10 minutes ab workout with effective exercises for a flat stomach

Last updated: July 2026 · 4 min read

You don’t need an hour to train your core. This routine takes ten minutes, needs nothing but a mat, and works every muscle group in your midsection — not just the ones you feel during crunches.

Do it before work, after work, or during a TV break. Ten minutes is short enough that you’ll actually keep doing it, and consistency is what changes how your core looks and performs.

One thing to be straight about: crunches alone won’t get you there. They hit the muscles on the front and sides of your abdomen and leave the deeper stabilizers untouched. The eight moves below cover the whole core, which is why this workout gets results on quality rather than volume.

How to do the workout

Move through all eight exercises as one circuit. Spend about 45 seconds on each — 12 reps, or the hold time listed — then go straight into the next. Rest 60 seconds at the end and repeat the circuit once. That’s your ten minutes.

Train four days a week with a rest day between sessions. Your abs recover like any other muscle, and hitting them daily just leaves you sore.

And the part most articles skip: visible abs are a body-fat question, not a rep-count question. Most people need to get to roughly 10–14% body fat (men) or 18–22% (women) before definition shows, and that comes from what you eat. Abs are built in the gym and revealed in the kitchen.

 

1. Snap jumps

Drop into a squat with your hands flat on the floor. Kick both feet back into a push-up position, arms straight, then jump them back under you. Keep your hips low and your back flat. 12 reps.

 

2. Toe touches

Lie on your back with your arms overhead and your legs straight up at 90 degrees. Reach up and tap your toes, then lower slowly — the slow part is where the work happens. 12 reps.

 

3. Plank

Set up like a push-up, but rest on your forearms. Squeeze your abs and glutes so your body forms one straight line from heels to head. Don’t let your hips sag or pike up. Hold 30 seconds.

 

4. Straight leg raises

Lie on your back, arms at your sides, legs straight. Lift them to 90 degrees, then lower under control without letting your heels touch the floor. Press your lower back into the mat throughout. 12 reps.

 

5. Side bridge

Lie on your side, propped on one forearm, and lift your hips until your body is straight from shoulder to ankle. This one targets the obliques, which crunches barely reach. Hold 20 seconds per side.

 

6. Mountain climbers

Start in a push-up position and drive one knee up under your hip. Switch legs explosively and keep switching, holding your shoulders still over your hands. 12 reps per side.

 

7. Exercise ball pull-ins

Get into a push-up position with your shins on top of an exercise ball. Keep your upper body still and pull your knees toward your chest, exhaling as you go, then extend your legs back out slowly. 12 reps.

 

8. Bent leg raises

Lie on a flat bench with your legs hanging off the end and your hands gripping the bench behind your head. Bend your knees to 90 degrees, pull them toward your chest, then straighten your legs back out. 12 reps.

Make it stick

Two circuits, four days a week. Add a rep or five seconds of hold time whenever a round starts feeling easy — that progression is what keeps the ten minutes working a month from now.