5 Moves For Your Strongest Core Ever

Five moves. Zero equipment. There really is no excuse not to get the strongest, most toned waistline of your life!
Advertisement
1. Reach for the Stars
Muscles worked: Core, back, glutes, quads, full body.
Reps: 2 sets of 10
Start on your back, lift your upper and lower body off the mat as you push your abdominals down toward your spine, so your back is flat on the mat. Now roll up as you reach your hands toward your feet and hold as you balance for a second; spinal roll down slowly to starting position.
Advertisement
2. Window Washer
Muscles worked: core, shoulders, thighs, glutes, hamstrings, full body.
Reps: 3 sets of 10 on each side.
Start in the perfect plank position. Let one foot rest on the top of the other as you cross your legs. Now lift the leg as you swing it toward your shoulder and tap it on the floor. Let it sit; now lift the leg again and take it back to starting position. Repeat and then swap to the other side.
Advertisement
3. Australian Twist
Muscles worked: core, quads, obliques, chest, and shoulders.
Reps: Side to side is 1 rep. Do 30 reps.
Sitting upright, place a 10-pound weight in your hands. Make a C-curve with your spine and lift your legs. Twist your torso side to side while holding the weight, twisting your lower body in the opposite direction. Repeat.
Advertisement
4. Oblique Crunch
Muscles worked: core, obliques, shoulders, and chest.
Reps: 2 sets of 10 on each side.
Start in the perfect plank position, wrists underneath shoulders. Lift one leg off and hold. Bend that knee and pull into your waist as you crunch in your oblique. Kick the leg back to its starting position. Repeat on the same side and then swap.
Advertisement
5. Scissor Split

Lie on your back. Curl your head and shoulders off the mat and hover your legs a few inches off the ground. Reach your hands toward your feet and lift one leg to the sky, bending your knees slightly as you alternate your legs in a scissors motion, pulling your abdominals toward your spine. Complete 30 reps on each side.

Simone De La Rue began training in classical ballet at the age of three and has enjoyed a successful dance career spanning over two decades. She opened her first studio in 2011 and is the creator of Body by Simone. She employs over 30 trainers through her fitness empire, which includes two Los Angeles studios, one NYC studio, three DVDs, an online streaming service, a clothing line, a co-branded shoe with Newton Running, and a TV show on the E Network. De La Rue is also the author of Body by Simone: The 8-Week Total Body Makeover Plan. Body by Simone has been featued in The New York Times, where it was called "The Girlfriend Workout”, and in Forbes Magazine, which called it, “Hollywood’s Hottest Workout Empire.”