6-minute core & upper body workout for women

This core and upper body workout for women is short and sweet, energizing, strengthening and can be done in 6 minutes at home or at the gym!

Oh, and from now on it will be our everyday morning workout, we'll tell you why.

Why We Should Train Core And Upper Body More Often?

To improve posture! To look better, but also because you need that strength in your upper body and in your core for everyday tasks and to prevent everyday injury and back pain.

That strength will not only look good in the form of tight abs and toned arms, but it will also make you feel more confident, energized and present.

By working core and upper body, you grow the muscles that stabilize your entire body and help you walk tall. This is especially important if you, like us, spend hours at the computer every day.

And no, you will not get huge or too muscular if you exercise the upper body once or twice a week. You will just get leaner and stronger.

Why we're Doing This Exercise Routine Every Morning?

Our dad went to a reunion with his high school football team recently and told us how everyone wanted to know his secret to staying in such good shape. We mean, is our dad J.Lo, what is happening here? Then he told us something we never knew about him. He told us that he has a morning workout routine and he does the same exercises every single morning.

Like 200 from this, 200 from that exercise and he doesn’t miss a day.

It’s not the first time we hear someone talk about doing the same morning workout every single day. And doing millions of repetitions. We always thought “Wow that sucks.”

One guy told us how his brother does 600 push-ups every morning. He didn’t have much time to take care of himself when his child was born and had to work all the time, so he decided to start with 50 push-ups and worked himself up. And he got fit.

Then, after hearing that story, his brother got inspired and started doing the same. Now he’s at 200 push-ups.

Now that we heard about our dad’s morning workout routine, we wanna start our own. We chose a core and upper body workout for our morning exercise routine, because, sitting at the desk for hours, those are the areas we need to build strength in and it will help us improve our posture.

This sweet 6-minute core and upper body workout is solid for women who want to gain strength and improve posture! You can do it at home, at the gym or outside!

You don’t need to do it every day, but if you have 6 minutes this routine is energizing.

One exercise features dumbbells, but they’re optional if you don’t have any or are a beginner.

We did all exercises back to back, not much rest in between, just one round. Feel free to add more reps or more rounds to this workout.

Move #1: Plank – Hold 1 Minute

We're doing an elbow plank because our wrists can’t handle a full plank and it tones everything anyway. Here’s a video demo on how to do a proper plank by LivestrongWoman.

Move #2: Spiderman Plank, 20x

Simple plank exercise that strengthens your abs and core and we ABSOLUTELY love.

From plank position bring your right knee to your right elbow. Then do it on the left side, go at your own pace. Repeat for 20 counts total. Here’s a video demo by Howcast.

Move #3: Plank Hip Dips – 20x

Start in plank position, rotate your hips and dip to the right. Return to starting position and then repeat on the left side. Do 20 counts total. Here’s a demo by Brawlers.

Move #4: PushUps – 10x

Because we, still, can only do 10 pushups. Here’s a video demo how to do push-ups by Howcast.

Move #5: Plank Knee Taps – 20x

With this move, you basically go from plank to downward facing dog and tap your knee. Then you do it again and tap the other knee. Do it for 20 counts total. Couldn’t find a video, but here’s a GIF demo by Women’sHealth.

Move #6: Reverse Fly – 20x

We love this move because it strengthens our neck and shoulder muscles! Used 3-pound dumbbells, but you can also do it without weights. If you have neck and shoulder problems from sitting too much at a desk – this move is important! We feel it work our entire upper body and makes us feel awake after we do it. Do 20 reps in total. Here’s a video demo via eHowFitness.

And that is it! We hope you guys enjoy this workout – it’s fast and can be done at home or anywhere you want.