Sculpt your abs in three minutes with these three bodyweight exercises

Here's a workout you can do everyday to help strengthen your abdominal muscles

Man doing mountain climbers
(Image credit: Getty Images)

If you want a six-pack you need to consistently train your abdominal muscles (that means one workout a week isn’t going to cut it). This three minute workout, however, is easy enough to slot into your busy schedule and add onto the end of other workouts, so you can train your torso every other day. You don’t need any home gym equipment either, as they’re all bodyweight exercises - excellent! 

The abdominal muscles are a group of four muscles in your midsection and training them is important, as they make up part your core and contribute to front and side stability. However, to make your abs visible you need to do more than just exercise. There's a reason for the cliché "abs are made in the kitchen" — because it's true. You  need a low body fat percentage in order for them to pop through, which often means eating in a calorie deficit (consuming less calories than your body burns). So, if abs are what you desire, before you start doing endless exercises, make sure your diet is in check first, otherwise you're essentially wasting your time.

As you know, this workout is only three exercises and, although you don't need any home gym equipment, we do recommend using an exercise mat (we guarantee the floor won't be comfortable). You're going to do each of the exercises for 20 seconds back to back and you're going to repeat the circuit three times. Rest for 20 seconds after you've completed all three if you need to but, if you're short for time, try and power on through. Here's your exercises: 

  • Plank dips
  • Mountain climber
  • Bicycle crunches into toe taps

We're sure your abs are feeling it after that. Need more speedy ab sessions? Add this five minute ab workout to your next session, or try this other three minute workout. Also, don't forget to spend some time strengthening your core too. While abs may be aesthetically pleasing, your core will help reduce the likely hood of injuries, help your athletic performance and aid stability. Try this three-move workout to supercharge your core strength and boost balance.

Bryony Firth-Bernard
Staff Writer, Active

Bryony’s T3’s official ‘gym-bunny’ and Active Staff Writer, covering all things fitness. In her spare time, you will find her in her natural habitat - the gym - where her style of training is a hybrid of bodybuilding and powerlifting. Bryony loves writing about accessible workouts, nutrition and testing innovative fitness products that help you reach your fitness goals and take your training to the next level.