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No, not sit-ups — I tried this 10-minute standing dumbbell ab workout and it torched my core

No, not sit-ups — I tried this 10-minute standing dumbbell ab workout and it torched my core

Yahoo23-04-2025
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As a fitness editor, I love that deep core shake you get after a minute-long plank. That said, if I'm in a busy gym, or I'm taking my workout outside now the weather is nicer, the chances are I'll want to swap my planks and push-ups for a standing ab workout.
Far from being the easy option, standing ab exercises are a fantastic way to challenge the muscles in your midsection. As your core is working against gravity to keep your body stable as you move, you'll be working just as hard, if not harder, than you would lying on your back doing sit-ups and crunches.
This workout has the added benefit of using a dumbbell, increasing the resistance. Grab a dumbbell, and get ready for your obliques to ache.
The workout is created by YouTube trainers Juice and Toya. It involves eight different exercises, which you'll do for 30 seconds, with a 10-second break, then another 30 seconds.
All of the exercises use a dumbbell, so you'll want to have a set of the best adjustable dumbbells on hand. At the top of the workout, Juice and Toya recommend using a dumbbell between 2-25lb (2-12kg). However, you should always select the right weight for you and your body.
As a reminder, the right weight should feel challenging, but not impossible by the final few reps.
The workout is set up so you can follow along in real time — there are no form pointers or instructions, so you can pop your best workout headphones in and listen to your own music should you wish.
If you're new to an exercise, or you're returning to exercise following an injury or pregnancy, it's a good idea to check with a personal trainer to ensure you're moving with good form. If this isn't an option, try and do the workout in front of a mirror and ensure you're not hunching over, arching your back during the workout.
It's important to move slowly and with control. If this means lowering the weight of the dumbbell, do so. You'll still get all the benefits, but you're less likely to put yourself at risk of injury.
This workout is suitable for all levels. Toya is three months pregnant in the video; however, if you are pregnant, it's important to check with your doctor or midwife before exercising.
If you're a complete beginner, use a light dumbbell. If you're more advanced, increase the weight or do the circuit another time through to increase the intensity.
I unrolled my exercise mat, grabbed a set of 10lb dumbbells and gave this workout a go between meetings. Here's what happened:
This workout involves a lot of standing side crunches and woodchop moves, and I really felt it in my obliques by the end of the 10 minutes. The obliques are the muscles that run along the side of your torso and are responsible for supporting and stabilizing your torso.
You might have heard from fitness influencers on TikTok that working your obliques will make your waist wider, however, this is a complete myth. Obliques are essential when you rotate and twist your torso, so you don't want to skip strengthening them.
A lot of the exercises in this workout recruited my upper and lower body muscles, not just my core. These compound exercises meant I was getting more of a full-body workout than my typical ab finishers, and I appreciated that. If I'm short on time, I often opt for bigger compound moves, like squat thrusters or deadlifts, to target multiple muscle groups. This workout is one I'll be repeating.
I normally opt for Pilates workouts when it comes to working my core, but this workout raised my heart rate and burned a lot more calories than my normal crunches and toe taps would do. I had to really focus on balancing and moving with control on my weaker left-hand side, and I worked hard from the get-go.
Of course, my abs looked exactly the same at the end of the workout — it takes a lot more than 10 minutes of standing crunches to sculpt visible abs, you'll need to focus on your overall body fat percentage if a six-pack is your goal. That said, I could feel my core had worked hard when I was sitting behind my desk an hour later.
It's short enough to fit in on your lunch break, and suitable for all levels of fitness. What are you waiting for? Grab a dumbbell and give this one a go.
Forget sit-ups — all you need is 4 moves and 10 minutes to sculpt your core
You don't need crunches to build a strong core — here are 6 exercises to try instead
No equipment, no crunches — build a stronger core with this 5-move workout
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Pink Salt Trick Recipe to Weight Loss Trend 2025: An Analysis of Slumber Slim as a Science Informed Option
Pink Salt Trick Recipe to Weight Loss Trend 2025: An Analysis of Slumber Slim as a Science Informed Option

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Pink Salt Trick Recipe to Weight Loss Trend 2025: An Analysis of Slumber Slim as a Science Informed Option

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Love addiction and social media stalking could be frying your brain, study finds
Love addiction and social media stalking could be frying your brain, study finds

New York Post

time2 hours ago

  • New York Post

Love addiction and social media stalking could be frying your brain, study finds

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The 6-6-6 Walking TikTok Trend May Help With Weight Loss—But Only If You Do It This Way
The 6-6-6 Walking TikTok Trend May Help With Weight Loss—But Only If You Do It This Way

Yahoo

time6 hours ago

  • Yahoo

The 6-6-6 Walking TikTok Trend May Help With Weight Loss—But Only If You Do It This Way

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." There's no shortage of TikTok fitness challenges involving numbers that people have been loving lately—the 3-2-1 method, the 12-3-30 workout, the 25-7-2 Stairmaster workout—you get the idea. The latest one encourages you to schedule your hot girl walk at a specific time of the day, for a specific duration, mainly in the name of weight loss. Introducing: the 6-6-6 walking challenge. While it's unclear who exactly started the trend on TikTok, the 6-6-6 walking challenge involves walking for 60 minutes a day, either at 6 a.m. or 6 p.m., starting with a six-minute warm-up and ending with six-minute cool-down. While it's mainly promoted for its weight loss perks, it can also improve bone, heart, and brain health, according to trainers. Meet the experts: Lindsey Bomgren, CPT, is the founder of Nourish, Move, Love. Janet Hamilton, CSCS, is the owner of Running Strong. There's a few reasons why this challenge has gained traction: 'People really like and gravitate toward these 'number-specific' challenges, like the 3-2-8 pilates challenge,' says Lindsey Bomgren, CPT, founder of Nourish, Move, Love. 'It takes the guesswork out and provides a really clear, easy-to-follow framework.' Plus, lower-intensity workouts are becoming popular because they're accessible for all fitness levels, while still helping you reap the above benefits. But is the 6-6-6 walking challenge actually worth a try? Ahead, find out how the trend works, and the potential benefits, according to trainers. The 6-6-6 Walking Trend, Broken Down When you look at the specifics of the trend—a six-minute warm-up followed by 60 minutes of walking at 6 a.m. or 6 p.m. followed by a six-minute cool-down—you might wonder about the significance of these numbers. Can I walk at any time of day? Why am I walking for an hour? Will a shorter warm-up and cool-down suffice if I have limited time? These are all valid questions—but as it turns out, there may be some science behind these numbers. Try our exclusive 4-week walking plan Duration A person of average cardiovascular fitness walking at three to 3.5 miles per hour would typically get 6,000 to 7,000 steps (or cover 2.5 or three miles), steps in about an hour, Bomgren says. A 2021 study in JAMA Network Open looked at 2,110 adults ages 38 to 50 and monitored their steps using fitness trackers over 10 years. Those who took at least 7,000 steps each day had a 50 to 70 percent lower risk of mortality than those who took less than 7,000 steps. So, if you can take 6,000 to 7,00 steps in an hour, '60 minutes is significant enough to have a real impact on daily health if this becomes a realistic habit,' she adds. Timing And the timing might be effective for those who eat breakfast or dinner before 6 a.m. or 6 p.m., respectively, Bomgren adds. 'Walking after eating a meal helps regulate blood sugar, aids in digestion, and supports long-term heart health,' she says. But don't fret if you can't eat or exercise specifically at these times. 'The challenge is meant to encourage habit formation and having a specific time of day (i.e. 6 a.m. or 6 p.m.) that signals it's time for movement,' Bomgren says. 'But ultimately, I don't think the time of day you work out matters—it's just about consistently showing up.' The Workout While the challenge doesn't specify exactly how to walk—like whether you need to walk at a certain speed, play with intervals, or approach inclines or hills—you certainly can add those variables into your workout to make it more interesting. 'If you can increase speed, even for an interval, or incline, like walking up and down hills, it's a great way to avoid plateaus and continue to challenge your body in new ways,' says Bomgren. Making your walks more intense will also help you burn more calories and may help you lose weight, says Janet Hamilton, CSCS, the owner of Running Strong. Pro tip: Just make sure this workout feels doable for you so you don't get any overuse injuries, says Hamilton. For instance, if you think you'd struggle to maintain a brisk walking pace or aren't used to walking up hills, build slowly toward these goals to avoid discomfort or injury. 'Walking at the same pace on a flat road is great for beginners or anyone with underlying injuries,' Bomgren adds. The Warm-Up And Cool-Down When it comes to a six-minute warm-up and cool-down, both Bomgren and Hamilton speculate this amount of time simply reinforces consistency and habit formation. However, warm-ups and cool-downs are vital and should always be included in workouts, says Hamilton. Warm-up exercises help you ease into your workouts, raising the temperature of your muscles so they can be at their most flexible and efficient, per the American Heart Association (AHA). Cool-down exercises are essential for helping your heart rate and body temperature return to their normal states, according to the AHA. The AHA suggests warming up and cooling down for five to 10 minutes, so six minutes is right in line with those recommendations, which Hamilton supports as well. So, if you plan on walking about four miles per hour for 60 minutes, you might start your warm-up at a rate of perceived exertion (RPE), or how much effort you're putting into a workout, of 3 (out of 10), gradually increasing to a 5, Bomgren says. Then, for the cool-down, you can simply slow your pace back to an RPE of 2 to 3 so your heart rate gradually decreases, she says. Potential Benefits Of The 6-6-6 Walking Trend 1. It may help you lose weight. Doing the 6-6-6 walking challenge can potentially contribute to weight loss because adding any physical activity to your day will help you burn more calories. But to lose weight, you generally need to be in a calorie deficit, or burn more calories than you take in. So, if you add this workout to your routine and make changes in the kitchen, you're more likely to see results. 'You might start to see your body weight reduce gradually over time,' says Hamilton. However, there are a lot of elements that go into successful weight management, like activity level, diet, age, sex, and genetics, says Hamilton. Plus, the research is inconclusive about whether 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. are the best times to work out for weight loss. A 2023 study in Obesity analyzed the self-reported workout patterns of more than 5,000 people over three years. Those who regularly exercised at a moderate-to-vigorous intensity between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. had lower BMIs and smaller waist circumferences than those who regularly exercised in the afternoons or evenings. (Moderate-intensity exercise means you can talk during your walk, but can't belt out your favorite Olivia Rodrigo tune, while vigorous-intensity exercise means your walking pace is so quick that you can't get more than a few words out without stopping to take a breath, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) However, this study was observational, which means it's showing correlation—not causation. In other words, it found a connection between walking at these times and having a lower BMI and smaller waist. But this doesn't mean that just because you walk between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. that you're guaranteed to have these results. 2. It can strengthen bones. Walking increases bone density, which is a measure of the calcium and other minerals in your bones, and it's an indicator of their strength and overall health, per the National Library of Medicine (NLM). As you age, it's common to lose bone mass, per the NLM, which may put you at risk for conditions like osteoporosis and bone fractures. However, walking is a weight-bearing exercise, which means it puts stress on your bones and strengthens them, according to Harvard Health Publishing. Research backs this up: A 2022 study in PLOS One looked at the effects of brisk walking (at three miles per hour for 20 minutes per mile) on the bone mineral density of just over 200 healthy premenopausal women over two years. Those who walked briskly for 30 minutes each day at least three times a week significantly improved their bone density. 3. It might boost heart health. Because walking is a form of aerobic exercise, doing the 6-6-6 walking challenge can 'improve circulation, strengthen your heart, and lower blood pressure,' Bomgren says. Getting your daily steps in can also reduce your risk of early death from heart disease. A 2020 study in JAMA looked at the effects of walking and mortality in adults ages 40 and above over 10 years. It found that a greater number of steps—around 8,000—was associated with lower mortality. Additionally, a 2023 study in the Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease found that 21 sedentary older adults with hypertension lowered their blood pressure by walking 3,000 steps per day five days a week for 20 weeks. 4. It may improve insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a condition where your body doesn't respond properly to insulin, a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Insulin resistance can lead to too much sugar in your blood, which can cause type 2 6 $140.00 at HokaClifton 10 $155.00 at Foam X 1080v14 $164.99 at 41 $145.00 at However, physical activity, like walking, helps your body become more responsive to insulin, meaning it can absorb blood sugar and use it for energy versus letting it accumulate. A 2024 meta-analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine analyzed multiple studies about walking speed and the risk of type 2 diabetes. It found that walking faster than four miles per hour can reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes by almost 40 percent over an average follow-up period of three to 11.1 years. 5. It can enhance brain function and mental health. A small 2022 study in the Journal of Personalized Medicine looked at a group of healthy young adults ages 20 to 25 and how exercise intensity affected blood flow to the brain. It found that low to moderate intensity walking, determined by cardiac force meters, improved blood flow to the brain, which can improve cognitive function. Not to mention, this activity betters your mental health, too. A 2024 review in JAMA Network Open of studies on depression and walking found that taking 5,000 steps or more each day was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. And a 2022 review in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being of literature on physical activity in natural versus urban environments found that walking in nature significantly reduced anxiety and depression compared to urban settings. Plus, walking in natural settings increased feelings of calmness and tranquility. Whether you're trying the 6-6-6 challenge or not, you can still reap the benefits of walking by doing it at any time of day for any duration—and if you are trying the challenge, don't beat yourself up if there are days you can't stick to these exact numbers. 'Life and training have to co-exist,' Hamilton says. 'Put the walk in where it works for you. If you make it work with your schedule, you're much more likely to continue the habit long-term and reap the rewards of your time invested.' You Might Also Like Jennifer Garner Swears By This Retinol Eye Cream These New Kicks Will Help You Smash Your Cross-Training Goals

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