Abs Workout

The best ab workouts aren't just for those seeking chiseled physiques. Anyone looking to improve their core strength can utilize compound movements to maximize gains. Learning how to engage your core is crucial for protecting the spine during everyday movements, as well as while engaged in physical activity.

Best Abs Exercises With Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Ab-Wheel Rollout

2. Arms-High Partial Situp

 

 

How to do it:

  1. Kneel on the floor and hold an ab wheel beneath your shoulders.
  2. Brace your abs and roll the wheel forward until you feel you’re about to lose tension in your core and your hips might sag.
  3. Roll yourself back to start.

Reps: Do as many reps as you can with perfect form.

Sets: End the set when you think you might break form.

How to do it:

  1. Lie on your back, knees bent at 90 degrees, and raise your arms straight overhead, keeping them pointing up throughout the exercise.
  2. Sit up halfway, then steadily return to the floor. That’s one rep.

Reps: 12-15

Sets: 3

Rest: 2-3 minutes between sets

3. Barbell Russian Twist

4. Swiss Ball Crunch

How to do it:

  1. Grasp the barbell near the very end again—this time with both hands.
  2. Stand with feet at shoulder width.
  3. Swing the bar to your left, pivoting your feet as needed, then swing to your right.

How to do it:

  1. Lie back on the Swiss ball with feet shoulder-width apart on the floor.
  2. Your lower back should be supported by the ball.
  3. Place your hands behind your ears and tuck your chin.
  4. Curl your body up off the ball until you’re sitting up.

5. Dip/Leg Raise Combo

6. Flutter Kick

How to do it:

  1. Suspend yourself over the parallel bars at a dip station.
  2. Bend your knees slightly and raise your legs in front of you until they’re parallel to the floor.
  3. This will build you a magazine-worthy six-pack.

How to do it:

  1. Lie on your back with legs straight and arms extend out at your sides.
  2. Lift your heels about 6 inches off the floor and rapidly kick your feet up and down in a quick, scissor-like motion.

7. Horizontal Cable Woodchop

8. Leg Raise

How to do it:

  1. Set an adjustable cable pulley to shoulder level (or attach a band to a sturdy object) and grasp the handle with both hands.
  2. Stand with feet shoulder width apart, perpendicular to the anchor point, and arms extended, far enough away from the machine so there’s tension on the cable.
  3. Twist away from the machine as if you were chopping into a tree.
  4. Keep your feet stationary.

How to do it:

  1. Lie on the floor and hold onto a bench or the legs of a heavy chair for support.
  2. Keep your legs straight and raise them up until they’re vertical.
  3. Lower back down, but stop just short of the floor to keep tension on your abs before the next rep.

9. Medicine Ball Russian Twist

10. Plank

How to do it:

  1. Sit on the floor in the top position of a situp and, holding a medicine ball with both hands, extend your arms in front of you.
  2. Explosively twist your body to one side and then twist back.
  3. Alternate sides.

How to do it:

  1. Get into pushup position and bend your elbows to lower your forearms to the floor.
  2. Hold the position with abs braced.