This Multi-Plane Ab Workout Hits All Aspects of Your Core

From Men's Health

While the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has halted the cadence of everyday life for just about everyone, the world is now beginning to adjust. We're all handling the challenges of social distancing and self-isolation differently—but that doesn't mean that we have to go it completely alone in every sense.

At Men's Health, we're using this period as an opportunity to build up our community and share as much useful, positive information as possible. For everyone stuck missing their typical workout routines with gyms and fitness centers closed down, we've done our best to provide as many at-home workout options as possible. But that's just the start. We're also hosting live workout sessions on Instagram with some of our favorite trainers to fill the fitness class-shaped void in your daily routine.

Men's Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S., creator of the New Rules of Muscle program on All Out Studio, hosted the most recent session, which is a super-smart and functional ab series. You'll need a resistance band and an anchor point to give it a try.

The routine is designed to work your body in multiple planes of movement. If you're not familiar with this concept, there are three planes: the sagittal plane, for up-and-down and front-to-back movement, the frontal plane, for side-to-side movement, and the transverse plane, for rotational movement. But that's not all. "We're going to hit all four aspects of our abs," says Samuel. "They can rotate us, they can anti-rotate, they can brace—which is to just keep us tight against anything—and they can spinal flex, which would drive us forward in that classic situp motion."

Ebenezer Samuel's Multi-Plane and Function Ab Workout

Warmup

• Spiderman to T-Spine Rotation Stretch - 60 seconds

• Bear Plank to Bird Dogs - 60 seconds

Workout

• Anti-Rotation: Pallof Glute Bridge March - 2 sets of 40 seconds per side, 20 seconds rest

• Spinal Flexion: Hollow Hold to 4 Sprinter Situps - 3 sets of 40 seconds, 20 seconds rest

• Rotation: Constant-tension Russian Twist - 3 sets of 30 seconds on, 30 off

• Bracing: Bear Plank to Alternating Knee - 2 sets

• Tap Countup Finisher

Stay up to date with our workouts every single weekday at 12 p.m. ET. Want to keep up with the sessions you've missed? Check out the whole collection here.

GET THE WORKOUTS HERE

Want some more workouts from Samuel? Check out his New Rules of Muscle program on All Out Studio.

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