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The holiday period looks different for everyone, but for many people it involves time with loved ones, abundant meals, a tipple or two and movie marathons on the couch. As it only comes around once a year, I am all for embracing it. Still, I know from experience that it can start to catch up with you, and suddenly you find yourself craving a bit of movement.
When that feeling hits, I look for a workout that won’t eat into the festivities but will still give my body a little boost. It needs to be short, something I can do at home, and ideally requires minimal equipment and space. One routine that ticks all those boxes for me is this 20-minute dumbbell workout designed by Workout With Roxanne.
It focuses heavily on building strength through the abs and core, but because you are working with resistance and following a HIIT style format, it also gets your heart rate up.
If you are unsure what weight to use, start light and really focus on control. You can always progress up the weight if you don’t feel like your core is being challenged enough. We have a guide rounding up the best adjustable dumbbells if you need some help finding a great set for your home workouts.
Watch Workout With Roxanne’s Dumbbell Ab Workout:
Coach Roxanne has labelled this abs workout as intermediate level, so it’s best suited to anyone who regularly trains their core and has experience doing so with weights.
If you sit in the more beginner-end of core training, this 10-move bodyweight workout is also designed to help you carve out a stronger core, but ditches the dumbbells and takes half the time.
There are eight exercises in total, and you’ll complete two rounds, working on each move for 60 seconds with 20 seconds of rest in between. One exercise, the kneeling windmill, is done on both sides, so ensure you work left and right during each round.
Adding dumbbells to your core training can make a core workout more effective as you add resistance, which encourages strength gains rather than endless high-rep ab work. They also ask more of your balance and control, so your core has to work harder to stabilize your body, something you feel quickly in everyday movements like lifting, carrying and twisting.
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Often, there can be a bit of confusion over what the difference is between ab and core muscles. In short, your abs are the muscles at the front of your stomach that help you bend and create the six-pack look, while your core is a wider network of muscles around your torso that support balance, stability and movement in your everyday life and exercise.
Many people try to target the abs alone in the hope of visible results, but a stronger, more balanced core supports your upper body better and allows the abs to be trained more effectively.
If you have been to a workout class before or tried yoga, you will know instructors often cue you to “engage your core,” and, while it sounds simple, it can be hard to tell if you are doing it correctly. A helpful way to think about it is gently drawing your belly button back toward your spine to create a stable midsection.
You’ll definitely feel a bit of a burn in the core after Roxanne’s 20-minute dumbbell session. Be sure to rest your core muscles, and if you’d like to train another area of your body while you do so, we have more workout recommendations below.
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