Abs and Glutes: an Effective 20 Minute Routine

A lot of fat tends to accumulate around the abs and glutes. This fat needs to be burned off through exercise in order to avoid health problems, obesity, cellulite, and stretch marks.

Sometimes, making the time for exercise can be difficult. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible! There are a number of highly effective workouts for your abs and glutes, that you can do just about anywhere.

There are no real excuses for neglecting your abs and glutes. In this article, we’ll show you a terrific routine that takes just 20 minutes.

Don’t forget to stretch

Due to the relative brevity of the routine, it’s highly important to warm up your body before you begin. If you don’t stretch beforehand, you’ll be vulnerable to cramps, stiffness, and even injury. For this reason, never start your routine without first warming up.

There are different ways of warming up your body. You can perform a variety of warm ups so that the body works different muscle groups. For example, you can jog for five minutes, or do 50 jumping jacks. The point is that the warm up should be a form of cardio exercise.

Abs and glutes in 20 minutes

It’s now time to work on your abs and glutes! Once you’ve decided on the areas of the body you want to exercise, the best thing is to isolate them. This means doing exercises in which the principle muscles are the ones you’ve chosen to focus on. This routine is divided into two parts, with the first 10 minutes dedicated to the glutes, and the rest to the abs.

Firm glutes in 10 minutes

After you’ve warmed up, you’re ready to begin the first part of the routine. It consists of just five exercises. We recommend taking 30 seconds to rest after each exercise.

• Twenty-five sumo squats: sumo squats involve lowering the glutes until they nearly touch the floor. Take care to avoid mistakes such as tilting your knees forward.
• Ten reps of jump squats: these squats will give your glutes a rounded, peach-like shape. Jump squats are quite simple. All you need to do is jump in the air, and land in a full squat.
• Twenty kickbacks: stand up tall with your back straight and your hands on your waist. From this position, lift one of your legs back and then return to the initial position. You should feel pressure in the glute you’re working. If you lose balance, you can put your hand on a chair for support.
• Ten side-step squats: in this version, the squat rests on just one leg. This is to say, that you take a step to one side and do a squat, leaving the other leg stretched. Then return to the initial position.

• Fifteen hip lifts: lie down face-up with the soles of your feet on the ground. With your arms stretched out on the floor, and without applying pressure, lift your hips off the ground as high as possible. Then, lower them, and repeat.

Abs of steel

This is the second part of the routine, which takes place mostly on the ground. As such, do the exercise on a yoga mat, a blanket, or a towel. The idea is not to hurt yourself performing these movements on the floor.

This last part of the routine isn’t so much about the exercises as the repetitions. So prepare your abdomen for an endurance test. The exercises are as follows:

• Two sets of twenty-five traditional sit-ups: these are the kind of sit-ups we are all familiar with. Lie on the ground, bend your knees, and lift your back to perform the sit-up. Be careful not to bend your neck forward. Keep it firm, with your gaze trained in front of you.

• Five sets of twenty leg lifts: lying on the floor, place your hands under your glutes. Now lift your stretched-out legs at a 90 degree angle. Then, lower them without touching the floor before lifting them again.

This exercise works out the whole abdominal area. Remember: don’t let your legs touch the ground. They should reach the point where they’re almost touching the floor but don’t. Meanwhile, keep your abdomen contracted throughout the motion. Also: avoid tensing the neck.

• Five minutes of plank: this exercise is highly beneficial for the abs. Get into a push-up position, but support yourself on your elbows, keeping the whole body straight.

Winding down

Upon finishing the routine, don’t forget to stretch. This will oxygenate the muscles and allow you to relax. This routine is short but demanding. There’s no excuse for not achieving the eye-catching body you want. Just pay attention to the details.

More importantly: enjoy yourself! Have fun working out and reaping the benefits of this kind of exercise. Follow this routine to the letter and power up your abs and glutes. Factor in a healthy diet and you’ll see results before you know it. So, get started!