A 30-Minute Workout to Target Your Abs and Arms

Earlier this week I biked like a maniac to make it to a group fitness class in the West Loop only to find that the class had been cancelled. I found myself SOL at 7:30 pm with tons of energy to still squeeze in a workout. My solution? Find an aSweatLife 30-minute abs and arms workout to make me sweat without having to dream up anything else on my own, obviously.

I did a treadmill workout first and paired it with this 30-minute abs and arms workout that left me saying to myself, “What the hell did I just put myself through?”

This is your 30 minute abs and arms workout:

60 seconds of each exercise, repeating everything 3x through with a 30-second break between rounds.

  • Reverse inchworm push-up
  • Triceps dips
  • Right side plank hip dips
  • Left side plank hip dips
  • Hovering butterfly
  • 1 legged push-up to 3-leg Down Dog (right leg)
  • 1 legged push-up to 3-leg Down Dog (left leg)
  • High knees ab rotation standing
  • Tricep inchworms slide-throughs
  • Long lever plank

Here are the moves:

Reverse inchworm push-up: Start in a plank. Walk your feet, inch by inch up to your hands, keeping your palms pressed towards the ground (working your lowest abdominal muscles). Then walk back out to a plank and do a push-up. Keep repeating walking up, walking back, and one push-up for 60 seconds.
asweatlife_absarms_inchworm8
asweatlife_absarms_inchworm2
asweatlife_absarms_inchworm3
asweatlife_absarms_inchworm4asweatlife_absarms_inchworm5
asweatlife_absarms_inchworm6
asweatlife_absarms_inchworm7
asweatlife_absarms_inchworm1
asweatlife_absarms_inchworm9

Triceps dips: Set yourself up in a reverse tabletop position, fingertips facing towards your toes. Keep your chest open and lifted as you inhale and bend your elbows straight back, avoiding sagging your hips down. Exhale as you press up.
asweatlife_absarms_triceps1
asweatlife_absarms_triceps2

Side plank hip dips: Place your right hand directly underneath your shoulder and stack your feet on top of each other in a full side plank. Inhale as you dip your hips straight down, exhale as you arc them up, keeping your hand on your hips to stabilize your mid section.
asweatlife_absarms_sideplank1
asweatlife_absarms_sideplank2
asweatlife_absarms_sideplank3

Hovering butterfly: Lie on your back, feet in a diamond shape and hands above your head. Draw your belly to your spine as you hover your ankles off the ground. Exhale and lift up, swimming your arms out and through to reach towards your ankles. Inhale on the way back down with the option to lower your feet to the ground or keep them hovering as you reach back and up.
asweatlife_absarms_hoveringbutterly1
asweatlife_absarms_hoveringbutterlfy2

1 legged push-up to 3-leg Down Dog (right leg): From a down dog position, lift your right leg to a 3-legged dog. Shift forward to a high plank, keeping your right leg hovered. Do one push-up, continuing to hover your right leg. Lift back up to a 3-leg down dog.
asweatlife_absarms_onelegged1asweatlife_absarms_onelegged4
asweatlife_absarms_onelegged3
asweatlife_absarms_onelegged2
asweatlife_absarms_onelegged5

High knees ab rotation standing: At whatever pace you feel in control over, lift one leg to hip high and twist across your body. Switch legs and switch the test.
asweatlife_absarms_highknees3 asweatlife_absarms_highknees2 asweatlife_absarms_highknees1

Tricep inchworms slide-throughs: Start in a reverse tabletop position. As you exhale, slide your hips back and underneath you, pressing firmly down through your palms and straightening your legs. Work towards keeping your glutes lifted off the ground as high as you can as you slide your hips as far back as you can. Return back to reverse tabletop and repeat.
asweatlife_absarms_triceps1
asweatlife_absarms_tricepsslide2
asweatlife_absarms_tricepsslide3
asweatlife_absarms_tricepsslide2
asweatlife_absarms_triceps1

Long lever plank: Start in a plank position. Walk your hands out as far as you can to engage your abs and make your plank as challenging as possible. Hold it or walk you hands slowly back in to your regular plank and walk back out as far as you can again. The longer you can hold it, the more difficult it will be.
asweatlife_absarms_longleverplank1
asweatlife_absarms_longleverplank2
asweatlife_absarms_longleverplank3

(Disclaimer: This 30 minute abs and arms workout is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor is it a replacement for seeking medical treatment or professional nutrition advice. Do not start any nutrition or physical activity program without first consulting your physician.)

Move Workouts

About Maggie Umberger

Maggie moved to Chicago from North Carolina in 2014 with a degree in Journalism and Spanish, a 200-hour yoga certification, a group fitness cert and a passion to teach and to sweat. It wasn't until she found aSweatLife that she really started to feel at home. Here, she's incorporated her passion for health and wellness into her career as she helps to build the network of Ambassadors, trainers and fitness enthusiasts that exist within the aSweatLife ecosystem. You can also find her coaching at CrossTown Fitness and teaching yoga classes at Bare Feet Power Yoga, Yoga Six and exhale.