Creating a Home Routine for Mind and Body Wellness

Creating a Home Routine for Mind and Body Wellness

M Hasan    7:33 AM   

The Importance of a Balanced Home Life

Most of the habits that you have start at home. It’s the way that you set up your home life, use your time, and look after yourself, and it all has a big impact on how you feel every day. It doesn’t take a lot to get a balance in your home life. Let’s have a look at this more below:

Start With Your Sleep Environment

Sleep is really important when it comes to wellness, and your bedroom needs to reflect that. Making a few small changes can change your night’s rest. Keep screens out of reach and lower the lighting before you go to bed. Also, look at your bedding; you need to have bedding that is comfortable all year round. Blackout curtains and a white noise machine can also help you regulate your sleep environment.

Designate Spaces for Relaxation

In most homes, there are spaces that are for cooking, eating, and working, but not everyone thinks about leaving space to just chill out. Even just setting up a little corner somewhere in your house with a cushy chair can morph into somewhere where you sit and sit and start to chill. When you give yourself a place like this, the goal is for rest. Over time, simply sitting down in that spot can help you lower your stress levels.

Build Movement Into Your Day

A healthy routine is always going to include some movement, but that does not mean that you have to be doing long workouts (not all the time anyway). Short, regular sessions often fit in better than having to fit in a long one into a busy day. An early morning stretch, a walk after lunch, or a couple of minutes of yoga in the evening are very conducive to keeping your body nice and active. If you work from home as well, this is even more vital because you don’t have the usual commute to naturally get out and about.

Nutrition Made Simple

When it comes to eating healthy, your kitchen is definitely somewhere where you can either thrive or it can turn into a disaster. You need to try to stock your pantry and fridge with whole foods to make it much easier to put together balanced meals without having to put in a lot of effort. Fresh produce and lean proteins are basic, but they are great for starting to build a basic, healthy diet that you are actually able to stick to. Meal prepping one or two times a week can also save you many hours and reduce stress, especially if you have a busy routine.

Incorporating Mindfulness

Mindfulness doesn’t always mean long meditation sessions; it can just be as simple as taking a little break before you have a meal, breathing deeply when you feel like you are stressed, or paying attention to daily activities like washing dishes. Doing small things like these can quickly add up and lead to you feeling more well-rested, at peace, and all support your body and mind.

Exploring Natural Supports

Many people use natural aids to complement their routines, too. Calming supplements and herbal teas are all common tools for relaxation. Some also choose to use CBD for stress or sleep support. If you choose to explore this option, sourcing matters; a trusted dispensary ensures quality and guidance, which makes a difference when it comes to buying products that are sold from less reputable places. The goal is never to rely on one single solution, but to start including different ways to support yourself in your balanced lifestyle.

Keeping Tech in Its Place

Technology does connect us, but it can also be something that is extremely overwhelming when you spend too much time on a screen. This can be even worse when you are using your phone before bed. It disrupts your sleep and increases your stress levels. It is important to have healthy limits for things like technology. Most people already use it all day for work, so home should be somewhere you switch off from it, even if it is just for a while. You may even want to spend a day or half a day without screens; even just a few hours offline can help to reset and focus you.

Creating a Morning Routine

How you begin the day often sets the tone for everything else that follows. A good morning routine does not need to be something that is really complicated or take up a lot of your time. Just make sure you get yourself some water, have a stretch, and take a few minutes to think about your day before you start doomscrolling or stressing yourself out. Just that you’re taking a learning lead toward developing something slightly more of a normal beginning to your day than jumping straight into your email or social-networking profile, take a few minutes to acknowledge your body and your priorities before everything grabs you in a million different directions.

Staying Social in Healthy Ways

Wellness isn’t just physical; it’s also about connection. Even at home, it is possible to keep your relationships extremely strong. Put a time to one side for family dinners, regular calls with your friends, or doing shared hobbies. These types of interactions give you balance and help guard you against isolation, especially when routines feel repetitive. If you live with others, fruit shed rituals such as having a Sunday breakfast or evening walks help to strengthen your family bond and also give you something to look forward to.

Conclusion

A supportive home routine does not happen straight away; it is going to take you a little bit of time. However, by making a few small and simple choices from your sleep and movement to your nutrition, mindfulness, and even looking at natural ways to support your body, each one is going to help support and grow your overall wellbeing. Is there anything that you do to support your mind and body through your home routine? Let us know in the comments below.

Run Coaches Share 5 Annoying Training Mistakes—And How to Fix Them

Run Coaches Share 5 Annoying Training Mistakes—And How to Fix Them

M Hasan    9:45 PM   

Common Running Mistakes That Can Hold You Back

No runner is perfect, and if you think you are, just ask a coach. Whether you’re a beginner training for your first 5K or a veteran logging marathon miles, chances are you’ve picked up a few habits that hold you back from better running. For example, maybe you tackle every run like it’s race day, you rarely look up from your watch, or you signed up for a marathon just because Harry Styles did. Don’t worry: You’re not alone. In fact, these and other training missteps are so common they’ve made it onto coaches’ lists of pet peeves. The good news is that they’re fixable, and once you address them, you’ll run stronger, stay healthier, and actually have more fun on your runs.

That’s why we asked eight run coaches about the bad habits that bug them most. Here’s what they said, why it just might derail your training, and how to break the pattern.

1. Running Every Run Too Hard

One of the most essential skills in running is learning how to control your pace—yet it’s also one of the most common mistakes run coaches see. Many athletes, especially beginners, default to running everything at the same medium-hard effort, says Alysha Flynn, founder and coach of What Runs You. “It feels productive in the moment, but it actually sabotages both fitness and recovery,” she says.

True easy runs should feel suspiciously effortless. “Easy days should feel so relaxed you almost question whether you’re doing enough,” Flynn explains. If you can’t comfortably chat with a friend or wouldn’t feel up for repeating the same run tomorrow, you’re probably going too fast.

The same pitfall can arise in marathon training (not just in those new to running), where runners often try to complete nearly every workout at or near race pace, explains Janet Hamilton, C.S.C.S., founder of Georgia-based Running Strong. “Doing all your workouts at high intensity is an invitation to injury,” she warns.

The solution is understanding the purpose of each run in the context of a training plan, she says. Easy miles build aerobic capacity, teaching your body to use oxygen more efficiently so you can run longer. Threshold runs improve your speed endurance, and faster intervals build anaerobic fitness, making you more explosive. You can’t train everything at the same time, so it’s important to focus on doing each workout exactly as it’s designed. “Once athletes understand the purpose of each workout, they’re more willing to slow down when it’s time to go easy,” Hamilton says.

Marathoners suffer the most by foregoing easy days, says Kai Ng, New York City-based USATF- and RRCA-certified run coach. Ng often sees runners blasting through zone 2 efforts too fast, only to end up huffing, puffing, and walking with sore joints. “They’re training the wrong system,” he says. “Going out too hard stresses your anaerobic system instead of strengthening your aerobic system—the one you actually need for 26.2 miles.” He compares it to driving: your watch or heart-rate monitor is just feedback, like the speedometer. But the real skill is learning how to use the gas and brake pedals effectively.

Coach-approved tip: Pace control is a developed skill, but mastering it almost always begins with slowing down on easy days. That way you arrive at your speed sessions fresher, sharper, and ready to actually hit faster paces.

2. Ignoring Your Current Fitness

“How am I supposed to be ready to run my goal pace on race day if I’m not training at that pace now?” It’s an all-too-familiar query for Jeff Gaudette, owner and head coach at RunnersConnect. At first, this question may seem like it should receive answers in the pacing section above. However, the solution is a bit different.

Gaudette explains that runners who ask this question often ignore their current fitness level when starting to train for a marathon, jumping into workouts right away based on their goal pace rather than their present ability. The disconnect often comes from template training plans. Gaudette says many runners choose plans based on a goal finish time, but instead of progressing up to those paces, they begin right at them when they’re not ready. “That’s just not how training works,” he says. This practice can lead to overtraining, burnout, and injury.

For example, if a threshold run is designed to slightly dip into your anaerobic system, running it too fast just misses that fine line entirely and vaults you into a zone that throws off your workout and makes recovery more difficult. Do this regularly, and you end up in that overtraining zone where injuries and progress regression can pop up.

The solution, according to Gaudette, is steady progression, starting from where you are now.

Coach-approved tip: Use your last race as a benchmark to find your current training paces. If you haven’t raced, the easiest way to measure your current fitness is with a mile time trial. From there, you can use your paces for training and set a more personalized goal finish time. Once you’re comfortably hitting your training paces and recovering well from workouts, speed up! “The goal is that by race day, you’ve advanced your fitness enough that your physiological reality is now your goal race pace,” Gaudette says.

3. Over-Relying on Data

Running watches and apps are powerful tools—but they also turn into shackles. Obsessing over heart rate, pace, or mileage totals can paralyze athletes to the point where they lose touch with how they feel, says Andrew Evans, RRCA- and 80/20 Endurance-certified run coach. “Sometimes the best thing you can do is leave the numbers behind for a few runs and trust your body,” he says.

Running by effort helps athletes reconnect with their natural rhythm, and it can be eye-opening to realize that your body—not your watch—ultimately determines how much you can handle on any given day.

“I’ve been at the track with runners doing 400-meter repeats, and they’ll stop at 350 meters because their watch buzzed,” says Alex Morrow, RRCA- and USATF-certified run coach and founder of Resolute Running. It seems extreme, but it’s the perfect example of the disproportionate trust runners place in their gadgets and data over… basically everything else. In those moments, the watch isn’t helping—it’s taking control of your running.

Morrow also notes that watches can convince runners that skipping or shortening key workouts is fine as long as the weekly mileage number looks right, when in reality the structure and purpose of the plan matter more than the numbers on the screen.

Coach-approved tip: Evans encourages his athletes to use cues like breathing rhythm, perceived effort, or the “talk test” to judge intensity. Morrow agrees, saying “the more you trust yourself rather than the beeps on your wrist, the stronger and more adaptable you’ll be on race day.”

Next time you head out for an easy run, leave your watch at home. Take in your surroundings and pay attention to how you feel while you run.

4. Letting Peer Pressure Dictate Your Races

Not every marathon is meant for you. Too many athletes sign up for big-name races just because their friends or Instagram feeds make them feel like they should, notes Laura Norris, RRCA-certified run coach and owner and coach at Laura Norris Running.

While sure, it could be a motivating tactic if you enjoy running with your friends, Norris emphasizes the commitment level it takes to successfully train for, and complete, a full marathon. “If you don’t actually want to run 26.2 miles, it’s going to be a miserable experience,” she says.

She advises runners to reflect honestly on whether the prospect of training for a big race excites you or feels like a burden. And remember, registering doesn’t obligate you to follow through. Dropping a race because it no longer fits your life or goals isn’t failure, it’s wisdom.

Coach-approved tip: Choosing races because you want to run them, not because you feel obligated to or because everyone else is, makes your experience more rewarding.

5. Disrespecting Your Training Plan

Training plans aren’t just a list of runs, they’re carefully-designed roadmaps that balance hard efforts with recovery, build fitness gradually, and lead to peak fitness at the right time. But one of the biggest mistakes coaches see is athletes treating those schedules as optional guidelines.

Runners often fall off track when life gets busy, then try to cram in workouts as race day looms, says Vanessa C. Peralta-Mitchell, RRCA-certified run coach, owner of VCPM, Inc., and creator of Game Changers. That last-minute surge not only undermines fitness but also spikes injury risk.

To combat this, Peralta-Mitchell has athletes go through a “control and distraction” exercise, identifying what they can plan for (like laying out clothes, meal prepping, or adjusting schedules) and what they can’t (like weather or work emergencies). She encourages her athletes to build their running routines around the controllable factors in life, making training more consistent and sustainable.

She says that if you don’t do this, and allow those uncontrollable distractions to consume you and derail your training, “you will grow frustrated and waste mental and emotional energy.”

Morrow adds it’s easy for him to predict a rough race when his runners don’t follow their training plans. “They deviate from the plan, skip long runs, cram workouts, then wonder why race day didn’t go well,” he says.

Missing a workout or two isn’t the end of the world, but repeatedly blowing off important sessions can derail your training. Instead of improvising when you miss a workout, trust the structure of the plan and move forward with your next workout. Trying to compensate for a missed effort by squeezing too much into too little time leads straight to overtraining, injury, or burnout, which coaches can see coming a mile away.

If you train with a run coach, communication also plays a role. Morrow says he’s encountered many runners who hesitate to tell him when they’ve missed runs or want to shift workouts around, thinking it’s a bother. He implores athletes who do use coaches to use the resources available to them. “You’re paying me; this is my job,” he says. It goes beyond the obligation though; he says that athletes who talk to their coaches the most are more often the ones who perform the best.

Morrow says being curious, asking questions, and letting your coach help you run your best will give you the best results come race day. That’s what they’re there for!

Coach-approved tip: Consistency is the most important factor of training. Respecting the training schedule doesn’t mean never missing a run, but it does mean trusting the progression of the plan and safely adjusting (and communicating with your coach) when life gets in the way.

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My Life Crashed at 40. Lifting Saved Me.

My Life Crashed at 40. Lifting Saved Me.

M Hasan    8:34 PM   

A Journey Through Grief, Strength, and Self-Discovery

A few years ago, I found myself in a challenging chapter of my life. As a self-employed personal trainer and co-owner of a digital fitness platform, I was at a crossroads, unsure of my business direction and my larger purpose. This uncertainty was especially daunting as I approached my 40s, with the creeping fear that my life wasn’t unfolding as it should.

On top of this, I experienced the loss of my grandmother and uncle, and I went through a painful separation from my business partner and long-term boyfriend. The relationship had been a significant part of my life, and the emotional toll was immense. To make matters worse, we had planned to move to Mexico City, which became my primary home. In this new environment, I was alone, not knowing anyone except for my dog, and navigating daily life in a second language.

During this time, my solace came from solo gym sessions. Lifting weights gave me a sense of peace and familiarity. The gym became a place where I could release emotions, process grief, and find a temporary escape from my struggles. I built a small gym on my apartment’s patio and joined a local gym to have somewhere to go. Training in both spaces allowed me to feel like time was suspended, giving me a brief respite from sadness, loneliness, and grief.

Entering male-dominated spaces like the gym helped me feel strong. I started filming my workouts and sharing them on Instagram, showcasing my strength and vulnerability. With sweatpants and a little makeup, I grunted and moved barbells like a powerful woman. Over time, I complemented my training with biweekly sessions with a mindset coach, who I still work with today. Our conversations focused on learning to believe that things were happening for me rather than to me.

Embracing a New Perspective

The more I worked with my coach and trained, the more I realized that resistance training was my form of true resistance. She helped me understand that much of the stress I felt stemmed from societal pressures about how an adult woman should behave as a business owner, in relationships, or as she approaches her 40s.

Strength training became a feminist act of rebellion. Building visible muscle and taking up physical space is often not seen as aspirational for women in Western culture. We are bombarded with images of lean, toned bodies and unreachable ideals. The wins we’re told to pursue are often about maintaining appearances until a certain age when it doesn’t matter.

To sweat, grunt, and have calloused hands is a statement against the patriarchal norms that define femininity. When I was drowning in the abyss of my life, one lift at a time, I repeated my mantra: "Things are happening for me." Building physical strength gave me inner confidence, showing me that I could control how my body felt, looked, and performed.

Finding Power and Confidence

Women who lift heavy things are more likely to stand taller, use their voices, and take no s***. In early 2025, I reflected on my journey of building muscle, regaining confidence, and mourning loss. I can say with certainty that lifting heavy things in the gym—expressing my femininity in a traditionally masculine way—felt like opening a door to parts of myself I never had the courage to see before.

I found power through physical strength training, existing without self-imposed labels or limits. Today, I’m single and living in the Pacific Northwest with my dog and best friend. I left my relationship and life in Mexico City, moving past relationships that were out of alignment and welcoming new people into my life. I’ve embraced career opportunities that feel right and listened to my body, resting, sleeping, moving weight, eating nourishing meals, and enjoying doing nothing.

At 41, I’ve relearned that physical strength is a hidden path to confidence, something many women miss in their lives. The most rewarding experience as a strength training coach has been introducing women to the weight room, helping them take a step on the path and build a muscle-mindset revolution.

Even if you’re in a place of contentment, the tides will turn, and a muscled body will help you weather life's storms with unwavering confidence and poise. My plea to you, and all women, is to remember that things are happening for you. When you feel weak inside, fuel your strength outside and see how you transform. There will always be a barbell waiting.

A Year at a $25K Wellness Club: What the Elite Know About Health

A Year at a $25K Wellness Club: What the Elite Know About Health

M Hasan    5:00 PM   

A New Approach to Wellness

Health is an investment, and at Love.Life, a new wellness center co-founded by former Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey, it’s a pricy one — between $7,500 and $25,000 per year. When I was invited to check out the facility and get a complimentary health assessment as part of a press visit, I felt like I was getting a taste of how the wealthy do wellness — all without spending a dime.

Love.Life is just one of many wellness-focused facilities popping up around the country, and it comes at a time when preventive care is a major health focus. You’ve probably seen celebrities like Kim Kardashian getting full-body MRIs and other concierge medical services. Data-driven approaches to wellness are all the rage, and places like Love.Life are answering the call.

What $25K Gets You

According to its website, Love.Life’s goal is to “inspire and empower individuals to retake control of their health and achieve transformative, lasting results through evidence-based care and personal accountability.” It boasts a “supportive community and compassionate care team that meets individuals where they are on their personal health journey.”

It’s part concierge doctor, part gym, part spa — designed to be a one-stop shop for meeting your holistic health needs. The space, located in an outdoor mall in El Segundo, Calif., is massive. In addition to its physician facilities, there’s a pickleball court and high-tech strength equipment on the gym floor. There’s also a slew of different longevity treatments for members to use, from red light therapy beds and lymphatic drainage suits to cold plunge tubs and individual infrared saunas. Not a member? There’s also a cafe that’s open to the public and serves up healthy food options. (Vegetarian alternative to bone broth, anyone?)

But forget cafes anyone can enter: I was there to cosplay as someone who could afford to drop thousands a year out of pocket on her health. After all, access to all Love.Life has to offer is expensive. While the fitness and recovery membership ($4,600 per year) offers gym and recovery treatment, it doesn’t come with medical care. The lowest-tiered level for that option — the $7,500 per year Silver membership — comes with credits for the above-mentioned longevity treatments, plus advanced lab panel testing, a DEXA bone density scan, a cardiac screening and a gut and oral microbiome test. Also included are five appointments with a physician per year, access to an accountability coach and a nutritional consultation.

The highest level — the $25,000 platinum membership — tacks on a Prenuvo full-body MRI, a 10-day wear of a glucose monitoring device, 10 practitioner appointments and something called “spiritual health programming,” which involves meeting with a spiritual intelligence coach for an hour to create a growth plan that aligns with your wellness goals. As part of my free visit, I’d have my blood drawn for a complete lab workup, do a DEXA scan and have a longevity assessment on the gym floor with a trainer.

22 Vials of Blood, a DEXA Scan and a Fitness Assessment

Love.Life believes the more you know about your health, the more equipped you are to tackle any challenges associated with it. I, too, love information — and as someone who writes about health and wellness for a living, I have more access to it than some. Earlier this year, I got a full-body MRI through SimonMED, hoping to learn more about what’s going on in my body. (I learned I should get a follow-up head MRI with contrast to follow up on some surprising findings; insurance is still pending.) I also wear an Oura ring and religiously track my steps, sleep and “readiness” via its metrics. Needless to say, I didn’t blink when Love.Life said they’d need 22 vials of my blood for the panel. I’d happily bleed for the sake of better health!

Love.Life’s holistic approach meant a half-day of assessments. First, a phlebotomist drew those 22 vials of blood from me (though lab results would take weeks). The DEXA body composition scan I did gave me more immediate results. Despite prioritizing my spin bike over weight training recently, the scan showed that I hadn’t lost a significant amount of muscle like I’d feared.

I was less thrilled by my lackluster results during the longevity assessment on the gym floor: While I hit the normal markers on almost every assessment (I wanted exceptional, obviously), I totally flubbed the farmer’s carry. Curse you, grip strength.

But the best part of the visit? After my bloodwork was done, I was handed a smoothie (to make sure I didn’t pass out) and sat down with Dr. Jaclyn Tolentino, the lead functional medicine doctor at Love.Life. For more than half an hour, Tolentino and I discussed my health concerns: What were some pressing issues I was facing physically and mentally? How was my nutrition? My sleep? Stress levels? Did I take supplements?

As a fairly healthy person, I didn’t have many issues to bring up, but I did note that I occasionally had headaches from low blood sugar and needed to keep my cholesterol in check, as I have a family history on that front. And I mentioned I was relieved to see my DEXA scan confirmed I was keeping muscle tone, given I had slacked a bit on resistance training lately.

Tolentino listened carefully and suggested how Love.Life might be able to help. Here, you don’t just have a doctor, you have a care team that’s as invested in your health as you are. My bloodwork would be sent to a range of experts who would come up with a holistic plan to address all my health needs. That blood sugar issue? Maybe I could consider trying a glucose monitor. Tolentino added that a personal trainer could help create a realistic, sustainable resistance training plan, which a nutritionist would ensure was properly fueled.

Putting All That Data to Use

When my bloodwork results came back weeks later, I did an hour-long video call with Tolentino to discuss them. Tolentino went through each significant finding and explained, in detail, what it meant. Hormonal levels that appeared elevated, she said, were a result of the birth control pill I’m on and nothing to worry about. My iron levels, however, were something that should be addressed. Tolentino recommended taking a daily supplement and checking these levels again in six months. She noted that a Love.Life nutritionist could also help make sure my diet has enough iron.

All of this is a far cry from how I experienced medicine in the past. I’ve been frustrated with doctor visits that only cover one issue at a time. I could bring up my sore throat during an appointment, but sorry, no mentioning that secondary ear issue without a follow-up visit, thanks to insurance billing issues and doctors on a time crunch. All I hear is: a second copay. Another hour off work. The sense that it might be easier and cheaper not to dive that deep into any health concerns. After all, there’s a reason I haven’t made that follow-up head MRI appointment.

But at Love.Life, I had the luxury of time, and I didn’t have to worry about insurance drama. I didn’t have to choose which medical issue was the most pressing to bring up. I felt heard by Tolentino, and encouraged to share as much as possible. The different parts of our bodies all function together. Shouldn’t they be treated as a whole?

The Catch

Yet it’s impossible to talk about Love.Life without acknowledging the so-called elephant in the room: the cost. Love.Life charges membership fees that are out of range for most Americans. Health care providers who have an hour to listen to your needs? That’s a luxury service.

It’s also worth noting that Love.Life can’t do everything, like, say, do a liver biopsy. Instead, its high cost comes with the pledge that it may (emphasis on may, of course) be able to prevent disease and allow you to live a happier, healthier existence. And while lifestyle interventions are crucial in order to protect against certain diseases — such as diabetes and heart disease — they’re certainly easier to achieve when you have the luxury of a care team at your beck and call.

That said, the information I received from Love.Life did help me make some significant lifestyle changes. I’m now taking an iron supplement, but also being far more diligent about getting iron from nutritional sources, like leafy greens, tofu and nuts. And I’m also back to taking mid-afternoon walks: Tolentino informed me that my vitamin D levels were down a bit, and said that getting some sunshine during that time of day can be a great way to boost them.

Overall, these changes are simple and low-cost — no membership fee required. Still, if I hadn’t gone to Love.Life, I may not have felt compelled to take these health markers quite so seriously. While I won’t be paying for a membership (in this economy?!), I do now feel more confident to tackle these challenges on my own.

7 Core-Boosting Resistance Band Ab Exercises

7 Core-Boosting Resistance Band Ab Exercises

M Hasan    5:00 PM   

7 Resistance Band Ab Exercises You Can Do Anywhere

Resistance bands are a versatile and effective tool for strengthening your core, even if you don’t have access to a gym. These exercises can be done in the comfort of your home or while traveling, making them ideal for anyone looking to build a stronger, more defined midsection. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced fitness enthusiast, incorporating resistance bands into your routine can help you achieve your goals.

1. Banded Bicycle Crunches

This exercise targets your entire core, including your obliques and lower abs. To perform it:

• Loop the band around both of your feet.
• Lie on your back with your hands behind your head and knees bent.
• Extend one leg while bringing the opposite elbow toward the bent knee.
• Alternate sides with control.

Recommended sets and reps: 3 sets of 12–15 reps per side.

2. Resistance Band Plank Pulls

This variation of the plank adds resistance to engage your core and upper body.

• Anchor the band in front of you, low to the ground.
• Get into a forearm plank and grab the band with one hand.
• Pull the band toward your body in the same motion as a lat pulldown before extending your arm again.
• Switch arms after each set.

Recommended sets and reps: 3 sets of 10 reps per arm.

3. Seated Russian Twists

This exercise focuses on rotational strength and core stability.

• Sit with your knees bent and feet hovering an inch off the floor.
• Anchor the band on one side, and hold the band taut between your hands.
• Twist your torso to the opposing side, keeping the band under tension.
• After completing one set, flip your body around and work the other side.

Recommended sets and reps: 3 sets of 20 reps (10 per side).

4. Banded Dead Bugs

This movement is great for improving coordination and core stability.

• Lie on your back, and loop the band around both of your feet.
• Raise your arms straight above you, in line with your shoulders. Bring your legs up and have your knees at a 90-degree angle.
• Extend one leg while the opposite arm reaches overhead.
• Return to the starting position, and switch sides.

Recommended sets and reps: 3 sets of 10 reps per side.

5. Standing Oblique Crunch

This exercise targets the obliques and improves lateral core strength.

• Anchor a band under one foot and hold the other end overhead.
• Crunch your torso sideways, engaging your obliques.
• Return slowly to the starting position before repeating.
• Switch sides after each set.

Recommended sets and reps: 3 sets of 12–15 reps per side.

6. Banded Reverse Crunches

This move helps strengthen your lower abs and improve hip mobility.

• Secure the band to an anchor at floor level.
• Lie on your back and loop the band around your feet. Make sure you are far enough from the anchor that the band is slightly taut.
• Pull your knees toward your chest, going against the resistance of the band.
• Lift your hips off the floor, then lower with control.

Recommended sets and reps: 3 sets of 15 reps.

7. Banded Woodchoppers

This exercise targets the transverse abdominis and improves rotational strength.

• Anchor the band at a point above your head and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Hold the band with both hands.
• Pull it diagonally across and down your body, rotating your torso.
• Return your arms to the starting position, then switch sides after completing the predetermined number of reps.

Recommended sets and reps: 3 sets of 10–12 reps per side.

Can You Get Abs with Only a Resistance Band?

Yes, you can develop strong abs using only a resistance band—provided you remain consistent, gradually increase intensity, and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Resistance bands are highly effective for core training and can offer similar benefits to traditional gym equipment.

Studies have shown that elastic resistance can contribute to better muscle definition and improved body composition. One study found that participants saw a decrease in fat mass and an increase in fat-free mass, which supports the idea that resistance bands can help build visible abs.

Another study noted that male athletes using resistance bands saw improvements in abdominal strength, power, and balance. This highlights the ability of bands to effectively target the core through functional movement.

However, it's important to remember that building visible abs also depends on reducing overall body fat through diet and regular cardio.

How Often Should You Train Your Abs for Results?

For visible and strong abs, aim to train your core two to four times per week. Like any other muscle group, your abdominal muscles need time to recover between sessions—especially if you’re using resistance. Focus on quality over quantity by incorporating progressive overload, such as adding resistance bands or increasing reps. Core workouts can be short, around 10 to 15 minutes, but consistency matters most.

Avoid training abs every single day, as overworking them can lead to fatigue and reduced performance. Pair your training with proper nutrition and strength and cardio workouts for the best results.

Other Tips for Achieving a Strong, Defined Core

• Focus on compound movements like squats and deadlifts, which naturally engage the core muscles during each rep.
• Maintain good posture throughout the day to keep your core activated and reduce lower back strain.
• Incorporate a mix of stability, strength, and rotational exercises to target all areas of the core, including the obliques and transverse abdominis.
• Stay consistent with your workouts and gradually increase intensity or resistance to keep making progress.
• Prioritize proper form to avoid injury and ensure you’re targeting the correct muscles.
• Combine core training with full-body strength training and cardio to reduce overall body fat.
• Get adequate sleep each night, as recovery and hormone balance play a role in muscle development.
• Stay hydrated and follow a balanced diet rich in whole foods to support energy levels and lean muscle growth.