Dana Linn Bailey's Ultimate Abs Workout For A Strong Core

Former Women’s Physique Olympia champion Dana Linn Bailey recently uploaded a video to her YouTube channel to educate her fans on the importance of having a strong core. She shared five core exercises, which she said would take a maximum of 15 minutes but will give excellent results.

A strong core provides stability and makes it easy to do regular day-to-day activities. Therefore, adding a core routine to the workout plans is important. Dana, who, even at the age of 39, continues to train hard in the gym, revealed some basic yet effective core workouts that fitness lovers at every level of development can add to their training.

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Dana Linn Bailey recommends doing Russian Twists, Halos for a strong core

Before getting into the details of each exercise, here is a brief about the number of rounds and time that should be utilized for each exercise.

• Halos – 1 Min X 4 Rounds
• 30 sec break
• Frog Sit-ups – 1 Min X 4 Rounds
• 30 sec break
• Thread the Needle – 30 Sec X 4 Rounds
• 30 sec break
• Black Widow Knee Slides – 1 Min X 4 Rounds
• 30 sec break
• Russian Twists – 1 Min X 4 Rounds

1) Halos

This was the first exercise in Dana’s video that focused on the lower abdominal muscles. Halos can be a difficult task for beginners who do not have considerable core strength. The bodybuilder did this exercise for four rounds in one minute. She has advised beginners to start with 20 seconds and slowly work the way up.

Here’s how to do it:

• Lie down on the surface with arms spread out.
• Raise the legs upwards without bending the knee.
• Draw a circle in the air with the feet in a clockwise direction.
• Then repeat it in the same way but anti-clockwise.

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2) Frog Sit-ups

This exercise isolates the abdominal muscles to a far greater extent and helps to improve core strength. Dana said that since the feet are resting on the surface in standard crunches, they can engage the hip flexors and deviate them from the abdominal muscles. It is also known as – Butterfly Sit-ups.

Here’s how to do it:

• Lie down on your back.
• Join your feet together with knees pointing outwards.
• Place your hands behind your neck.
• Bring your upper body towards the sky and use swift movement to get a squeeze in the core.

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3) Thread the Needle

After performing the first two exercises from the lying position, Dana Linn Bailey changed a few things and worked from the side plank stance for this exercise. Threading the Needle is an effective and helpful exercise to open the shoulders and activate the back muscles.

Here’s how to do it:

• Get into high side plank stance with the free arm.
• Extends towards the roof
• Do a hip dip and go back to a high plank stance
• Twist the body and let the free arm go up between the surface and upper body.
• Get again into high plank stance, repeat hip dip.

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4) Black Widow Knee Slides

Dana Linn Bailey next moved to this exercise to focus on the abdominal muscles. While abs and obliques are major muscles that work with black widow knee slides, they also activate the glutes, quadriceps, and hip flexors. Dana did four rounds of 1-minute sets.

Here’s how to do it:

• Get into a high plank stance.
• Take the right knee to the elbow and keep a tight core.
• Curl the shoulders to target the abdominal muscles.
• Kick the right leg back as per your ability.
• Get into high plank stance again and repeat the process with other leg.

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5) Russian Twists

This was the last exercise in Dana Linn Bailey’s core workout sessions. Russian twists are an effective exercise to activate the oblique muscles. In the video, Bailey performed the exercise as slowly as possible to get the most out of that oblique burn. She advised keeping the feet on the ground so the focus of the exercise shifts from hip flexors to obliques.

Here’s how to do it:

• Sit on the surface with the feet on the ground and bend your knees.
• Lean back then try to keep the upper body at a 45 degree angle.
• Turn the body on either sides to activate the core and obliques.
• Hold a weighted plate if you wish to advance to the next level.

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Conclusion

Dana Linn Bailey has retired from bodybuilding, but her passion for bodybuilding has not blurred in her life. This can be seen in her training videos and the energy she uses to educate people on bodybuilding.

Bailey recently shared what her diet was like in her prime days. Watching her videos, it is evident that she still has a lot left to offer in the bodybuilding industry if she returns to a competitive bodybuilder’s training sessions and diet routine.