I tried Gigi Hadid's equipment-free workout, and it was easier than I thought

Obviously, it would take a long time to get Gigi-level abs, and I wasn't expecting any immediate results, but I was still very happy with the way the routine worked my abs.

I think it's definitely something I'll be doing in the future, and I could add more reps to increase the challenge as I go.

I'll also likely switch the cardio to running since I feel it's a better way to get my heart rate up. I'm sure boxing is great cardio, but it was easy for me to slack off when all I was doing was punching a bag by myself.

Overall, I would recommend the workout if you're looking for a simple way to work your abs without any equipment.

Read more:

• I tried working out like Jennifer Garner for a week, and it made my abs look great but I almost didn't make it
• I tried the 30-day ab challenge and it sort of worked. Here's why I'm never doing it again.
• I tried to work out like Lady Gaga for a week, and her ab exercises were killer
• 18 tips for working out while pregnant

For day five, I switched back to boxing and kept everything else the same.

I was feeling a lot more confident with the routine, and I was able to do it full out with 40 reps per set. I even added an extra 30 seconds into my plank for an extra challenge.

By day four, my body felt a lot less sore but my hands still hurt from hitting the punching bag. Piela said that jumping rope is another great cardio option, so I decided to do that instead.

Jumping rope for 20 minutes was a lot harder than it was when I was a kid, but I got through it with a couple of breaks. I did also feel like it provided a much more intense workout than hitting a punching bag.

Aside from changing the cardio, I did everything else exactly as I had before.

I still struggled with the bicycle crunches but actually did the full reps for each set of the other moves, so there was definitely progress.

My body was definitely feeling the toll from my intense workouts, so I decided to take a break on day three.

Piela said Hadid does her core workout four days a week, so as long as I did another two sessions, I'd still be sticking to the routine.

I repeated the same workout on day two, and it went pretty smoothly again.

Once again, I didn't do 40 repetitions of each exercise every round, instead, I did 35, 40, and 40. But the bicycle crunches were no easier, and I had to take frequent breaks.

The workout was hard, but I felt even worse after.

Although boxing doesn't necessarily need to be done with equipment, I used a punching bag. I must've hit it the wrong way because my right hand was in such pain all day that I could barely write with it.

As the day went on, my entire body, especially my core, started to feel incredibly sore.

I definitely didn't do 40 of each exercise because I am not in Hadid shape yet. But it's understandable that I can't easily go from zero core work to 120 reps for each exercise.

Instead, I did 30, 35, and then 40 repetitions of both ab moves. I had to take some big breaks during the bicycle crunches because those are not easy. The plank was surprisingly easy, and I could definitely feel my core engaging.

As far as the boxing, I'd never really done it as a form of cardio — I usually run on an elliptical — so I wasn't totally sure what to do. I didn't feel like I was getting a great workout, but that's probably more due to my lack of training.

It was definitely a tough workout but not as bad as I thought it would be.

I wanted to focus on getting Hadid's killer abs, so I mostly stuck to her boxing routine.

Here's the breakdown:

1. Warm up the core with 10 minutes of boxing.
2. Perform three sets of 40 crunches each.
3. Raise your heart rate with 10 minutes of boxing.
4. Perform three sets of 40 bicycle crunches, kicking each leg out once per bicycle.
5. Box for another 10 minutes.
6. Take a plank pose to hit the transverse abdominal muscles, holding for about 60 seconds — or as long as you can maintain good form.
7. Go straight into leg raises to hit the lower abdominal muscles, doing four sets of 25 leg raises.