I don’t particularly enjoy doing abs exercises, but I absolutely do value the importance of having a strong core, both to support my main sport of running and just to make everyday movements easier.

That means I slip a couple of core moves into almost every workout I do. One of those is always the bicycle crunch, which I find a very quick and effective way to engage and strengthen my whole core.

The other move I slip into every workout has changed over time — I’ve done leg raises, dying turtles, and sit-ups — but right now my favourite is the rowing crunch.

This move mimics the motion of rowing as you bring your knees up to meet your chest, and gets the abs burning in no time at all in my experience.

It’s similar to a V-sit-up with bent knees, and sometimes also gets called the rower, boat crunch, or rowboat crunch. Whatever you call it, it's a move worth knowing about.

You don’t need any equipment to do the rowing crunch, though using one of the best yoga mats will make it more comfortable on hard floors.

You can make the move a little harder by pausing for a beat at the bottom of the exercise, in a hollow-bold hold position, before coming back up. I tend to do a set of 10 rowers straight after doing a set of 20 bicycle crunches as part of a circuit I do three times overall.

The rowing crunch blasts both the upper and lower abs as you raise your torso and lift your knees toward your chest at the same time, while your obliques help keep you balanced throughout the move.

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