There’s a reason Pamela Reif has over eight million subscribers on her YouTube channel: her workouts will have you working hard in no time. Do you have ten minutes between meetings? take one of the best adjustable dumbbells (or a full water bottle) and your exercise mat, and try this dumbbell ab workout.
Sculpting a strong core isn’t just an aesthetic goal — strong abdominal muscles are important to most sports and can help relieve lower back pain and improve your posture. remember abs are Made in the kitchen, so no amount of sit-ups or 10-minute abdominal exercises will tone your abdomen if you’re not eating a healthy, balanced diet. Take a look at our guide to calculate your body fat percentageand why it matters, here.
Needless to say, what works for Pamela might not work for you, so if you’re a complete beginner or getting back into exercise after time off due to injury, it’s a good idea to consult with a personal trainer to make sure. your form is correct before adding weights.
Looking for more exercise inspiration? Here is the best abdominal exercises try, according to Chris Hemsworth’s PT, how long do you need to hold a plank to see resultsand what happened when I did 100 dead bugs a day for a week..
What is the Pamela Reif Weighted Ab Workout?
The workout lasts 10 minutes, and Reif suggests using a 4-kg (about 9-pound) dumbbell, though you can use a lighter weight if you prefer. If you don’t have a dumbbell, Reif suggests using a water bottle, a bag of rice, oatmeal or other grains, or a milk carton (make sure it’s not open). Alternatively, you can do the workout without weights – a lot of training is done with bodyweight, so don’t stress too much if you can’t find a spare milk carton or water bottle.
The training follows a simple structure: you follow Reif and do 30 seconds of each exercise, without interruptions.
Reif adds some important form explanations for some of the exercises included in the workout bio, writing “if lying on your back, be sure to keep your LOWER BACK flat on the mat. Just lower your legs as far as possible, so that your lower back doesn’t come off the mat! He also reminded viewers that it was important think about engaging your core throughout the workout — Here’s what that means and why it’s important.
I Tried This Pamela Reif Ab Workout With Weights – Here’s What Happened
It’s been a while since I did one of Pamela Reif’s workouts (read what happened when i tried his famous six minute abs routine here), but a quick look at the comments on the YouTube video let me know I was in for an intense abs burn. “Damn this was a great workout,” one user wrote.
They weren’t wrong: Pamela doesn’t give you any warm-ups. You’re straight into the crunches and crunches holding a dumbbell between your hands. I have a set of 3kg and 5kg dumbbells (6.6 and 11 pounds, respectively), so I challenged myself to perform the exercises with the heavier weight.
As I mentioned in previous exercise stories, I suffer from sciatica, so I have to keep my lower back in mind when doing certain exercises, especially if weight is added. For the jackknives and leg raises, I reduced the range of motion to make sure my lower spine stayed pressed against the mat at all times.
Within five minutes, my core was definitely working hard. Like many of Reif’s workouts, the lack of breaks really forces you to work hard. Although you didn’t need it for much of the workout, adding the dumbbell to some exercises really forced me to engage my core, pulling my belly button in toward my spine as I twisted and did crunches.
Starting another block of marathon training, this workout reminded me that a really good workout doesn’t require you to go to the gym and sweat for an hour; I can grab a dumbbell and move easily in the ten minutes between sessions. . I often use the excuse that I’m too busy to strength train, but once again Pamela has proven that I’m definitely not.
