I Tried This Abs Workout On YouTube With 484 Million Views, And It Has Issues
There is a lot of free fitness content on the internet right now, but how do you know if it’s useful? If you’re a beginner looking to get into fitness this year, you might have checked out YouTube to check out some of the thousands of free training videos you can access on the platform.
Some of the more popular channels include Joe Wicks, a UK-based personal trainer who has been dubbed the ‘Physical Education Teacher of the Country’ for her kid-friendly videos during lockdown, and Yoga With Adriene, a yoga instructor with a 30 Day Yoga series. It’s become a January mainstay among home yogis, and an ideal starting point for new beginners.
There are also plenty of no-equipment workouts inspired by Pilates and HIIT on the site, and all of these workouts can be done at home with no extra equipment: just some comfortable clothes, and maybe one of The best yoga mats. You can use a file Fitness tracker or Running hour to monitor calorie expenditure and heart rate, but this is not necessary.
You can play YouTube on any of the files The best televisions – Almost any TV has internet, come on – so it’s easy to follow along with your front room workout.
As someone who likes to run and work out in the gym, I haven’t actually followed a workout on YouTube for many years, but I’m fully aware that streaming free workouts is how a lot of people are going to get into fitness this year, I thought I’d try the most one I could find – get on abs in two weeks from YouTuber Chloe Ting, which has garnered nearly half a billion views.
The workout uses moves designed to hit your abs, combined with HIIT training principles: 2 sets of 30 seconds rest, 10 seconds rest, repeat. I’m a little skeptical: Anytime you get prompts like “abs in X weeks,” my gut reaction is to run. But since a lot of people do exercise, I thought I’d give it a try anyway.
Watch the exercise below:
What’s good about that?
First of all, I am happy to say that this exercise really gave the core of my test work. I haven’t done a dedicated sit-up in a long time, and 1 minute of work/10 seconds of rest structure means a consistent amount of stress on your torso in a short period of time.
I hit my oblique muscles, rectus abdominis (six muscles) and even my lower back, using the entire “torso” of the body. Those final reverse leg extensions were tough, and I felt sore muscles the next day. Not bad for a workout and getting it done in less than 15 minutes.
Arms also thrown in, the exercise contains several sets of ‘plank up and down’ where you start in a push-up position, lower your arms down to a plank position, and repeat. This move can be seen around the 6:30 timestamp in the video above, training your triceps as you push yourself up, and your biceps if you lower yourself slowly, under control. It will also affect the deltoid, or shoulder muscles.
Building muscle in this way is great for long-term health and fitness. Search found (Opens in a new tab) That “adequate levels of muscle mass is an important issue from a health point of view because low levels are associated with an increased risk of several diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cardiometabolic risk in adolescents, as well as type 2 diabetes in middle-aged and elderly people.” If you are looking for an exercise to develop your core muscles, the Chloe Ting exercise will do the trick.
What’s bad about that?
There are some major points for discussion here. For starters, don’t believe anyone when they claim a routine will help you get abs in 2 weeks. For one thing, everyone’s body is different, and what works for some people may not work for others. On the other hand, you can do all the leg raises you want, but you won’t see your abs unless you already have a very low percentage of body fat.
The video content may be an exercise in strengthening your core, but the title and messages are very misleading. This type of message is prevalent in the fitness industry and especially online, where there are very few restrictions on the claims health influencers can make.
If an individual follows this routine for two weeks, and results are not made public, it may be contributing to unhealthy body image issues. Social media “fitness scams” and ads telling their target audience to be “beach body ready” are suspected of having similar problems.
Another problem I’ve found with a kidney exercise: Some movements can (and arguably should) be alternated in order to prevent damaging your back, especially if you plan to do this exercise a lot. I didn’t feel any muscle engagement during the “heel flicks,” but the real danger is with the crunches.
Research published in Journal of Orthopedic Physical Therapy (Opens in a new tab) She found that sit-ups and crunches put pressure on the spine, causing it to press against the hard floor in an unnatural way, which can lead to back problems. The US Army recently ended mandatory crunches on physical fitness tests, replacing them with planks for time, which put less stress on your back while still hitting your core.
Should you do it?
Yes, with caveats. Messages about problems with clickers aside, I actually love the workout – I think it’s short, relaxed, and great for core strength. A strong “torso” area supports all different types of exercise, from running to rock climbing, so I feel as if it would be a good way to squeeze a little bit of movement into my day, if I’m really limited in time, while still making progress on my overall goals.
However, I’ll alternate crunches, reverse crunches and heel taps for 30 seconds of a different core exercise, which doesn’t stress my lower back. And I’m not going to do it every day to get six pack abs. It will take occasionally to further develop my core, in order to maintain a good running posture.
This isn’t the first popular exercise I’ve tried: I tried it recently Henry Cavill’s Witcher workout moveswhich was difficult to test.