30 Days of the 'Baby Monkey' Workout Shredded This Guy's Abs
A couple of years ago, Jesse Laico at Athlean-X came up with a core workout set to the viral earworm 'Baby Shark' which he claimed helped him achieve a visible six-pack in just 30 days. And while you might not think it possible, he has managed to stick to his routine of training to that song, and come up with a different ab-shredding routine set specifically to the "baby monkey" portion of the lyrics.
The workout starts with recline vine climbers, mimicking a Tarzan-esque climbing movement while leaning back in a V-sit position. This is followed by alternating leg peels (think crunches), situps which incorporate that vine climbing motion, Russian twists (or as Laico calls them here, banana peel twists), a plank with alternating toe touches, V-sit scissors, V-sit hold, and finally, while still in that V-sit position, Laico ends with some rotational work—and jazz hands.
With each of these exercises, Laico isn't performing for a specific number of reps, but rather for a specific amount of time, switching to the next move with each verse of the song. As Cavaliere explained back when Laico first experimented with the Baby Shark workout, this can be an asset: "A lot of times people will program repped ab workouts; 10 reps of this, 15 reps of that," he said. "The problem is, 15 reps might not be anywhere near as difficult as it should be for you vs. somebody else, so if you do time, time is actually something that can be a lot more of an equalizer."
Additionally, even in his brief moments of rest between each exercise, Laico is maintaining that V-sit position: this means he is keeping his core under constant tension, maximizing the effectiveness of the workout. And although it may be a short routine, that too works in its favor, as it can be done daily, or for multiple circuits if you need to increase difficulty.
"It's fun," Laico says, "and it's easy to stay consistent with."
You Might Also Like
