For an ab workout to have been viewed 50 million times, it must be good, so when I came across dancer and model Alexis Ren’s abs workout, I had to roll out my yoga mat and give it a try.
As a fitness editor, I like nothing more than delving into a celebrity’s workout routine, but from her time on Dancing with the Stars, it seems clear that Ren is someone who works hard in the gym, rather than following crash diets. fashion and fitness trends.
In the video description, Ren writes, “I try to do this every morning. It’s quick, it’s to the point, and you’ll feel it the next day,” sounds like my kind of ab workout. Despite being published in 2018, the video has thousands of recent comments from users who have been trying out the workout and raving about the results.
Intrigued and eager to learn more, I put the training to the test. Read on to find out what happened.
Publisher’s note: A reminder that what works for me, or for Alexis Ren, might not be right for you and your body. If you’re completely new to some of the exercises in this video, or getting back into shape after time off due to injury, it’s a good idea to check your form with a personal trainer before increasing reps to make sure you don’t you are putting yourself at risk of injury.
What is Alexis Ren’s abdominal workout?
The abdominal workout is 30 seconds of each of the following. There are no breaks in this workout, but a reminder that if you’re a beginner, there’s no shame in pressing pause on the video and taking a break:
I Tried Alexis Ren’s Ab Workout: Here’s Why It Has 50 Million Views On YouTube
First things first, this workout moves quickly. 30 seconds is not much, but it forces you to push yourself and work hard all the time. I am guilty of stopping and taking short breaths in the middle of my home workouts, without a burly instructor yelling at me, but the shorter intervals kept me busy and working hard during this workout. I also appreciated the countdown in the top left corner of the screen, particularly on the more difficult exercises.
In addition to moving quickly, the 10-minute workout did a good job of working all the different parts of the core. While there are some influencers who choose to skip their obliques, the muscles that run down the sides of your torso, for fear they’ll create a ‘boxy’ appearance (cough, Daisy Keech), a strong core comes from working the entire different muscles. I felt like my entire midsection was working, and I could really feel it after ten minutes, and when I got back to my desk afterwards.
If I wasn’t breaking a sweat after seven minutes, I was done with the workout—sure enough, a three-minute plank did the job. This one wasn’t pretty, but it did the job. It served as a good reminder that intense workouts don’t always require you to spend hours in the gym: With the right mix of exercises, you can get a great workout in between sessions.
While no amount of crunches can give you abs (visible crunches come down to your body fat percentage: this is how yours is calculated), my core definitely felt like it had worked hard.
Huge kudos to Ren if he does this every day. I will repeat this again, once the pain has subsided.
Looking for more exercise inspiration? Read what happened when Tried Emma Lovewell’s Four Week Ab Challenge here, when i did 100 dead bugs a day for a weekand when I tried that famous Daisy Keech workout.
