'I Did Model Alexis Ren’s TikTok-Viral Abs Workout For 3 Weeks And Saw Real Results'

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I love working out, and a good workout challenge is even better. When I had the opportunity to try model Alexis Ren's viral abs workout on Youtube, I was especially excited.

It was not my first abs challenge, (remember when I did planks every day for a month?), but it was the first with both static and dynamic exercises. I 'm a movement girlie, and static (or isometric) exercises aren’t really my jam because they require so much mental energy. Keeping things moving allows me to get out of my own head and focus on the exercises.

Meet the experts: Marissa West, CPT, is a certified personal trainer, ACE nutrition specialist, and CEO and founder of West Kept Secret Fitness Studio. Denise Chakoian, CPT, is a certified personal trainer, cancer exercise specialist, and owner and founder of CORE.

It's easy to see why the Alexis Ren ab workout has so many fans. Don't just take my (or the millions of views) word for it. Marissa West, CPT, founder of West Kept Secret Fitness Studio, mirrored my enthusiasm for Alexis Ren's abs workout: “I truly love this routine! I do so many of these exercises with my own clients, so I always enjoy seeing others program them together in different interval formats.”

Here's what it's really like following Alexis Ren's abs workout every day for three weeks.

Alexis Ren's Abs Routine

It is a quick 10-minute workout including a variety of abs exercises that hit the core from all angles. There are nearly 20 different moves—think crunches, mountain climbers, plank variations, and flutter kicks—each done for 30 seconds and no rest breaks. It went viral when model Alexis Ren posted her morning routine to her YouTube channel in 2018 and has since garnered over 55 million views (and still pops up on TikTok!).

To make things a bit easier for myself, I followed certified personal trainer Jibby Ani’s variation on YouTube, which has automated beeps to signal when to change moves and words of encouragement incorporated into the same routine demoed by Alexis.

If you’re just getting started, West recommends adding in a rest break between each move and pausing for 15 seconds. I decided to start with these rest break modifications to ease into it.

Form is priority number one for beginning any new routine, says to Denise Chakoian, CPT, owner and founder of CORE. “The head and neck will take the brunt of these exercises, especially when someone is not advanced,” she explains. To avoid that and maintain proper alignment, slow down your movements and stay controlled. (Noted!)

If you want to up the burn, West recommends adding a dumbbell or Bala weights to your wrists or ankles. “Another suggestion is adding a quick burst of cardio in-between each ab movement for an overall bigger calorie burn,” she says. This tip I saved for future me.

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My Abs Workout Journey

I began this 10-minute abs routine feeling good and raring to go. My motivation and confidence were sky high. The workout was easy to fit in my schedule. I never dreaded getting started because I knew I’d be done so fast. Even on my busiest days, I could squeeze it in—taking a quick break from work in the middle or ending my night with a brief sweat sesh.

Alexis makes the abs moves look easy, but they are not. The first few days were the most challenging for me as I got familiar with the routine and worked on my core strength. It didn't take long for the moves to feel a bit easier, though.

However, only a few short days into my Alexis Ren abs workout challenge, I caught a sinus infection. The symptoms sidelined me and put all my workouts on hold. I was disappointed, but I let my bod heal and waited until I was 100 percent again to restart.

I hopped right back into the routine as soon as I could. One week off and all my progress was zapped. (Ugh!) I felt like I was starting right back at square one.

Thankfully, I regained my core strength quicker and started to see more progress. It was an exciting moment when I was able to increase my time doing certain exercises and skip the quick breaks.

As my abs got stronger nearing the third week, I also noticed the exercises fatigued additional muscles. For example, I felt my quads during leg lifts and shoulders during the plank series. I was pleasantly surprised.

I gained new mental strength to complete static exercises.

Static exercises are super tough for me. They are more about willpower versus physical strength limitations. This was especially true during the last stretch of the routine that focused on plank variations.

Luckily, I knew that each move was only 30 seconds long, which is totally doable. A few 30-second planks were not the end of the world, and they were complete before I knew it.

An "abs workout" can actually work the whole bod.

In addition to working my mind and my abs, I was surprised to feel fatigue in other muscles, as well. With back-to-back flutter kicks and leg raising exercises, I felt the burn in my quads too.

Similarly, during the plank finisher, my shoulders really felt fired up. I’ve always found planks challenging, because they emphasize the weakness in my shoulders. As the weeks progressed, I made great strides and got stronger all over. Even with my hiatus, I found all of the exercises getting easier and easier.

A 10-minute routine is a great jumping off point for more activity.

Have I mentioned how speedy this workout is? It contained so much movement and diversity, it seemed to go by even quicker. Unlike other workout challenges, I never dreaded it or worried about fitting the whole routine in my schedule. In fact, I actually found myself looking forward to it.

It was easy to mentally prepare for only a 10-minute workout, too. I often feel like half the battle with a workout routine is mentally preparing for it and starting. In this case, telling myself, “it’s only 10 minutes,” made me realize it wasn’t something to be apprehensive about, but rather something to bring me joy.

Once I got started, I almost always ended up adding on an extra workout afterward. With those endorphins surging, I felt confident and energetic enough to extend my sesh.

Not only did I physically feel my core becoming stronger, but I could also see the changes. (Results!) I grew to love this routine—the sheer variety of abs exercises kept it interesting and an optimal difficult level. It was challenging without being overwhelming. Alexis Ren is certainly onto something—and I will keep this 10-minute abs video as a staple in my workout routine.

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