Cozy season is upon us, which means staying snuggled in your warm bed on colder mornings is irresistibly tempting. However, even if you stay in bed, that doesn’t mean you can’t squeeze in a morning core workout.
The past year has seen the rise of cozy cardio and other stay-comfy-inside workouts. One you may not have considered: an ab workout in bed. It may sound indulgent, but just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it won’t give you a great workout.
“When it comes to training your abs, keeping your work simple and doable reigns supreme,” says Michelle Ditto, CPT, a certified personal trainer and director of training and technique at Pure Barre. “It’s possible to get an incredibly effective workout without even having to leave your bed.”
Lowering barriers to working out (like, ahem, getting out of bed) can make or break how likely you are to stick to a fitness routine. And the great thing about working your abs: Core exercises can be done from anywhere, even if you’re lying down.
You can even switch on “Gilmore Girls” or another cozy show while you work your core in bed, but you likely won’t get through an entire episode. An ab workout in bed can be done in as little as five minutes.
“When it comes to overall benefits from fitness, amount and duration matter less than consistency,” Ditto says.
In fact, just three bouts of one to two minutes of exercise per day led to about a 40 percent lower risk of early death from any cause and a nearly 50 percent lower risk of early death from heart disease (compared to not doing vigorous activity at all), per a 2022 study of more than 25,000 non-exercisers in Nature Medicine.
“Plus, the beauty of focusing on ab work is that your abs and your core overall are really the superhighway to the rest of your body,” Ditto adds. “When your core is strong, other muscles have access to engage more readily through increased stability, stamina, and endurance.”
To get started, try this five-minute ab workout, created by Ditto, that you can do in bed.
“When it comes to training your abs, keeping your work simple and doable reigns supreme. It’s possible to get an incredibly effective workout without even having to leave your bed.” —Michelle Ditto, CPT
Dynamic stretch
This move encourages spine mobility and core activation to wake up your body and mobilize the joints.
Photo: Michelle Ditto, CPT
Lie on your back and reach your arms and legs long in opposite directions and hold for a breath or two.
Curl into a tight ball, chin toward your chest, reaching toward your feet.
Extend your arms and legs out as wide as you can in an “X” shape, hold for a breath, then curl into a tight ball again.
Complete six to eight slow reps.
Abs warmup
With an upper-body crunch and side bend, this move brings blood flow to your abs and activates your muscles.
Crunch
Photo: Michelle Ditto, CPT
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the bed. Reach your arms forward by your sides.
As you exhale, curl up to hold a crunch, reaching for your heels.
Hold for two seconds, then slowly release.
Complete 10 reps.
Crunch with side bend
Photo: Michelle Ditto, CPT
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the bed. Reach your arms forward by your sides.
Curl your chin to your chest so your shoulders are slightly elevated.
Alternate reaching your hand toward your ankle (right hand toward right ankle, then left hand toward left ankle) in a side-bend motion. Complete 10 reps on each side.
Repeat two to three sets of the above movements.
Abs endurance circuit
Engage your full abdominal wall, focusing on breath and proper alignment, with these movements for your lower abs and obliques. Repeat two to three sets of each movement below.
Toe tap
Photo: Michelle Ditto, CPT
Lie on your back and lift your legs up to a tabletop position at 90 degrees (or as close as possible). Keep your head on the bed and arms long by your sides.
Bracing your core, tap the toes of both feet to the bed then lift them up to tabletop again.
Complete 10 reps.
MODIFICATION
Alternate your legs for less intensity, or keep both feet on the bed and lift up to 90 degrees one at a time.
Sit-up
Photo: Michelle Ditto, CPT
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the bed.
Reach your arms overhead, then lift your upper body off the bed as your raise all the way up to a sitting position.
Keep your feet glued to the bed throughout the exercise.
Slowly lower yourself back down.
Complete five to eight reps.
MODIFICATION
Lightly grab behind your thighs to roll up during the sit-up.
Oblique V-up
Photo: Michelle Ditto, CPT
Lie on your right side with your right forearm on the bed for support and your left hand behind your head.
Extend your legs slightly in front of you to sit on your right glute (instead of your hip bone).
Lift both legs off the bed, then pull your knees into your left elbow.
Complete 10 reps, then switch sides.
MODIFICATION
Move just the top left leg and keep the right leg down for a slightly less intense option.
Abs repeater burnout
Challenge your abdominal muscles—and your mindset!—with this abs repeater circuit. Complete three to five sets of the first two moves, then move on to the final challenge and stretch.
Leg lower
Photo: Michelle Ditto, CPT
Extend your legs straight to the ceiling, hip-width apart and fully straight.
Place your hands behind your head.
Bracing your core, slowly lower your legs toward the bed. Let your feet hover a few inches off the bed.
Then slowly lift your legs back up without arching your back.
Complete five reps.
Bicycle crunch
Photo: Michelle Ditto, CPT
Start lying flat on your back with your arms at your sides and your knees bent, feet flat on the bed.
Place your hands behind your head.
Brace your core to raise your head, shoulders and legs a few inches off the bed.
Bend your left knee and twist your torso to the left so your right elbow crosses your body and reaches toward your left knee.
Immediately bend your right knee and extend your left knee. Twist your torso to the right so your left elbow crosses your body and reaches toward your right knee.
Complete 16 reps total (eight per side).
Final challenge and stretch
Photo: Michelle Ditto, CPT
Extend your arms and legs long in opposite directions, with your legs straight and as low as they can go (without your back arching) and your arms by your ears.
Brace your core to lift your head, shoulders, and feet a few inches off the bed.
Hold still for as long as you can, with the goal of 30 seconds.
For a final stretch, reach your arms and legs long in opposite directions.
