Crush Your Week: 5 Resistance Band Core Workouts

What are the benefits of core workouts?

Maintaining a strong, stable core is essential to not only crushing obstacle course races, but also in avoiding injury and staying mobile into older age. The following are great reasons to grab a resistance band and try this week's core workouts.

1. Improving posture and agility

2. Reducing back pain and injury

3. Improving balance and coordination

4. Reduced risk of falling

5. Increased mobility into older age

01 - Workout: Monday

Place the resistance band around your ankles for all exercises, and perform four rounds of 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off.

1. Banded alternating lateral lunge

2. Banded lateral bound

3. Banded monster walk (4 forward, 4 back)

4. Banded lateral shuffle

5. Banded star jump

6. Banded burpee

02 - Workout: Tuesday

Two, 10-minute AMRAP workouts with 120 seconds of rest between circuits.

Circuit I

1. 8 banded sidesteps to the right

2. 8 banded sidesteps to the left

3. 12 banded squats to single-arm overhead press

4. 12 Banded low-to-high woodchop (right)

5. 12 Banded low-to-high woodchop (left)

Circuit II

1. 12 banded elbow planks with leg lift (right)

2. 12 banded elbow planks with leg lift (left)

3. 20 Russian twists (band around ankles)

4. 12 kneeling crunches (band around ankles)

03 - Workout: Wednesday

One, four-round circuit with 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off.

1. Standing + alternating elbow-to-knee (band around feet)

2. Seated bicycle crunches (band around ankles)

3. Plank jack (band around ankles)

4. Bear crawl (band around ankles)

5. Banded elbow planks with leg lift (right)

6. Banded elbow planks with leg lift (left)

04 - Workout: Thursday

Four, four-round circuits with 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off each.

Circuit I

1. Banded good mornings

2. Banded squat and overhead press

Circuit II

1. Banded push-up

2. Banded sit-up to seated high row

Circuit III

1. Banded reverse lunge (left) to single-arm overhead press (right)

2. Banded reverse lunge (right) to single-arm overhead press (left)

Circuit IV

1. Banded standing chest press

2. Banded sumo squat to overhead press

05 - Workout: Friday

Two, three-round circuits with 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off, 30 seconds between rounds and 60 seconds between circuits.

Circuit I

1. Banded squat taps (band around ankles)

2. Banded burpees (band around ankles)

3. Plank jack (4) to push-up (1) (band around ankles)

Circuit II

1. Broad jump to reverse bear crawl

2. Lateral prisoner jump squat (2 right, 2 left)

3. Side shuffle with ground tap

4. Alternating jump lunge

Related: The Spartan Guide to Resistance Loops (Plus a Workout to Blast Your Core)