Summer Workout Challenge Day 4: 20-Minute Standing Core Workout (Max 20)

This is day 4 of my Max20 program where strength training is made simple. 20 minutes a day, max impact, and you can get the full program when you click the link in the description below. All right team, welcome back to Max20 day 4. Today is all about the core, abs, and some accessory muscles. I'm Lindsey Bomgren of Nourish Move Love, and I'm joined by the amazing Caroline. Hello. She'll be offering modifications for today's all-standing core workout. I would say today is your lighter load of the Max 20 program. All you're going to need is a single dumbbell for this workout, so grab one weight. You can grab a medium weight and a heavy weight. We're going to challenge your balance, your core, your stability. Today is all about standing core, just like we've done in Max 20. We are going to do 4 core training exercises from a standing position times 4 sets. Today is going to be timed intervals, so it is 40 seconds of work followed by 15 seconds of rest. We'll have that 20-rep buy-in. We're going to target the calves as your accessory muscle and then we're gonna train that core. So grab your single heavy dumbbell. Let's get ourselves warmed up and we are jumping into today's workout. Starting with feet shoulder width distance apart, go ahead and just flap those wings. We're gonna shake out and stretch those legs from day 3, leg day yesterday, and we're gonna get right in with a standing warmup. Big inhale, reach up. Exhale, hands come behind the head. Standing cat cow. So you're gonna round, elbows collapse, and then pull the elbows apart, pull that chest apart. Do it again. Round the spine, stand tall, open the chest. Do it one more time. Round the spine, Stand tall, open the chest. Now let's add some lateral flexion. So drop to the left, collapse the elbows, nice little neck, neck roll. Now stand back up tall. Same thing to the right. Drop to the right, collapse, round, and open. Let's do one more each way. Lateral flexion, collapse and round. You're going to see a variety of core training today— anti-rotation, rotation, and this lateral flexion. We're doing right here. Stand back up nice and tall. Just go for some knee hugs. Nice strength. Lengthen through those glutes. That got a nice workout in yesterday. Definitely feeling my outer glutes if you did that burnout, that 10-minute mini band burnout really got me yesterday. Nice work. Pull those knees up. One more here. Nice. Set it down. We're gonna do a tib raise into a calf raise. So toes up, heels up, toes up, heels up, transferring that weight. Nice. Building that proprioception in your feet, you're going to want to do today's workout with some nice flat bottom shoes on or potentially even barefoot if you're training. You want to have a nice stable base. Really having your feet be able to feel the ground is important for the balance work we're going to put into today's workout. Nice. One more toes to the face, heels up. Nice work. From here, we're going to do a single leg deadlift or Caroline's going to show you a staggered stance. I'm actually going to come back to a wall. We're going to do some hip airplanes. I'm standing balancing on one leg, soft bend in my knee, and now I'm going to try and rotate and open. So what I'm doing here is taking the pelvis from a square position and then I'm externally rotating my top hip open. If you have hip and low back pain, this is one of the hip mobility exercises I cannot talk about enough. Every time I see a physical therapist for my hip pain, they say, are you doing airplanes? Are you doing airplanes? This is the move, guys. That's why we're building it into your workout. One more on this side.

Nice.

You can do the same thing other side. I'll just go— I'll go over here so you don't— there we go. We'll do a little swap so you don't get my backside. Soft bend in that standing leg. Leg can float, and then arm can go, and you can follow. Gaze can follow fingertips, just like you would if you were on the ground in the World's Greatest Stretch, rotating through this hip. And down. One of the problems with our hips is that we don't give them enough motion. You hear motion is lotion, right? They need that Full— they need external rotation, internal rotation when you drop. External rotation and internal rotation. Give me one more right here. Rotate. You could grab a broom or a countertop too. And down. Nice work. Walk it out, walk it out. We'll go back to our resumed normal position. Awesome job. From here, you're going to practice that step-through chop. So soft bend in the standing right leg. Pretend you have a dumbbell here. Step-through chop. Slow lower. So this is going to be your rotation core exercise where you're taking that dumbbell across your midline. Load with control, power on the up, decelerate on the way down. Nice, just taking you through that motion. One more right there. Nice, let's just go for some taps, taps. If it's available to you, you can jack it out, jack it out, jack it out. Nice, get a little bit of impact on those toes and calves for 8, 7, 6, you got it, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Step through, chop, other way. Loading right here, soft bend in this left leg. Step through, chop, load, control. You want to go all the way up across that midline or over the opposing shoulder and down, chop, and load. 2 more, 2 more. Drive, driving through the hips. Drive, load, control. Nice work. We're going to finish right here in Standing crunches. Let's just finish off with some standing crunches right here. Hands behind the head. You're going to crunch and crunch, rotating and twisting through that midline. Again, promise to keep you in an all-standing position today. Very functional core training. We'll talk about the moves we're doing as we're doing them, but very functional core training right here. Give me 4, 3, 2, and 1. All right, grab that PDF tracker. If you don't have it, you can click the link in the description below to get it. It has your exercises listed out today so you can track the weights you're using for today's workout. We are going to start with a buy-in. It is a 20-rep calf raise. We're going to load it goblet style, so holding one dumbbell at your chest. That farther the weight is from your body, the more core engagement that's going to be required. So this is abs accessory muscles. We're targeting core and calves in this first move. So can you get that weight off your chest? You're going to give me 20 calf raises, lifting the heels off the ground. Squeeze at the top, lower with control. We go in 3, 2, let's go. It's 20. Lift, lower with control. I want a nice contraction at the top and lower with control. If you really wanted to add some intensity to this, you could get on a step or add a slight level change so you have the heels dropping, getting a little bit more stretch through the calf. Always a good thing. There are lots of ways to increase that overload. Remember, it can be reps, it can be weight, It can be range of motion. So adding the heel drop is going to increase the range of motion for you. Nice. You're over halfway here. That's 12. Awesome job. Woo! Lift those heels up. Squeeze at the top. We're hitting calves today. We know they're important for protecting knee health. They're also your second heart, Caroline. Yes. They are what pump the blood back to your heart, you guys. Each step, each calf raise, your second heart right here, pumping that blood back to your heart. One more here. All the way up. Lower with control. That a way. So you can keep this one weight with you. We're going to jump right in. We've got a dumbbell snatch, 3 overhead march. The weight is going to stay in the right hand the whole time. Caroline's going to clean to the shoulder. I'm going for a full snatch overhead. Weight starts between my feet, hinge in the hip. I snatch that weight all the way up overhead, hold and march for 3, 2, 1. Set it back down, rack, load, and go right back into the snatch. Staying on the right arm the entire time of this first set. Caroline's going to cling to the shoulder. One snatch, three uneven march. All right, load it, rack it, right hand on that weight. 40 seconds starts in 3, 2, let's go! Snatch, hold, march, 2, 3, rack and load. So you're transferring power from lower to upper body right here, and now I'm putting an uneven isometric— or an uneven load on that shoulder. Forcing the core to turn on. Whoo! Nice. Get that knee up in line with that hip. Load, snatch, hold, load. 2, 3. Big anti-rotation move here. Nice. In that sagittal plane of motion. So we're staying right here. We're going to give you a couple of different planes of motion today. We're going to give you anti-rotation, which is what you're seeing in the first move, as well as some flexion and rotation, training the core from all Angles. Nice. You're in that final 5 seconds. Rack it. 3, 2, rest. Nice work. Keep the weight in your right hand. Left hand comes behind your head. You are going to give me lateral flexion or a side bend to the right. Stand up, calf raise. Here we go in 3, 2, let's go. Hit right, bend, bend, bend, stretch, stand. Now one calf raise. Nice. So this is a lateral flexion move and then a calf raise. Nice work. Lateral flexion, one side bend, one calf raise. Lateral side bend, actually going into the frontal plane here, which is your side to side plane. Like I said, training the core from all angles is the goal today. Make sure you're standing tall here, not collapsing as you go into that side bend. All right. And adding the calf raise at the top, I personally think makes this just a much more functional exercise than just a side bend.

Yeah, we never do calf raises alone, so I love when they're added in.

We gotta build them in, gotta build them in. For 3, 2, last one right here. Stand tall, rest and recover. Nice. Now we're gonna go into that single leg deadlift that we kind of did in the, uh, warm-up. You're gonna keep the weight in the right hand, so I'm gonna stand on my left foot, weight in the right hand. I'm going to hinge If I can in a balanced position, you're gonna give me an alternating row. So pull right, then left. You're on in 3, 2, let's go. Pull and lower. I really want you to think about keeping your hips square to the ground. Soft bend in that standing leg. You're gonna see my standing leg shake and go side to side. The weight is just moving from big toe to pinky toe to heel. Nice solid tripod. This is why I said you want those barefoot shoes or barefoot training. Pull and reach. Don't let that weight pull you down. Shoulders and hips are both square to the mat. This is another anti-rotation move and you are feeling it in that core. Yes, come on, no taps. Every tap we're gonna say is a push-up. Trying to go for Team No Taps today. 10 seconds. Trying to watch that focal point on the ground and that timer. You got it, last 3. 2, and 1. I have one tap, one push-up, one push-up. All right, I want you to stay standing on the left foot. You're actually going to start by holding each head of the dumbbell. Dumbbell comes from right hip to left shoulder. Slow lower in 3, 2, step through, chop, chop, lower, load, chop, lower, load, chop, lower. So you go from a staggered stance up. The hip is what's powering the move. It's not coming from the arms, it's coming from my hips. Hips drive that power. Hips drive that power. Flow lower, think power up, catch the load on the way down. That's actually where your core comes into play, is the deceleration movement, catching that load. Nice work, team! You got this. Rotating through the torso. Not the arms. 10 seconds. Almost there. Final 4, 3, 2. Give me one more big chop and you're out. Nice work, team. That is your 4 moves, right? You're gonna repeat those moves and we're gonna switch sides. Grab a quick sip of water if you need it. We're gonna switch sides as needed, starting on the dumbbell snatch. Weight in your left hand. Weight goes between my legs. Left hand. You can clean to the shoulder or snatch all the way up overhead. Hold at the top, bicep by ear. March for 3. All right, here we go. Grab that weight. 40 seconds in 3, 2— let's go! Snatch, hold, march, 2, 3. Rack and load. Here we go. Snatch, march, 2, 3. Rack and load. Nice work, team! Drive those hips forward. Nice lockout at the top. Keep the bicep right by the ear. Right, trying not to dip into the shoulder or the hip, putting pressure here, transferring the power, then holding an uneven load and adding a weight transfer with the march. A lot is happening here. This is a big, big move. You're talking shoulder stability, core control, balance, all in one move. And you're here for 5, 4 3, 2, rest and recover. Nice work. Side bend, other side. You're going to keep the weight in the left hand this time. Give me that lateral flexion to the left. Stand tall, calf raise. One side bend, one calf raise. You're there in 3, 2, let's go. Reach, reach, reach, lengthen, contract. Side bend. We're targeting the obliques here. This is your side ab, so think about Lengthening here and now cinching ribs down to hip right there. Lengthen and now cinch ribs down to hips. This reminds me of when you're pregnant and your— what is it? Your round ligament. It goes from 2 inches to 12 inches. It's crazy. Something wild like that.

It's amazing what our bodies can do.

Seriously, they are so resilient and adaptable and that's why they're adapting. To the stress you put on them through resistance training. We know muscle is the organ of longevity, guys. You're here for 5, 4, 3, 2, and rest. Nice work. We're gonna do that same single leg deadlift. So this time, balancing on my right leg, left leg's gonna float, weight in the left hand. Pull, switch, pull. Even though the weight— this arm, my right hand doesn't have a weight, I want you to pull it back in 3 2. Find that focal point. Pull, switch, pull, switch. Soft bend in that standing leg. Hips and shoulders square to the ground. Anti-rotation, not rotating. Uneven load again, that one dumbbell. Yes, team! Strong glutes, strong hips, strong core. I love it. Keep going. You might notice one side is easier than the other. That's normal. We all have those muscle imbalances. That's why we train both sides evenly. You got it. 10 seconds in this standing balance core move. You get 2 feet on the ground in 4, 3, 2. Rest and recover. Chopping, loading the left hip up over the right shoulder, holding each head of the dumbbell. Right foot forward, left toe popped. Okay, heavy through that right foot, chopping up over that shoulder. You got it, you're there in 3, 2, let's go! Chop, lower, load. Chop, lower, load. You got it, big chop, add some power. Big chop, drive those hips forward. Deceleration is so huge, that's where the core comes in. Catching that load, so good for your spine right here. What you're training is so good for your back health. Strong core, strong back. Yes, team, keep pushing. Nice work. Injury prevention at its best right here. Training how you move functionally. Pivots and twists. This is rotation in the transverse plane. Training that core from every angle for 3. 2, 1, rest and recover. Nice! 2 down, 2 down. Halfway, halfway. 2 more sets, 1 more per side if we're switching sides. Back to the snatch on the right, back to the snatch on the right. Dumbbell between your legs. 1 snatch, 3 marches. 1 snatch, 3 marches. Here we go in 3, 2 Let's go, snatch rack, march, 2, 3. While this is truly what we're calling a core and accessory workout, 1, 2, 3, what you're missing here, or what really should be on that thumbnail, is telling you how good this workout is for your spine and your back health. March, 2, 3. Nice work holding that load overhead. As you transfer the weight, all those tiny back extensors are working. You got this, team. Come on.

And we're strengthening the back with that row.

Oh yeah, all built in. We haven't hit the back since Monday, those big pull-ups we did, those back rows. So we're hitting it again on day 4. Final 4, 3, 2, rest and recover. Nice work. Uneven side bend. Weight's gonna stay in the right hand this time. Weight's gonna stay in the right hand. Bending to the right with that calf raise. One side bend, one calf raise. One side bend, one calf raise. In 3, 2, let's go. Reach, reach, reach. Caroline brought up a great point of like training the back again, right? Every time we launch a program like this, they are strategically programmed to give your muscles the load and the volume they need and the rest they need. You haven't trained back since Monday Monday, okay? It just had 2 days, 48 hours of rest. It's time to hit back again. That's why we're adding that back row in. This is meant to be your lighter load day, more focused on core strength, right? And then we're gonna hit it hard again tomorrow with full body Friday. We call it full body finisher to the week. 10 seconds here. Nice work, guys. Awesome job. Big side bend, cinch up through those obliques for 3. 2, give me one more side bend and you're out. Nice work. Going to that single leg deadlift position, standing on the left leg, right leg's going to float, rowing with the weight on the right arm, trying to really counteract that hip shift that wants to happen. 3, 2, let's go. Pull, switch, pull, switch. You'll see as I row, my big toe wants to pop off the ground. My focus, what I'm thinking is keep that big toe connected the mat. And if you are curling your toes under right now, think about that. Acknowledge that. Don't curl those toes. Press them into the ground. Not curling my toes. I'm pressing them into the mat. Your big toe is so important in balance exercise and balance training. Oh, come on. Yes. Hold on to it. Come on, team. Yes. You got this. What would it look like if I said 10? 9, 8, you got this, 7, stay with it, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, rest and recover. Nice. Left leg's gonna stay forward, right leg's gonna go back. Big chop up over to the left shoulder. All right, big chop up over to the left shoulder, holding each head of the dumbbell with one hand. Here we go, rotation in 3, 2, let's go. Chop, load, Lower. A lot of this program is heavy strength training, right? Two feet on the ground or one foot on the ground. This day 4 is where we challenge your balance, your coordination, right? You got to train everything. This is functional core training from a standing position right here. Let's go, you got it team! One rep at a time. I don't even think we said third set. Is this third set? Yes. We didn't say it. Third set. Best set. Yes, team, push through. Final 10, 9, 8, you got this, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Rest, recover, quick sip of water, and then we're on to fourth set, which we've officially named the strong set. The strong set. 4th set is going to be called the strong set for the remainder of Max 20. I hope you're here for it. All right, snatch rack, or snatch or clean, 3 marches on the left. Last time, one more time through all 4 moves. Hand on the weight in 3, 2, let's go! Snatch, march, 2, 3, 4. Oh, that's just 3. It's just 3. I give you a bonus. March. 1, 2, 3. Here we go. Big move. Power it up. March it out. By the 4th set, you should have this move mastered, right? Totally mastered. Creating some solid muscle memory here. That's how we get better. It's reps, consistency. You got to put in those reps to see the results. And you are doing that right here, team. You are doing it! Finish day 4 so strong, almost through week 1. 5, 4, 3, 2, rest. Single leg deadlift, right leg on the ground, dumbbell left hand.

Or we got side bend—

oh, side bends, you're right. Thank you, Caroline. Side bend, dumbbell stays in that left hand. Side bend left in 3, 2. Let's go, side bend, stand, calf raise. Okay, so your accessory muscles today are a lot of the small stabilizing muscles in your shoulders, your hips, and then the calves. And then we hit a little bit of that back as well. So a lot happening today in today's core training workout. Nice work. Chance to use a lighter load, one dumbbell, or go lighter. Today's the day if you're like Okay, when can I take the pedal off the gas? It's day 4. Take this workout at your pace. You take the pedal off the gas a little bit if you need to, right? If you're someone that wants to keep the pedal on the gas, we got a 10-minute cardio agility burnout that goes with this workout that you're gonna love, available in the NML app, which is linked in the description below. Last one, up, and you're out. Now we got that single leg deadlift. Single leg deadlift, weight's gonna stay in that Left hand, right foot on the ground. Here we go. You're rowing just on that left arm, alternating in 3, 2. Let's go find your balance.

Pull. And if you need accountability and support, the app has such an amazing community.

Oh yes, such an amazing community. Caroline is one of our community managers inside the app. You get to chat with her directly. You get to chat with me directly. You get access to Team NML, which is amazing. We're gonna hold you accountable to those goals, you guys. Maybe a goal is getting through this move all balancing, no taps. Yes, we're gonna hold you accountable. We're gonna get stronger together and make it your best year ever. There we go, I held on to it. Come on, 10 more seconds. You're chopping, let's go. Finish strong. Final 5, 4, 3 3, 2, 1. I got taps, which is—

that's something you can track on your sheet, is like, I tap twice, can I tap one time next time, or zero times?

I got 2 push-ups. I got 2 push-ups. Load it, chop to the right in 3, 2, let's go! Last time, right shoulder. Load, catch, power. Load, catch. Yes, team! Final move. Final move, finish day 4 right here. Like we said, if you want that burnout, if you want to add a little heart pumping cardio to this workout plan, our Cardio Agility workout is loaded for you. It's 10 minutes, it's in the app. We're taping that box on the floor. We've heard you guys, you love that kind of agility training. We're gonna get our steps in, we're gonna raise our heart rate, we're gonna keep going, push each other to get stronger together. Right here, final 10. Let's go. 10, 9, 8, you got this, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 more chop and you're out. Weights are down. Way to go. High fives to you at home. Let's stretch from a standing position. Back to that standing cat-cow. A little bit of shoulders in today's workout too. Yeah, here we go. Hands behind your head, round the spine, open it up, pull the elbows apart. Round, collapse, open and pull apart. Nice work. One more time. Round, collapse, open and pull apart. Now I want you to slide your left hand down your left thigh and just reach, reach, reach, reach, reach. Open up through those lats, open up through that side body, those obliques. And switch, same thing, other side. Drop and reach, reach, reach, reach, reach. Open it up, open it up. That feels good. Yes, team, nice work. Give me a little standing knee hug. Pull that knee up towards the chest, kick it out, toes up to the ceiling. Hamstrings scoop and reach. Same thing, other side. Pull that left knee up to the chest, lengthen through those glutes. Yeah, I like that little ankle roll. I'm here for the ankle roll.

My calves are gonna feel it.

Kick it out, big scoop and reach. Your final stretch, if you have access to a wall, we're going to use this right here. You can just come back. We're going to do that standing calf stretch. As Caroline said, my calves are feeling it, right? Nice little standing static calf stretch right here. Give those calves some love. We gave them a little extra love today on day 4. Next week we'll have a different accessory muscle we're targeting. Again, this program strategically— switch your calf— programmed to hit your full body but give you the breaks you need and then load the muscles you need to load with intensity so we can build that muscle we're all looking to build. All right, awesome job, team. Day 4 in the books. Love to see you back on the mat for day 5, full body. We know full body is always a fun one. Love to see you back here. Awesome job knocking out that core workout. If you loved it, hit subscribe to our channel. I've queued up day 5 of the program right here for you, and I'd love to have you join me for the full 2-week program, which you can find in this playlist right here. Have a great day.