CrossFit Athlete Elisabeth Akinwale in Two-Piece Workout Gear Shares "Core Workout"

Elisabeth Akinwale, a powerhouse CrossFit athlete and inspiring businesswoman, is known for her relentless dedication to fitness and her commitment to building an inclusive gym environment. Recently, she shared a video on Instagram showcasing her Glute Hamstring Developer (GHD) sit-ups, explaining their incredible benefits: “Doing GHD sit-ups without explosive contraction down the front side of my body, including the legs, leaves a lot of potential benefit on the table." For Akinwale, fitness is about more than strength—it’s about consistently pushing boundaries, fostering inclusivity, and living a life of purpose. From speaking out against prejudice to building consistency into her routine, Akinwale leads by example, inspiring others to pursue their passions and stay resilient on their journey.

1. She Does Sit-Ups

As you can see from her Instagram video, Akinwale likes to do sit-ups to stay in shape. The exercise has a lot of benefits. The Cleveland Clinic states that they are a great core workout. “Sit ups are great for tightening your core. They strengthen and tone your rectus abdominus, transverse abdominus and oblique abdominal muscles as well as your neck muscles. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends three sets of 8 to 12 repetitions three times per week.”

2. She’s Inspired By Others

Akinwale opened up about what inspires her in the caption of this Instagram video. “Inspired by those who live their passions, and though they have a full plate of responsibilities, they chose to make space in their lives to create and connect to meaning. In doing so, they inspire others pursue their own passions. There are never really enough resources, but they make it work. The time they have, they make the absolute most of.”

3. She Stands Up Against Hate

Akinwale speaks out against hate and prejudice in the fitness industry. She talked about this in the caption of this Instagram photo. “By my standards, it’s impossible to run a values business, a business that serves whole people, if you are unwilling to leave dollars on the table. I will say straight up, if you don’t love Black people, queer people, brown people, Muslim people, poor people...,don’t come to my gym. If you support hateful political regimes and policy, don’t come to my gym. The presence of that type of ideology is toxic and antithetical to what I want to build. As a trainer I concern myself with people in their entirety. The specific focus is helping them reach peak performance, and part of that is removing as many limitations and barriers as possible. Identity is absolutely part of the training equation. Recovery is a key element of training, stress levels are a primary component of recovery. Micro-aggressions are stressful and energy draining and that directly takes away from the training. Climate and culture in the gym overall matter, it’s the difference between thriving because of and surviving in spite of.”

4. She’s Consistent

Akinwale makes sure to stay consistent when it comes to working out. She talked about this in the caption of this Instagram video. “Stick around long enough, there are going to be some ups and downs. Where ever you are today is simply where you are. Start taking steps and build from there.”

5. She Does Burpees

Elisabeth Akinwale/Instagram

In the previous Instagram video, Akinwale is seen doing burpees. They are considered a compound exercise, which means they have a lot of benefits. ACE Fitness states, “The purpose of cardiovascular exercise is to improve the ability of the heart to function as a pump. This can be accomplished through activities such as running and cycling, or by doing exercises that involve a significant amount of muscle tissue. Sitting in a leg-extension machine doing knee extensions or performing biceps curls with dumbbells uses only a limited amount of muscle tissue; these exercises are more appropriate for focusing on isolated strength. Squats to shoulder presses, medicine ball chops or burpees are all examples of compound exercises that involve large amounts of muscle tissue, which challenges the heart to pump blood to keep the muscles fueled and active.”

Katie Crewe is sharing a core workout – in her two-piece workout gear. In a new social media post, the trainer shows off her amazing body in a belly-baring set. “How many months or years did you start working out postpartum? I’ve been thinking of sharing a week of 10 min and under daily workouts that are appropriate for postpartum. Drop me a ⭐️ if this would be helpful for you! If you can fit in 20 minutes, or 10 min twice a day, give this a go!” she captioned the Instagram video. How does she approach diet, fitness, and self-care? Here is everything you need to know about her lifestyle habits.

1. Focus on Building Strength

“My whole view on training and relationship with myself changed when I stopped trying to use my workouts as a way to get smaller and started trying to be more powerful. Your workouts shouldn’t be a way to punish yourself or to “earn” food. Your workout isn’t more successful because you burned the most calories possible. Lift weights to be stronger and more powerful, to feel more confident, and to make your everyday life easier. Lift weights so elderly you thanks you for the strong bones and increased capabilities. It’s a tough but extremely empowering mindset shift that I’m so grateful I made,” Katie wrote in a post.

2. Do a Warm Up Set

Katie recently shared “tips for when you’re short on time but don’t want to compromise on your workout.” One of them is not skipping workouts. “Last time I posted about warm-ups, a surprising number of people said that they do a dynamic warm-up but no warm-up sets (maybe it was only surprising to me). Let me know below what your warm-ups usually look like (please, for research :p),” she says. “If you’re short on time I’d still recommend doing some warm-up sets. I cut down on some of my dynamic warm-up but not much on my warm-up sets because I really need these to acclimate to the weight and feel prepared.”

3. Agonist-Antagonist Paired Sets

Katie Crewe/Instagram

She also recommends agonist-antagonist paired sets. “This is the one I will use most frequently when trying to save time. Pairing opposite muscle groups (e.g. hamstring curls and quad extensions) allows one to rest while you’re performing the other exercise. I still usually rest in between but 30 sec-1 min vs 90 sec-2 min. As long as you’re not still puffing from your last set, your strength shouldn’t be compromised,” she wrote.

4. Always Do Something

“The most important tip is that going and doing something, even if it’s 1/3 of what you planned for, is still benefiting you. You still moved your body, it helped you maintain the habit, and it helps get you out of an ‘all or nothing’ mentality when it comes to working out – which can really work against you in the long run,” she added.

5. Her Core Workout

Here is Katie’s full core workout:

🔺360 degree breathing - 2 min

🔺Pull-in pulses - 3x10 pulses, 3 times per set

🔺Side plank pull-ins - 3x10-15

🔺Heel drops - 3x16

🔺Glute bridges with adductor squeeze - 3x15

🔺Bear hovers - 3x10-15

🔺Kneeling to tall kneeling - 3x10-15