No sit-ups or crunches — this 10-minute dumbbell workout strengthens deep core muscles and improves your posture. While sit-ups and crunches might be seen as the cornerstone of ab and core workouts, they’re far from the only moves that get results. Plenty of other exercises take you off the mat and onto your feet. These can be just as effective, if not more so, at targeting your deep core muscles and helping to tone your midsection. If you’re keen to try something different, online trainer Heather Robertson has a great option: an all-standing core-strengthening dumbbell workout that takes just ten minutes. You don’t need a mat since there are no crunches or sit-ups here, but you will want a pair of dumbbells to increase the intensity. You don’t have to lift super heavy. The added weight gives your muscles some extra resistance to work against and keeps things varied, so you hit different parts of your core. A regular pair of dumbbells is perfect, as long as you can handle that weight comfortably for the whole session.

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View Deal Watch Heather Robertson’s 10-Minute Standing Dumbbell Workout. The workout takes a circuit format, which involves spending 40 seconds on each exercise, taking 10 seconds of rest between moves, and repeating for two rounds. Robertson demonstrates the full routine in the video above, and during the rest periods, you’ll see a preview of the next move, so you’re ready to jump in and get your form right from the start. You can get more of a fitness class feel at home by simply putting the YouTube video on your TV and following along.

What are the benefits of this standing ab routine? First of all, an obvious advantage of this routine is that it only takes 10 minutes. It’s a great little circuit to slot into a jam-packed day when you don’t have time for a longer workout but still want to move your body, challenge your core, and get your heart rate up. The short duration also makes it easy to add to the end of a longer session as an abs finisher. Another benefit of a standing abs workout is that while you are targeting your core and hitting more angles with the dumbbells, you are also working your lower back, glutes, legs and even your shoulders. Engaging more muscles like this makes the workout more functional and gives you a full-body boost compared to doing only floor-based ab exercises. Standing up for every move also forces your core to work harder to keep you stable and balanced. Over time, this can help improve your balance and coordination in everyday life. Plus, standing core moves encourage you to keep your spine tall and your shoulders back, which builds awareness of your posture and strengthens the muscles that support it. Finally, doing an abs circuit like this completely on your feet can lift your heart rate more than working out on the floor. You are moving bigger muscle groups and adding more dynamic movement, which helps you burn extra calories while building strength.