Dumbbell Ab Workout at Home | 8 Minutes Follow Along

This is another early workout from Caroline Girvan! This one was posted in April 2020. It is a short but tough core workout. You have one circuit of 8 exercises that you do twice. The second time through she changes a few of the exercises slightly to make them more difficult. There is no intro to this workout. It begins immediately with Caroline laying on the ground holding a dumbbell. I tacked this workout on to the end of one of Caroline’s very intense Iron Series Workouts (Day 4) before the stretch, then returned to the Iron Series workout for the stretch.

Dumbbell Ab Workout At Home | 8 Minutes Follow Along is 8:49 minutes; no warm up or stretch. Equipment: fitness mat and one dumbbell. I do not know the weight of Caroline’s dumbbell but I used one 10 pound dumbbell. Each exercises is done for 30 seconds with no rests/recoveries between exercises. There is a timer at the top of the screen counting down the 30 second intervals.

1. Crunch (lay on back with knees bent and feet on floor, hold one DB in both hands with arms/DB reaching to ceiling, crunching upper body, reaching DB to sky at top of crunch) (second time through this circuit your legs are extended straight to ceiling)
2. Leg lower (still laying on back, arms/DB still reaching for ceiling, extend straight legs to ceiling, lower legs until they are a few inches off the mat then return them to start)
3. V sit (still holding one DB in both hands, reach arms/DB overhead while extending legs straight a few inches off mat, lift upper body while bending knees into chest so you are in bent knee V sit while also reaching DB past knees, return to starting position) (second time through the circuit, when you are in bent knee V sit, you will straighten your legs so you are in full V sit then lower back to start)
4. Russian twist (still in V sit, knees bent and feet raised off mat, torso leaned back, still holding one DB in both hands, twist DB from hip to hip)
5. Pass through (still in V sit, holding the DB in one hand, bicycle the legs, passing the DB under one leg into your other hand as you pull your knee into your chest)
6. Sit up with twist (same basic movement as #1 w/ knees bent and feet on floor, but at top of sit up when arms/DB are extended overhead, twist torso to one side and lower DB down toward hip, return DB/arms overhead and lower torso, alternate sides)
7. Plank hover with rotation (in forearm plank, holding one DB in one hand, rotate body into side plank reaching DB to ceiling then return to plank while reaching DB underneath you to other side of body)
8. Repeat #7 on other side of body
9. 30 second rest
10. Repeat #1-8

For more info on Caroline Girvan’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.