Challenge Your Core With This Dumbbell Circuit

dumbbell circuit
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Bodyweight crunches and planks just don’t cut it when you want to build rock-hard abs. For that you need to up the workload placed on your core muscles, and these abs-focused dumbbell moves will quickly fatigue these muscles.

Do the moves in order, without resting between exercises, to complete one round. Rest for two minutes between rounds. Do four rounds in total.

1 Swing

Swing

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Reps 12

Hold the dumbbell in both hands, then swing it down between your legs, then back up to head up. Allow the weight to swing back down and go straight into the next rep.

2 Side bend

Side bend

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Reps 12 each side

Stand tall, holding a dumbbell in one hand. Bend down to work your side abs, then straighten back up. Do all the reps on one side, then switch hands and do the same number of reps on the other.

Woodchop

Woodchop

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Reps 12 each side

Hold the dumbbell in both hands to one side of your legs, then swing it diagonally up to finish with the weight above your opposite shoulder. Reverse the move back to the start. Complete all the reps on one side then do the same number of reps on the other.



4 Seated Russian twist

Seated Russian twist

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Reps 12

Sit with knees bent and feet flat on the floor, holding the dumbbell in both hands. Rotate your torso to one side, then back across to the other, then back to the middle. That's one rep. Make the last move of this circuit, the seated Russian twist, harder by raising – and keeping – your heels off the floor (pictured).

Sam Rider
Contributor

Sam Rider is an experienced freelance journalist, specialising in health, fitness and wellness. For over a decade he's reported on Olympic Games, CrossFit Games and World Cups, and quizzed luminaries of elite sport, nutrition and strength and conditioning. Sam is also a REPS level 3 qualified personal trainer, online coach and founder of Your Daily Fix. Sam is also Coach’s designated reviewer of massage guns and fitness mirrors.