Easy 6-Minute Ab Moves to Flatten Your Stomach and Strengthen Your Core

If you want to burn belly fat and strengthen your core, try this easy five-minute ab workout several days a week and stick to your healthy whole-foods, plant-based diet. This combination should do the trick.

There are thousands of ab exercises on the internet that target specific muscles, like your obliques and rectus abs, or lower ab muscles. The Beet asked fitness instuctor Caroline Deisler to design an ab workout exclusively for you that doesn't take much time but gives you the effective results you crave.

Since your body wants to rely on your core for strength instead of larger muscle groups, a strong core helps you sit and stand taller, move more easily, sleep better, and strengthen other muscles like your hips, shoulders, and lower back. If you're a runner or an athlete, core exercises are extremely important to help have better balance and prevent injuries, especially those from falling, since your body is supported by a strong core. Overall, you'll feel more powerful because your core supports almost everything you do, from sitting upright in your chair to riding a bike.

After you complete this five-minute ab workout you'll feel a healthy burn in your abs and motivated to try Caroline's other easy workout videos. Find which one works best for you:

Now that your muscles are feeling fit, start eating a whole food plant-based diet with an abundance of fiber and clean protein to help you feel fuller longer and build lean muscle. If weight loss is the goal, sign up for The VegStart Diet and lose fat naturally in just two weeks.

First Move: High Plank + Knee to Elbow. On your mat, get into a high plank position with your hands and toes on the mat. Make sure your core is engaged and your butt is leveled with your body--not raised in the air or swaying low. Then, take one leg and move your knee forward to your chest and touch your knee to the outside of your elbow. Then, switch legs alternating for a total of one minute.
Second Move: Crunch + Clap. Laying on your back with your knees in the air and feet on the floor, crunch upwards slowly with your arms out in front of you. Then, reach your hands behind your knee and clap behind your leg.f Then, lay back down slowly and switch legs and do it again on the other side. Alternate each leg and complete this move in one minute.
Third Move: Scissor Kicks. Laying on your mat, lift your chest and legs off the ground so only your butt is on the mat. Your core, hips, and legs will be engaged. From there, kick your legs in an alternating scissor kick. Perform this move for thirty seconds then move your legs side to side instead of up and down in a side to side scissor kick for thirty seconds. Complete these two moves in a total of one minute.
Fourth Move: Sitting crunches. Sit down on your mat and raise your legs into the air and lift your chest. Plant your arms at your side to support your lower back. Your butt and hands should be the only two things touching the mat. From there, pull your knees into your chest and your upper body forward in a crunch. Perform this move for a total of one minute.
Fifth Move: Heel Touches. Laying on your mat with your feet down, knees in the air, lower back touching the mat and arms by your side, move your core side to side targeting your oblique muscles, and tap your fingers on your heel. Perform this movement for a total of one minute.
Sixth Move: Mini Crunches. In the same position, perform tiny crunches slowly and steadily with your arms by your sides. Perform these for a total of one minute and feel the burn in your upper abs.

Now that you finished the last move, make time to stretch and release any tension you feel.