Abs and Cardio Workout Plan (3 Day)

About this plan

Three sessions a week that alternate plank work with thirty-second cardio bursts, three sets of everything, no equipment.

Day one pairs a forty-second front plank, dead bugs, side planks and hollow holds with skaters, butt kicks and high-knee walking. Day two is the plank progression day — arm and leg lifts, toe taps, side plank crunches, reverse planks, plank jacks and bear planks. Day three raises the holds again: forty-five-second front planks, forty-second hollow holds, dead bugs at fourteen reps, side plank leg lifts, oblique crunches, plank jumps and skater hops.

The structure is a superset in disguise. A plank raises your heart rate less than you would like and a skater raises it more than you can sustain, so alternating them keeps you in a useful range for the whole session rather than spiking and crashing.

Note how the plank holds climb across the week: forty seconds on day one, forty-five on day three, with the hollow hold going from thirty to forty. That is the progression built in, and it is worth respecting rather than treating every session as identical.

The plank jack is the exercise that ties the two halves together — it is a plank that also gets you out of breath, and it is where most people discover their hips have been sagging. When the jumping starts, the trunk has to work harder to stay still, which is exactly the point.

Three sets of everything makes this a real session, roughly thirty minutes. If that is too long, cut to two sets rather than dropping exercises: the variety is what keeps the core covered from every angle.