Core Workout for Women: A 20-Minute Ab and Core Routine

This core workout for women trains all four jobs in 15-20 minutes, 2-3 times a week. You get a gym version, a no-equipment version with a level ladder for each exercise, and a 4-week progression.

The four jobs your core does

These core exercises for women work the six-pack muscle (rectus abdominis), the obliques, the deep abdominal muscles and the muscles along your spine. Flexion is the job most ab routines overdo. It still has a place, in sensible doses.

Can ab exercises burn belly fat?

Not much, if at all. Visible abs depend on how much fat covers them, which comes down to your overall body fat, not your crunch count. Where you store fat is also partly genetic.

• In a 6-week study of 24 sedentary adults (14 men, 10 women), one group did seven ab exercises, 2 sets of 10, five days a week. Compared with a group that didn't exercise, they showed no significant change in body fat, belly fat or waist size.
• In a 12-week trial of 40 overweight and obese women, everyone dieted and half also did abdominal resistance training. Both groups lost belly fat, and the ab training made no difference to its thickness, measured by ultrasound.
• One exception: in a 2023 trial of 16 overweight men, one group ran 27 minutes instead of 45 and added 57 minutes of high-rep machine crunches and torso rotations, four days a week for 10 weeks. They lost about 1.5 lb (700 g) more trunk fat than the run-only group, while total fat loss was similar. It's one small study in men, using far more ab work than any normal routine: worth watching, not worth building a plan around.

If fat loss is one of your goals, treat it as a whole-body project: see our workout plan to lose weight for women and high-protein meal plan for women.

Pregnant, postpartum or have back pain?

Check with your doctor or a physical therapist before starting this routine or any core program.

The 20-minute core workout

Effort is written as RIR (reps in reserve): how many more clean reps you could do when you stop. RIR 2 means two good reps left. For holds and carries, RIR 2 means stopping with about 5-10 good seconds or steps left.

Before each set, brace: breathe in, tighten your midsection as if about to be poked in the stomach, keep your ribs down and keep breathing.

Warm-up (2 minutes)

1. 10 slow cat-cows on your hands and knees.
2. 5 bird dogs each side.
3. One easy set of your first exercise.

Doing this after a strength session? Skip straight to step 3.

Gym version

On sided exercises, do one side, then the other, then rest. Roll out only as far as you can without your lower back sagging; if that's too hard, use a stability ball rollout, forearms on the ball. On the Pallof press, push the handle straight out and don't let it twist you. On the carry, walk tall without leaning.

No-equipment version

Start at the hardest level where you can reach the bottom of the range on every set with good form.

In a study of 19 trained men, the level 4 plank produced about three to four times the abdominal muscle activity of a regular plank. That measures activity, not long-term results, but it shows a plank can get harder without getting longer.

Have a band? A band Pallof press, anchored to a door, can replace the shoulder taps. A heavy grocery bag in one hand makes a suitcase carry.

Where it fits in your week

Add the routine to the end of 2-3 strength sessions on nonconsecutive days, for example Monday, Wednesday and Friday on a 3-day full body workout for women, or Monday and Thursday for twice a week. Doing it after your main lifts, not before, keeps your core fresh for squats and deadlifts.

Weekly sets from week 2:

Squats, deadlifts and overhead presses also work your core, so if you lift regularly, two sessions a week are plenty. Not lifting yet? Try our home workout plan for women or gym workout plan for women.

Your 4-week progression

Week 1 takes about 12-15 minutes; from week 2 it's 15-20. Use double progression: once every set reaches the top of its range, move up a level or a weight and build back up from the bottom of the range. After week 4, take an easier week (half the sets, RIR 4), then start again from your new levels.

Are crunches bad for your back?

For most healthy people, a few controlled sets look fine. Much of the worry comes from lab studies where pig spines, muscles removed, were bent 4,400 to 86,400 times under load, and most discs showed partial or complete herniation. A 2011 review by Contreras and Schoenfeld noted that dead tissue can't adapt like living tissue and gym sets come nowhere near those numbers, and called the claim that flexion exercises injure healthy spines "highly speculative."

Their suggestions match this routine: sets of roughly 6-15 reps (beginners around 2 sets of 15), a controlled tempo, at least 48 hours between flexion sessions, and no flexion in the first hour after you wake up. If you have back pain, check with a doctor or physical therapist before doing any of it.

Common mistakes

• Holding planks for minutes. Past 40 seconds, move up a level instead.
• Letting your lower back sag. On rollouts and planks, end the set when your hips drop.
• Doing hundreds of crunches. Two sets of 10-15 is enough.
• Only training the front. Pallof presses, carries and side planks work the sides of your core.
• Holding your breath. Brace, then keep breathing.