe
keeping your right leg straight so
coming up
to make that connection and then coming
all the way back down we're going to do
that 15 times on each side
11 12
13 14
15. cool once all done with those we'll
switch sides
straightening both legs and then
touching your right toe with your left
hand
15 times trying to actually make the
contact
uh
wow
cool once you finish up those you're
going to come to a set of
bicycle crunches so for the bicycle
crunches
we're going to go for a set of 50 of
these and
as you straighten out your leg try and
get a good extension
through the leg that's going straight
and try and make contact to your elbow
as you come up
okay so starting whenever you're ready
going for 50
and we'll wrap through it
um
nice work jim you're getting that good
extension with the legs
nice one cool
so we're going to keep uh to collaborate
go back to stretching out your
your bum and your hips so we're going to
cross your right ankle over your left
knee
we're going to push off your left heel
raising your hips as high up to the
ceiling as you can
lower on back down we're going to do 10
of these on each leg
so going at your own pace just giving
that good strong squeeze at the top
so strong that you almost feel a stretch
on the top part of your hips
it's
once you finish your time just switch
sides same thing on the other
five
six
seven eight
nine
and ten
cool once we're all done with those
we're going to make your way onto your
hands and knees
on your mat
so with your fingertips spread wide
directly underneath your shoulders knees
under your hips
we're going to reach your right arm out
and your left foot away from you
and we're going to take in a deep breath
on the exhale connect elbow to knee
under your body
inhale to extend we're going to go for
10 of these
so you should make a connection there's
two
three
four
six
seven
nine and ten
cool once i'm done with those switching
sides
left arm out in front of you right foot
away
taking a deep breath and then on the
exhale connect elbow's knee
going for 10.
seven eight
nine and ten
cool we're gonna come all the way down
onto your belly
so we're going to come into superman to
cactus arms to strengthen your upper
and lower back so i'm start out in front
of you
we're going to fly up raising legs and
arms off the floor drag your elbows down
towards your ribs
and then straighten back out and then
lower down softly
we're gonna go for five of these going
at your own pace
and going in a range of motion that
feels good and safe to you
there's two
there's three
four
there's five
you can come all the way back and rest
in child's pose for a moment
stretching out your lower back so bring
your knees out to the side of your mat
big toes together
and then letting your bum rest down on
your heels walk your fingertips out in
front of you
and then when you're ready making your
way onto your forearms we're going to
hold a forearm plank
for 60 seconds
so pushing your upper spine
away from the mat and starting right
now so as you hold the plank try and
keep your hips level with the floor
and push your heels away from you in the
crown of your head out in front of you
as you inhale rib cage expands as you
exhale tuck your belly button into your
spine and almost like up to your heart
good we're in 30 seconds
keep the shoulders strong so you're
always pushing your heart away from the
floor
nice 15 more seconds
five four three two
one and come on down
rest in child's pose again stretching
out that lower back
just for a few breaths give your hips a
little rock
side to side
good and then whenever you're ready
coming up into a sitting position
cool and with sitting on your bone with
your feet out in front of you with your
feet slightly wider than hip width apart
hands are supporting you from the back
drop both knees over to the right side
so your knees kind of end up on the
floor and then try to sit upright
so with both knees down you're going to
inhale really tall lengthen through your
spine
take in a deep breath and exhale to
twist and look over your right shoulder
gentle spinal twist
come back to center and then twist to
look over your left shoulder
coming on back to center hands can come
back behind you
and both knees up and we'll switch sides
so drop both knees over to the left
and then rock it on up so we're getting
a good stretch right here in your
in your hips so try and sit with a
really
tall spine taking a deep breath and then
exhale to twist look over your left
shoulder spinal twist
silk over your right shoulder
come on back to center
we'll bring the soles of your feet
together
and clasping your toes just going to
flap your wings
it will rock side to side
inhale lengthen through your spine and
then exhale draw your elbows out to the
sides
to bring your forehead down towards your
toes
whenever you're ready slowly coming all
the way back up
and sitting in a comfortable position
and do one more stretch
so inhale raising both hands up over
your head
drop your right hand down by your side
and then using the support of that hand
to kind of like them through your spine
reach your left arm over
so we're stretching out all the muscles
in your lower back and your side
and your hip you can take a look up
towards the ceiling
and then pushing off the floor to come
back up to center
and then switch insides just dropping
your left hand down
finding the support of the floor
reaching your right arm over your head
rolling through the shoulders so you can
look up towards the ceiling
and then on the exhale push them back up
to center both hands come to the sky and
then
glitter fingers of happiness come
raining down all over your weekend
because it's friday yay
that's it