As a fitness editor, there’s nothing I love more than delving into the workout routines of Hollywood’s most famous faces, and when it comes to Jennifer Aniston, I’m somewhat obsessed. I’ve tried her go-to workout class, as well as her 15-15-15 cardio workout, but I’m yet to find out how the Friends star prefers to work her abs.
Luckily for me, her personal trainer revealed it all in an interview with Pop Sugar (opens in new tab). Leyon Azubuike (opens in new tab), AFAA-certified, and founder of Gloveworx (opens in new tab), a boxing studio with gyms in New York and Los Angeles, shared the star’s go-to ab moves for a strong and sculpted core. To find out more, I unrolled my yoga mat and gave the routine a go — read on to find out what happened.
Before getting onto the workout, let me just add a reminder that a strong core is about far more than just visible abdominal muscles — it can help you run faster, lift heavier, and sit with a better posture. Plus, if a visible six-pack is your goal, you won’t get it from doing ab workouts alone. Visible abs are based on your body fat percentage — here’s how to calculate your body fat percentage, and why it matters.
It’s also worth noting that what works for Jen, or any of the Hollywood stars whose workouts I steal, might not be right for you and your body. If you’re new to an exercise or returning to exercise post-injury, it’s a good idea to check your form with a personal trainer before adding weight or repetitions.
What is Jennifer Aniston’s go-to ab workout?
Ready to get started? You’ll need to grab an exercise mat (check out the best yoga mats here), as well as a dumbbell and a medicine ball. We’ve found the best adjustable dumbbells for weightlifting at home here.
The workout is broken down into two different circuits. You’ll complete three rounds of circuit one without any breaks between the exercises. Try and only stop for 45-60 seconds between each round. Once you’ve finished, move onto circuit two.
Circuit 1:
Plank: 30 seconds to two minutes
Bird dog: 10 reps on each side
Rotational ball slam with lunge: eight reps on each side
Complete three rounds.
Circuit 2:
Side elbow plank: 15 seconds to one minute on each side
Renegade row: 10 reps on each side
Medicine ball rotational punch: eight reps on each side
Complete three rounds.
I tried Jennifer Aniston’s ab workout — here’s what happened
There’s no doubt about it: Jennifer Aniston is in amazing shape, so I didn’t know what to expect when settling down on my workout mat to try her ab circuits. Here’s what happened.
It was deceptively simple
Compared to a lot of the workouts I put myself through in the name of good content, this one was wonderfully simple. I enjoyed repeating the simple circuit three times through, as it let me really focus on my form throughout, rather than rushing to the next exercise. That said, simple didn’t equal easy — I was working hard from the get-go, and I could feel my core working from my first minute-long plank. For the first circuit, I set myself the challenge of holding my plank for 10 seconds more each round, and by the time I was moving on to circuit two, my core was fired up.
It spiked my heart rate
This one was a real mix of slow and controlled movements, to exercises that required explosive power, meaning my heart rate stayed elevated throughout the workout. Both the rotational ball slam with a lunge and the medicine ball rotational punch required me to really throw the ball with power as I twisted to the side. Neither of these are ‘typical’ ab exercises, but they definitely forced my obliques to work harder than they’d do lying on my mat doing crunches.
I’ll be trying this one again
This workout didn’t take an awful lot of time but did raise my heart rate and work my core hard. I’ll definitely be adding this one as a finisher to a strength workout in the future (if my neighbors ever forgive me for slamming a medicine ball around, that is). I’ll probably save it for the gym in the future, but kudos to Jen, this is a fun one.
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