Workout of the week: 10-min core and stability workout

KLODYA GARROS

Personal Trainer at EVO Fitness Rue de Lausanne in Geneva, Switzerland

As a former professional dancer and Guianese gymnastics champion, Klodya keeps you focused on your goals and helps you become the best version of yourself. She offers nutrition advice and concentrates on developing MSE (muscular strength and endurance) to improve her clients’ reflexes and coordination.

Follow her on Instagram: @goldenfitnessfun

Book a PT Session: [email protected]

10-MIN CORE AND STABILITY WORKOUT

ALL LEVELS / core and stability LIIT workout / 10 minutes

Equipment: Swiss ball & dumbbells

We’ve already said wonderful things about the Swiss ball before. This exercise ball has the ability, among other things, to boost your balance, strengthen your core, and increase flexibility. We’ve also introduced you to LIIT — Low-Intensity Interval Training. It is a new fitness craze similar to HIIT training, but unlike the most famous acronym, it is less intense. Today, with the help of our personal trainer Klodya Garros (from EVO Geneva Rue de Lausanne) we combine these two to bring you a short and sweet 10-minute core and stability workout.

This training session will take around 10 minutes to perform, making it a perfect finisher after an intense workout. It can also be used as a warm-up drill. It consists of 4 exercises to be performed for 3 rounds. At the end of each set, you’ll relax with a gentle spine massage.

Seated calf raise
Swiss ball crunch
Swiss ball chest press
Swiss ball Russian twist

Ready? Let’s roll!

WORKOUT SETUP

4 exercises
10-20 reps depending on the exercise
3 rounds
10 minutes
Equipment: Swiss ball & dumbbells

WORKING OUT FROM HOME? NO PROBLEM.

If you don’t have the equipment originally needed for this workout, you can substitute it with these everyday items or use these alternative exercises.

Alternative equipment

Swiss ball = a couch or a chair with a pillow for support – bear in mind that it will never be as unstable as the real one
Dumbbells = water bottles filled with water and / or sand

WORKOUT EXERCISE LIST

3 rounds

1 – SEATED CALF RAISE

20 reps

Grab a Swiss ball and a pair of dumbbells.
Sit straight on the Swiss ball, feet shoulder-width apart, placing the dumbbells on your knees.
Make sure your ankles are under your knees, keeping your legs in a perpendicular position.
Keep your head and back straight.
Lift your heels up once and that’s one rep.
Repeat.

2 – SWISS BALL CRUNCH

10 reps

Move your feet forward slowly to slide and lay your back on the Swiss ball.
Make sure the ball is under your hips, lower and middle back.
Keep the dumbbells on your chest and your knees bent at a 90-degree angle. That’s your starting position.
Engage the core and raise your chest in a crunch. Make sure you’re not using your neck to drive you up, but your core strength. Slowly return back to the starting position.
Repeat.

3 – SWISS BALL CHEST PRESS

10 reps

With the same pair of dumbbells, sit on the Swiss ball and move your feet until the ball supports your back.
Engage your core, set the shoulders, and turn the dumbbells so that the fingers are facing forwards.
Position the dumbbells so that the elbows are bent to 90 degrees and in line with the shoulders.
Keeping the core engaged and lower back in a neutral position, press the dumbbells straight up and in towards each other. Squeeze the chest muscles as you press.
Pause at the top before returning to the start position.
This is just like the regular chest press: the unstable nature of the Swiss ball will make this exercise more challenging.

4 – SWISS BALL RUSSIAN TWIST

20 reps

Return to the seated position on your Swiss ball.
Keep your back straight and your core engaged while holding one or two dumbbells.
Move the dumbbell(s) from one side to another over your hip and legs.

EXTRA – SWISS BALL MASSAGE

Klodya suggests we finish each round with a couple of back massages using the Swiss ball. To do so, simply slide your body and lay your back on the Swiss ball, this way massaging your spine gently.