Alexis Ren is a model, dancer, and wellness entrepreneur, so when I stumbled upon her 10-minute ab workout on YouTube, I knew what I was going be doing the next day. In the video description, Ren said she tries to do this workout every morning. “It’s quick, to the point, and you’ll feel it the next day,” she writes. Coupled with the fact that the video, posted in January 2018, has over 59 million views (!) and over 25,000 largely positive comments (and counting; despite it being nearly seven years old, it’s still drawing new viewers), it seemed like a no-brainer to try it out for myself.
This is one of those workouts that had me checking how much time was left after, I kid you not, two minutes. The first half of the workout is done on your back (crunches, bicycle crunches, flutter kicks), and it would honestly be enough for a good workout on its own, but then you flip over and do another five minutes from a plank position, just to make sure your abs are really sore for the rest of the day.
One note: crunches aren’t always the friendliest exercises for the back, so if you have any lower-back issues, watch through the workout before attempting it yourself and make sure it’s something that won’t trigger any pain or injury. If you do try it, make sure you’re engaging your core the entire time, and don’t be afraid to take a break if you start feeling the strain.
Check out the video above, and see the full list of exercises below!
Alexis Ren’s 10-Minute Ab Workout
Ren’s ab workout is structured simply: do each of the exercises below for 30 seconds each.
- Crunches
- Knee-touch crunches
- Side-to-side heel taps
- Bicycle crunches
- Russian twists (note: in the video, Ren skips the Russian twists and goes straight to reach-through crunches; you can do it either way)
- Reach-through crunches
- V-up crunches
- Elbows-down leg lifts
- Flutter kicks
- Scissor kicks
- Double leg lifts
- Opposite-toe-touch V-up crunches
- Seated knee tucks
- Mountain climbers
- Elbow plank
- Side plank (right)
- Side plank (left)
- Elbow plank
- Elbow plank with hip dips
- Spider-Man plank
Maggie Ryan was an assistant editor at PS. A longtime runner and athlete, Maggie has nearly four years of experience covering topics in the wellness space, specializing in fitness, sports, nutrition, and mental health.
