Quick No-Equipment Partner Ab Workout

Whether it's at home or at the gym, getting an ab workout in with a friend, spouse or even your kids for a little fun family exercise game can be a motivating and rewarding experience and make your ab workout a bit more enjoyable.

This quick partner ab workout has exercises that are simple to follow and give you the option to make them more or less challenging based on what level you and your partner need. No equipment is needed, so this can be done just about anywhere, whenever you need a good ab workout or a little fun activity. Just try to do this ab workout without a few smiles – we dare you!

In this quick no-equipment partner ab workout, you will be doing 5 different ab exercises with your partner for 60 seconds each. The 5 ab exercises are:

Sit-up and touch

Sit down on the floor facing your partner with your knees bent in the traditional sit-up position and the sides of your feet touching. Next, adjust your feet so they are interlocked with your partner's feet so you provide each other with an "anchor" as you do your sit-ups. Once you're ready to start your 60 seconds, lay back so your upper body is on the floor ready to do a sit-up. Signal to your partner or start a timer and begin doing sit-ups, reaching all the way up so you and your partner touch hands. Slowly and smoothly return your upper body back to the floor and repeat until the timer reaches zero.

Bicycle crunch

Lay across from you partner in a way that allows the bottoms of your feet to be pressed against each other (shoes recommended) while your knees are bent like they would be if you were sitting in a chair. Both you and your partner should be able to almost fully extend your leg while your partner's leg comes back towards their body. Start your 60 second timer and begin with you and your partner pressing the same leg (right or left) towards the other. If you are both fighting to straighten your leg out against each other one of you needs to switch legs! Once that leg is fully extended, begin to bring it back while extending out your opposite leg. As you bring your legs back, be sure to apply some resistance to your partner so that your legs aren't just being shoved back at you.

The amount of resistance is up to you and your partner. The more you add, the more challenging the workout will be. Take care to not apply so much pressure that you hurt each other though – That would defeat the purpose! Repeat this bicycle motion for the full 60 seconds.

Walk out

Stand facing your partner at a distance that is about the total of yours and your partner's body length plus both of your reached out hands. Begin the exercise by keeping your feet planted and placing your hands on the ground in front of you. You and your partner "walk" your hands out towards each other until you are in a straight-armed plank position. Once there, reach out and give each other a high-five, alternating hands this way until you have given 4 high-fives (2 with each hand). After that, walk your hands back towards your feet until you can stand up again. Stand up straight and raise your hands up in the air (you can skip the raising of the hands if needed, but it's a nice stretch). Quickly return your hands to the ground in front of you and repeat until your 60 second countdown is complete.

Side plank

Get into a forearm plank position side-by-side with your partner. Begin this exercise by keeping your inside arm still and rotating your body away from your partner so that your outside arms raise above your bodies and touch at the top. After touching, slowly return your arm back down to the start position. Then, with your outside arm locked in position, begin to rotate your body so you are facing your partner until your inside arm is above your body. Give your partner a smile, crazy face, or kissy face – your choice. Slowly return your arm back down to the start position. Repeat these movements for the full 60 seconds. Also, for a little more challenge you can hold your arms up at the top for a count of 4 seconds (or more if you're feeling especially strong today!).

V-sit circle

Sit down on the floor facing your partner with your knees bent in the traditional sit-up position and your feet next to your partner's feet. One person raises their feet so they are at about the same height as their stomach, while the other person starts with their feet just above the other person. Place your hands back behind you so your upper body is at a slight incline for balance. To begin, the person who has their feet above the other uses their feet to trace a circle around their partner's feet while their partner keeps their feet completely still. Once a full circle is made, reverse the direction of the circle tracing until the tracing person's feet are back in the starting position. Then, switch and do what your partner just did. Alternate tracing circles until the 60 seconds are complete.

For added challenge for your partner, you can raise the height of your stationary feet so that your partner has to bring their legs up higher to trace a circle around your feet. Just be sure that you don't go so high that they can't keep their balance and fall over.

These exercises might take a little bit of trial and error as you and your partner figure out how to coordinate the movements in a way that fits you both, but that should only take some quick adjustments before you are going at full steam. Just remember to keep at it, keep your form and most importantly have fun!

Quick workout tips:

• You can adjust the length of time you do each exercise depending on what you and your partner's needs are.
• You can also take a quick rest during or between exercises if needed.
• Increasing the speed each exercise is done can add more cardio to the workout. Just be sure to go at a pace your partner can handle and that doesn't make you or your partner lose proper form for each exercise.
• For all exercises use your best judgement and listen to your partner. This is a team exercise!

Want more quick workout ideas? Check out our Quick Workouts playlist on our YouTube channel.

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