15 Minute Core Workout (No Equipment)

About this plan

Three sessions a week, one set of each exercise, fifteen minutes. The variety across the session is what does the work rather than the volume of any one movement.

Day one runs glute bridges, dead bugs, bird dogs, chest-crossed crunches, a twenty-second beginner side plank and more. Day two covers a twenty-five-second front plank, bridge marches, Russian twists with hands on the chest, reverse crunches and lying toe touches. Day three moves faster — mountain climbers, pelvic tilts into bridges, dead bugs, bird dogs, plank arm lifts and side planks.

Glute bridges opening two of three sessions is not a mistake. The glutes and the deep core control the pelvis together, and core training that ignores the glutes tends to hand their job to the lower back. Anyone whose back aches after ab work should pay particular attention to this half.

The Russian twist here is done with hands on the chest rather than holding a weight out in front. That keeps the load low while the rotation is trained, which is the right trade for a beginner — the weighted version turns a rotation exercise into a lower back exercise for anyone not ready for it.

One set of each means no exercise gets ground into fatigue, so form holds all the way through. That matters more in core work than almost anywhere else, because a fatigued plank stops being a plank and becomes a lower back hold.

Fifteen minutes three times a week is a realistic amount of direct core work. The trunk is already working in every squat, carry and press; this adds the specific qualities that general training misses.