This Cheer-Inspired Ab Workout Will Prep You to Take the Mat

Maybe Netflix's hit docuseries "Cheer" got you interested in training like a cheerleader, or maybe you're just on the lookout for something fresh and fun to add to your workout routine. Whatever brought you here, welcome: you and your abs will be happy you made it.

These five cheer-inspired core exercises come from CHEERFIT, a high-energy workout that blends cheer-inspired exercises with more traditional strength, cardio, and stretching moves. In this workout, you'll do tuck crunches — which replicate the movement you'd do in a back-tuck backflip — and star abs, which replicate the movement you'd do during a jump or a ball-X basket toss.

Stealing ab exercises from this sport is smart for a lot of reasons. For one, cheerleading incorporates a lot of gymnastics-style moves, which place a huge demand on your core. Plus, stunting — whether you're a flyer up top or one of the strong bases on the bottom — requires you to engage your core nonstop to keep the stunt in the air and protect yourself (and your teammates) from injury.

Ready to give these cheer ab moves a try? Grab a set of poms (or just channel that kind of sparkling energy) and get to work with CHEERFIT founder Danielle Donavan and CHEERFIT-certified trainers Christine BibboHerr and Claudia Ralph, the head cheerleading coach for Princeton University.

Cheer-Inspired Ab Workout

Equipment needed: a yoga mat or a soft surface to lie on.

Directions: Do each exercise for 10 to 15 reps without resting between each move. When you finish all five, rest for 60 seconds, then repeat the whole circuit again. Do three rounds total.

Plank Jacks

Plank Jacks

  • Start in a high-plank position, with your feet together and your palms flat on the floor directly below your shoulders. Your body should form a straight line from head to heels.
  • Without raising or dropping your hips, jump your feet apart, then jump them back in. That's one rep.
  • Do 10 to 15 reps.
Scissor Abs

Scissor Abs

  • Start lying face up on the floor with your legs outstretched.
  • Engage your abs to lift your feet and shoulders just off the floor, then kick your right leg toward your face, holding onto your shin or ankle with both hands.
  • Without dropping your shoulders or allowing your feet to touch the ground, switch legs, lowering your right leg and pulling your left leg toward your face. Try to inhale while you're switching and exhale while you're pulling the leg toward your face.
  • Do 10 to 15 reps. Every time you switch legs, it counts as one rep.
Star Abs

Star Abs

  • Start lying face up on the floor, with your legs curled in toward your chest. Hold your hands together in front of your chest and engage your core to lift your shoulders up just off the floor, forming a tight ball shape with your body.
  • Pressing your lower back into the floor, extend your arms and legs out into an "X" shape, keeping your feet hovering off the floor. (If your back starts to arch, don't lower your legs quite as far.)
  • Draw your arms and knees back into a ball. That's one rep.
  • Do 10 to 15 reps.
Tuck Crunches

Tuck Crunches

  • Start lying face up on the floor with your legs extended toward the ceiling and your arms extended down by your sides, palms pressed into the floor. Engage your abs to curl your head and shoulders up off the floor.
  • Bend your knees, then extend them long, hovering them a few inches above the floor. Keep your lower back pressed into the floor.
  • Bend your knees and draw them in toward your chest, then extend your legs toward the ceiling, lifting your hips an inch or two off the ground.
  • Lower your hips back to the floor with control. That's one rep.
  • Do 10 to 15 reps.
Twist and Shout

Twist and Shout

  • Start sitting on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor in front of you. Hold your hands in front of your chest, then lean your torso back slightly to engage your core. Lift your feet off the floor and balance. (To modify, you can leave your heels on the floor.)
  • Keeping your hips and legs still, rotate your torso to the right, reaching your hands toward the floor.
  • Return to center, then simultaneously extend your arms up in a "V" shape and extend your legs so that your torso and legs form a "V" shape, too.
  • Lower your arms and legs. That's one rep.
  • Do 10 to 15 reps, alternating sides.