Photo: Ryan Kelly / DB10

With 10 minutes on the clock, holding plank after plank can feel like a lifetime. But this ab-blasting plank series from Daily Burn’s new DB10 program is designed to distract your body and mind. Think: creative combinations like the push-up to plank punch, or plyometric variations like plank jacks and plank-ups.

“The idea behind these combo moves is to pair dynamic movement with traditional planks to offer core strengthening with cardio benefits,” says Dara Theodore, one of the lead trainers for the DB10 program.

Borrowing moves from  Theodore and CeCe Marizu’s 10-minute DB10 workouts, these ab exercises work every angle of your core — from your obliques to your traverse abdominis to your lower lats. (And they won’t skimp on your shoulders, arms and legs, either!)

Whether you’re running miles or doing deadlifts, engaging your core is the foundation for most workouts, after all. “Your core provides balance, stability and power in any workout as well as in daily activity,” Theodore says. Do these planks in one continuous flow, and you’ve got yourself a true ab burner that’ll also make you break a sweat. “Being aware of proper plank form and building core strength will allow you to reap the benefits of the dynamic movement, as you will be able to move faster and more fluidly,” Theodore adds.

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5 Plank Exercises for a 10-Minute Ab Workout

As with all of our DB10 workouts, aim to complete as many rounds as possible of the following exercises/reps in 10 minutes. When you move continuously through each exercise at a quickened pace, you’ll ramp up your heart rate and burn more calories. For the ultimate core finisher, we hold a side plank for 30 seconds.

1. Plank to Push-Up to Inchworm

How to: Get into a high plank position with your hands shoulder-distance apart and your shoulders directly in line with your hands beneath them. Engage your abdominals to avoid arching your back and lowering your hips (a). Perform two push-ups, letting your elbows flare slightly out to your sides at about 45 degrees. Squeeze your glutes and core throughout the entire movement, and maintain a straight line from head to toes (b). Walk your hands back towards your feet and come up to stand (c). Hop your feet forward and then hop them back out to a high plank. This is one rep (d). Do five reps.

2. Push-Up to Plank Jack

How to: Get into a push-up position with your hands shoulder-distance apart and your shoulders directly in line with your hands. Squeezing your glutes and core, lower your body down to the ground and press it back up. This is one push-up. Do one more (a). Next, bring your feet together and do four plank jacks, jumping your feet wide to each side and then hopping them back together. Avoid raising your butt (d). Do six reps.

3. Plank-Up with Diagonal Hops

How to: From the high plank position, bring your right elbow down to the floor and then your left elbow down to the floor for a forearm plank (a). Get back into a high plank by lifting your right forearm up and then your left forearm (b). Next, bring your feet together in a high plank and hop them diagonally to your right side. Hop them back out to high plank before hopping them diagonally to your left side (c). Do five reps.

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4. Push-Up to Plank Punch

How to: Get into a push-up position with your hands shoulder-distance apart and your shoulders directly in line with your hands. You can keep your feet a little wider apart to help you stabilize when doing the plank punch (a). Lower your body down to the ground, keeping your body in alignment and your elbows flaring slightly out to your sides (b). As you press back up, make a fist with your right hand and punch it out in front of you (c). Perform another push-up before making a fist with your left hand and punching it out (d). Do six reps.

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5. Side Planks

How to: Lie on your right side and place your right forearm on the ground. Engaging your core, raise your body up into a side plank, creating a straight line from your head to your toes (a). If you can, raise your left hand up towards the ceiling, gazing toward your hand. If you can’t, keep your left hand resting on your left hip (b). Hold the plank for 40 seconds and rest 20 seconds before switching sides.

Philippa York, a cycling hero previously known as Robert Millar, has announced that she is a transgender woman. In a statement on CyclingNews.com, York, 58, opened up about the gender transition process she began in the early 2000s: "The outcome of that journey has meant that for a considerable time now I have lived as Philippa," she wrote.

York—who won the King of the Mountains prize in the the 1984 Tour de France, and finished fourth overall that year—is considered one of Britain's best cyclists ever. And she's now the first high-profile cyclist to speak out about transitioning. In her statement York credited society's changing attitude as part of her decision to do so: "There's a much better acceptance and understanding" of transgender people now than when she first started down this road, she wrote.

In an interview with The Guardian, York said she's known she was "different" since she was five years old. "[W]hat that difference was and how to deal with it has taken a fairly long time to come to terms with." She went on to explain that she didn't feel "trapped" in the wrong body, "rather it was more a case of the life I was living wasn't the one I felt I ought to be having."

RELATED: The 50 Best Bike Rides in America, State by State

While York is now living as her true self, she acknowledged in her statement how challenging the medical transitioning procedures can be: "Although the end result is seen as a happier, more stable place, the emotions encountered to get there make for some very vulnerable periods."

One of the reasons York chose to introduce her new identity to the public now has to do with her return to the racing world, after a nearly two-decade hiatus. At this year's Tour de France, she will appear as a commentator for British television station ITV4.

“I really am delighted to have accepted this new challenge with ITV4,” York wrote. “I’m looking forward to the racing immensely and in terms of my personal and professional development I think this is the right time to return to a more active role in cycling too—the sport I've always loved.”

Welcome back, Philippa.

This article originally appeared on Time.com. 

Exercise is just as good for the brain as it is for the body, a growing body of research is showing. And one kind in particular—aerobic exercise—appears to be king.

“Back in the day, the majority of exercise studies focused on the parts of the body from the neck down, like the heart and lungs,” says Ozioma Okonkwo, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. “But now we are finding that we need to go north, to the brain, to show the true benefits of a physically active lifestyle on an individual.”

Exercise might be a simple way for people to cut down their risk for memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease, even for those who are genetically at risk for the disease. In a June study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, Okonkwo followed 93 adults who had at least one parent with Alzheimer’s disease, at least one gene linked to Alzheimer’s, or both. People in the study who spent at least 68 minutes a day doing moderate physical activity had better glucose metabolism—which signals a healthy brain—compared to people who did less.

The brain benefits of exercise go beyond disease prevention. Okonkwo has also shown that people who exercise have greater brain volume in areas of the brain associated with reasoning and executive function. “We’ve done a series of studies showing that increased aerobic capacity boosts brain structure, function and cognition,” he says, “Other people have found exercise can improve mood.” Okonkwo’s research has also shown that exercise can diminish the impact of brain changes on cognition, not just prevent it. “Exercise is the full package,” he says.

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Exercise likely improves brain health through a variety of ways. It makes the heart beat faster, which increases blood flow to the brain. This blood delivers oxygen—a good thing, since the brain is the biggest consumer of oxygen in the body. Physical activity also increases levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is known to help repair and protect brain cells from degeneration as well as help grow new brain cells and neurons, says Okonkwo.

In one study. Joe Northey, a PhD candidate at the University of Canberra Research Institute for Sport and Exercise in Australia, showed that when people ride a stationary bike, they experience increased blood flow to the brain, and within that blood are a range of growth factors that are responsible for cell growth and associated with improved brain function. “Considering exercise can also reduce the risks associated with common lifestyle diseases that impact the brain, such as high blood sugar and hypertension, it is further motivation to try to incorporate exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle,” says Northey.

MORE: The Simple Reason Exercise Enhances Your Brain

Aerobic exercise, like running and swimming, appears to be best for brain health. That’s because it increases a person’s heart rate, “which means the body pumps more blood to the brain,” says Okonkwo. But strength training, like weight lifting, may also bring benefits to the brain by increasing heart rate. The link between resistance training and better brain health is not as established, but research in the area is growing.

For now, Northey recommends a combination of the two. “Combining both is ideal,” he says, for all of the other benefits exercise bestows on the body. “In addition to improving your brain function, you should expect to see improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength, as well as reducing the risk of obesity, diabetes and hypertension amongst other diseases.”

This article originally appeared on Time.com. 

The more tired you feel, the harder exercise can be. That’s why coaches of elite athletes have long known that a shot of caffeine before a training session or competition can improve performance by making it easier to exercise more vigorously with less pain and fatigue.

But for an average Joe, does drinking java really give your workout an edge? While the science isn’t solid yet on caffeine’s role as a training aid, the research so far is encouraging.

Caffeine’s main effect on the body is to increase alertness and arousal, which can make workouts seem not so bad. It also may help the muscles burn more fat. Here’s the theory: Muscles use glycogen, a stored version of glucose, for energy, and when glycogen stores run out, muscles get weaker and less efficient, leading to exhaustion. But muscles can also burn fat, and when they do, muscles don’t tire as easily. Caffeine can shift muscles to burn fat more quickly, which can preserve glycogen stores and give muscles more time before they wear out. This leads to a longer and less painful workout. Some researchers also believe that caffeine may work directly on muscle by improving its efficiency in generating power.

MORE: The Case For Drinking Coffee Is Stronger Than Ever

But caffeine may take some time to work. The benefits are more obvious in longer bouts of endurance exercise rather than short-term kinds of exercise, since muscles turn to glycogen first. It’s not yet conclusive how long you have to exercise for caffeine to trigger the shift to fat-burning, but most studies have tested caffeine’s effect on muscles after about two hours. Caffeine’s energizing effects start to peak about an hour after ingestion and can last from three to six hours.

It’s also unclear how much coffee you need to get the exercise benefits. Until recently, the thinking has been that since the body can become tolerant to caffeine, regular coffee drinkers would need an extra cup to get the exercise benefits. But in a recent study conducted by researchers in Brazil, even regular caffeine drinkers—including those who downed about three cups of coffee every day—were able to pedal faster and longer on a stationary bike after taking a caffeine pill, which contained the caffeine equivalent of four cups of coffee, compared to when they hadn’t taken the pill.

MORE: How Your Morning Coffee Might Slow Down Aging

This existing research suggests that caffeine could be an effective addition to a workout regimen, as long as you add it carefully. (Caffeine comes with some downsides, including headaches, a spike in blood pressure and potential stomach ulcers.) Exercise experts suggest drinking a cup of coffee an hour or so before a workout and seeing if the buzz helps you power through more easily and with less fatigue.

Want to get faster and fitter as you rack up the miles? Follow this all-star advice.