Some websites will promise you a six-pack in 30 days, or ab exercises targeting tummy fat – I’m sorry to inform you that those are both actually impossible. It takes way more than 30 days to be able to have a six-pack (unless you start with a six-pack!) and you can’t pick and choose what fat stores your body will use during exercise (and cardio is a lot more effective if you’re trying to get rid of fat). What this website can promise you is some exercises to strengthen your core muscles.

Why should you strengthen your core muscles for quidditch? It’s not like you can stun your opponents with the glory of your abs (unless you’re the guy with the croptop from Texas).

Core muscle will help your game in several ways. When you’re throwing, you should be engaging your core muscles and using them to help power the throw. More strength in your core muscles measn you’ll be able to put more force behind your throws. Core muscles are also used in balance – and you need lots of balance if somebody’s trying to take you down. You’ll be more steady on your feet and therefore more able to resist tackles with more core muscles. Being more balanced also means you’ll find it easier to tackle or wrap people yourself.

In short: core muscle will help just about every aspect of your game. But remember, just because you’re working on your abs doesn’t mean you get out of running! Core strengthening is good but isn’t a replacement for cardio training. An easy way to fit core exercises into your workout routine is to do 5 minutes of abs at the end of every workout you do, before you stretch. Pick 5 exercises and grab your stopwatch. If you’re just starting out, do each exercise for 30 seconds and rest for 30 seconds, and repeat that for each exercise. As that gets easier, increase the active time and decrease the rest, always starting exercises on the minute. Several possible combinations: 40 seconds abs, 20 seconds rest (40″/20″R), 45 seconds abs and 15 seconds rest, or even 60 seconds of each exercise with no rest.

Without further ado, here are some ab exercises you can integrate into your routine!

5 exercises with only your body

1. Toe taps

Toe taps are exactly what they sound like. Lie on your back and raise your legs so they are perpendicular to the floor. Reach up with your arms, sit up until you tap your toes, then lie back down. A variation on this is to reach opposite hand to opposite foot (right hand taps the outside of your left foot, back down, left hand taps the outside of your right foot, back down). This variation works your side abs in addition to your six-pack.

2. Penguins

These can also be called “beached whale” and are so called because of the motion you do. Lie on your back and bend your knees at a 90 degree angle, and put your hands straight down your sides. Bend your side, keeping your back on the floor, until your hand touches your heel. Then, bend over the other side, touching the other heel with your other hand. Do this as quickly as possible.

3. Bridge

Bend your knees at 90 degrees and place your hands flat on the floor. Raise your hips until your body is in a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. From here, you can either hold the position for a given length of time or descend and do more repetitions. You can also move into one of two positions from the first position. You can either bend your hip to 90 degrees, or extend your foot so your knee is straight. If you move into any of these positions, make sure you keep your hips raised as high as you did in the intial bridge position.

If you choose to use either of the position variants, instead of lowering your hips to do reps simply use the plain bridge position as your neutral position and consider each leg movement to be a rep.

4. Bicycles

Start by lying on your back. Place your hands on the side of your head so your elbows stick out. Then, raising your shoulders off the ground, turn your upper body at the same time as you bend a knee. Touch your elbow to the opposite knee, then straighten that leg as you bring the other leg up and touch it with the opposite shoulder. You want to extend your legs straight after bending them (unlike the person in the gif).

If you find this too difficult, a way to make it easier is to put your feet on the ground rather than straightening your leg after each elbow tap.

5. V-sit twist

Start in a v-sit position, with only your bum on the ground. Clasp your hands in front of your body. Tap the floor on alternate sides of your body with your hands while maintaining the v-sit.

To make this more difficult, you can add a weight in your hands – a full waterbottle, a milk jug, a dumbbell, or a medicine ball all work well. If this is too difficult, bend your knees at a 90 degree angle to put your feet on the floor but still lean back with your upper body. You can choose to add a weight or simply start with your hands.

4 bonus exercises if you have a swiss ball

By nature, swiss balls (also known as those big exercise balls your teachers got mad at you for bouncing) work your core more because they add a balance element to any exercise you do. If you have one, you can do regular crunches, side crunches, plank, or pushups on a swiss ball to add some extra difficulty. For plank and pushups, you can put either your hands or feet on the ball. You can also use it in place of a bench if you’re doing upper body dumbbell exercises – put the ball under your shoulders, place your feet flat on the ground, and keep your hips up so your body is flat from your shoulders to your knees.

There are also many exercises specific to swiss balls. Here are a few to get you started:

1. Jacknifes

Start with the ball under your shins and your body flat. Roll the ball forward so your knees are as bent as possible, while keeping your upper body parallel to the floor. Extend your legs and return to the starting position.

2. Pike

Start in the same position as you do for jacknifes, with the ball under your shins and your body in a plank position. This time, instead of pulling your knees toward your chest, you’re going to bend at your hips to raise your bum as high as you can, until just your toes are on the ball. Return to the plank position.

3. Swiss ball rollout

Start on your knees with your hips bent, elbows bent, and forearms on the ball. Use your arms to roll out until your body is completely flat and you can’t roll out any more, then return to the starting position. To make this more difficult you can use a smaller ball; to make it easier use a larger ball.

4. Russian twist

Start with the ball under your shoulders and your feet flat on the floor, with your body in a plank position. Clasp your hands in front of you with your arms straight. Turn your shoulders to one side, rolling a little bit on the ball, then turn to the other side. Your hips will move a little bit but you want to try to keep your hips as close to the initial position as possible.