Core Armor is a core workout built like the thing it promises to forge - layer upon layer, each one hardened before the next goes on. Three stations, each following the same pattern: a 10-count hold, six reps of movement, another 10-count hold. Bear hover, side plank and crunch hold each take a turn as the anvil.

The hold-move-hold sandwich is the forging technique, and it repeats through three orientations. The first station works face-down: all-fours hovers with knees off the floor bracketing six climber taps, so the deep core holds position, moves under load, then proves it can hold again. The second station turns sideways: side plank holds surrounding six side bridges, the obliques dipping and lifting the hips between two bouts of pure stillness. The third station flips face-up: crunch holds framing six knee-to-elbows, the abs finishing the set the same way everything else was built - contraction, motion, contraction. Front, side, top: by the end, the plating covers the whole trunk, and no layer got to skip the fire.

In the hovers, keep your knees an inch off the floor and your back flat enough to set a cup on. Stack shoulder over elbow in the side planks and drive your hips high on every bridge - a low bridge is a rest, not a rep. During the crunch holds, keep your shoulder blades off the floor and your chin off your chest, and make each knee-to-elbow a rotation, not a shrug.

Hold, move, hold - three layers, three directions. Armor is not built in a hurry, and neither is this.

Make it Harder: Double every hold to a 20-count.

Make it Easier: Rest your knees down for a breath between the hold and the movement.