Tag: Abs Exercises
Rich Gaspari Shares Abs Exercise for Strength & Training Intensity Tip for Hypertrophy: ‘Total Annihilation’
Bodybuilding veteran Rich Gaspari is a strong proponent of using intensity to enhance his package in the gym. Although he moved on from professional competition years ago, his decades of experience have turned him into a revered figure in the community. In recent posts shared on Instagram, Gaspari shared an abs exercise for building strength and offered a tip on how to boost training intensity for hypertrophy.
Rich Gaspari first gained attention for his insane muscle mass, definition, and granite conditioning in the mid-1980s. He’s widely regarded as the first Men’s Open competitor to display striated glutes. Although he did not win Mr. Olympia, Gaspari was a perennial contender who participated in seven Mr. Olympia contests and took three silvers to eight-time champion Lee Haney. He also made history by becoming the inaugural champion of the Arnold Classic. Following a glittering career, he was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame in 2004.
Gaspari opened up about the cost of bringing dry conditioning on stage earlier this year. He revealed he never took harsh diuretics and achieved the grainy conditioned look with consistent training and also credited genetics. Given the focus on being dry in contemporary competition, Gaspari bashed coaches for risking their athletes’ lives with diuretics.
Three months ago, Gaspari fired shots at the Women’s Bikini and Wellness athletes for the rampant use of PEDs (performance-enhancing drugs) in competition. He believes trainers push athletes to use heavy amounts of gear when it’s not necessary, making even regional shows hard to compete in as a natty.
Rich Gaspari / Instagram
Gaspari has kept up with training regularly post-retirement and often educated his audience on topics related to fitness. He detailed the anti-aging peptide stack he’s utilizing to improve his quality of life months ago.
The 60-year-old fired shots at modern bodybuilders for not giving much attention to their calf muscle development three months ago. He offered donkey calf raises as an effective exercise for enhancing muscle growth and definition in the group. Then, he provided some of his best tips to grow legs and techniques for increasing intensity on leg day.
Rich Gaspari shares abs exercises for building strength
In a recent Instagram post, Rich Gaspari shared leg raises, crunches, and twisting crunches as effective abs exercises for building strength.
“Training abs strengthens your core that can help you with training other parts of your body,” wrote Gaspari. “Leg raises are great to do for training lower Abs. I also do ab crunches to work overall abs along with twisting crunches to work intercostals. Rep range on abs for 15-50. Do Abs at least 2-3 times a week.”
Rich Gaspari is not a fan of the modern Men’s Open division. He voiced his disapproval of the evolution of the category, arguing a loss in the creative element three months ago. He feels bodybuilding is an art form instead of a sport and praised the Classic Physique division for keeping the art alive.
Gaspari issued a cautionary message against the use of trenbolone two months ago. While he conceded the steroid could result in impressive gains, he highlighted the adverse effects it may cause to the liver and cardiovascular system.
Gaspari’s tip on increasing training intensity for hypertrophy
Gaspari shared tips on how to get in the right mindset for intensity training and boost it further for hypertrophy.
“I still train with total intensity, train a muscle to failure. I don’t have my phone with me that I’m constantly texting or reading e-mails or looking at YouTube or doing whatever,” he said. “I’m going to the gym to train a certain body part I’m training. What I see right now is I see too many people distracted. And they are not making the gains. You really have to train with intensity.
“When I went to a gym training for competition, I went to the gym with the mindset I was going to battle, to war, to train a body part to total annihilation or total failure. If I didn’t do a certain weight or personal max in reps, drop set, giant set, if I didn’t finish that I imagined that my whole family is going to get killed and they were going to kill me. That’s really extreme but when you have that type of mindset going to the gym for total annihilation, you’re going to train a muscle much harder than you’ve ever trained before. That’s what it’s going to take for hypertrophy and muscle to grow.”
Rich Gaspari laid out a modified version of sumo squats to boost lower-body strength two months ago. He recommended using a platform to elevate feet for added range of motion to target glutes.
Gaspari extended his support for four-time Classic Physique Olympia champion Chris Bumstead for his dominant reign last month. He backed Bumstead to be competitive in the Open class if he packed on about 40 pounds of muscle mass.
His latest offerings are sure to help many fans take their fitness game to the next level with a strong core and intense mindset.
Published: 2 July, 2023 | 11:44 AM EDT
The 17 Best Standing Abs Exercises for All Fitness Levels
We love floor-based abs exercises as much as the next guy, but sometimes it’s nice not to have to lie on a sweaty gym mat or dirty floor to bust out some sit-ups or crunches.
Also, floor-based abs exercises are not exactly functional. After all, apart from sitting up in bed, when was the last time you used your abs to pull your torso upright? Floor abs exercises are often hard to load, too. You’ve got to rely on the weight of your upper body or legs to hit your abs. Depending on your body size and strength, this may be too much or too little weight to work your abs.
The good news is that there are LOTS of great abs exercises you can do while standing. Some are easy and ideal for beginners, while others are hardcore and perfect for more advanced exercisers.
In this article, we reveal the 17 best standing abs exercises for all fitness levels.
Abs Anatomy 101
When most exercisers talk about abs, they actually mean their core. The core is the collective term for all the muscles of the midsection. Some functional fitness experts also like to include additional muscles in their core collective, including the lats and glutes. However, that just complicates an already complex subject!
So, for the purposes of this article, when we say abs, we actually mean the core, and that covers the following muscles:
Core Muscles Anatomy
Rectus abdominus
The rectus abdominis is the long, flat muscle on the front of your stomach. It’s divided into vertical halves and horizontal sections by lines of ligamentous tissue, giving it that famous six-pack appearance.
However, you’ll need to be pretty lean to see these lines, typically below ten-percent body fat for men and under 15 percent for women.
The functions of the rectus abdominis are flexion and lateral flexion of the spine.
Obliques
The obliques are basically your waist muscles, and there are two sets – the internal and the external obliques. These muscles rotate and laterally flex your spine. However, when both sides co-contract, they also play a part in flexion and work alongside your rectus abdominis.
Transverse abdominis
Known as the TVA for short, this muscle encircles your midsection like a weightlifting belt. When you brace your abs, it contracts inward and compresses your internal organs. This creates intra-abdominal pressure, which helps to support your lumbar spine.
So, while you won’t be able to see your TVA working, you will be able to feel it. The TVA is involved in all standing abs exercises.
Erector spinae
The erector spinae is a group of three muscles, each of which is divided into three sections. These muscles run up either side of your spine and are involved in extension and lateral flexion. Many standing core exercises also involve the erector spinae, despite the fact they’re technically back muscles. In most cases, the erector spinae act as stabilizers.
All standing abs exercises involve all of these muscles. However, depending on the movement performed, some will be working harder than others. Therefore, in the exercise descriptions, we’ll list the muscles in order of which are doing most of the work.
The Benefits of Standing Abs Exercises
While there is nothing wrong with floor-based abs exercises, standing abs exercises offer some noteworthy advantages and benefits. These include:
Increased functionality
Your core plays a critical role in most human movements. In some situations, it acts as a stabilizer to prevent unwanted movement of your spine. In others, the core is responsible for generating force, e.g., pushing, pulling, and throwing.
Regardless of what they are doing, most of these activities occur when you’re on one or two legs and not lying on your back. Therefore, standing abs exercises are often more functional than their supine counterparts.
Comfort
Standing abs exercises are often more comfortable than similar exercises performed lying on the floor. An exercise mat will help, but one may not be available. With no pressure on your lower back, standing abs exercises are usually more comfortable than floor-based movements.
Convenience
Not everyone trains in a well-equipped gym. Some people prefer to work out in playgrounds, parks, or other large open spaces. Sure, you COULD take a mat with you for abs exercises, but that’s unnecessary if you do standing abs exercises.
With no mat required and often very little equipment, you can do some standing exercises anywhere and anytime, making them the perfect excuse-free workout.
No more mobility issues
Older exercises and people with mobility issues may find getting down on the floor to do sit-ups, crunches, etc., awkward. Getting back up may present an even more significant challenge. Many standing abs exercises are ideal for older exercises and anyone who finds getting down to floor level difficult.
Standing Abs Exercise Drawbacks
Standing abs exercises are generally safe and effective. However, there are a couple of drawbacks to consider, too:
Limited loading
While there are numerous standing abs exercises that utilize an external load, other movements rely on your body weight for resistance. Because of the direction of gravity, this may mean there is very little tension on the muscles you’re training.
You can contract the target muscles harder to get a better training effect, but, even then, some exercises will be too easy if you already have a well-conditioned core.
Lack of understanding
Standing abs exercises are a trending topic right now (#standingabs). Unfortunately, this means a lot of wannabe fitness experts are posting standing abs exercises with little understanding of how the core muscles work.
For example, holding a weight in your hands and then twisting your torso does NOT load your obliques. The force is vertical, whereas the obliques work in the transverse plane, i.e., horizontally. In essence, there is no resistance to rotation.
It doesn’t matter if you hold a 20-pound weight or a 100-pounder; twisting with a weight in your hands won’t challenge your obliques. However, your arms will probably get a good workout!
Similarly, doing standing crunches are all but pointless, as the weight (your upper body) is pulling your spine into flexion – your abs aren’t doing much, if any, of the work.
So, don’t make poor exercise choices. Remember that some self-certified fitness influencers are nothing but a pretty face with a six-pack and a loud voice and don’t actually know what they’re talking about.
Instead, think about the function of the muscles you want to engage, perform movements that work that muscle, and then apply a load, if necessary, to make that movement more challenging.
The 17 Best Standing Abs Exercises
Now you know the pros and cons of standing abs exercises and the muscles these movements work. So, it’s time to reveal the 17 best standing abs exercises for all fitness levels!
1. Standing cable crunch
Muscles targeted: Rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis.
The key to an effective crunch is shortening the distance between your sternum and pelvis. Making a discernable C-shape with your spine ensures that your abs do the work, not your hip flexors. If you can’t feel this exercise in the front of your abdomen, there is a good chance you are flexing your hips more than your spine.
Steps:
Fix a rope handle to a high cable pulley machine. Take one end in each hand and take a step backward to tension the cable.
Pull the handles down so your hands are in front of your shoulders.
Stand with your knees slightly bent, feet shoulder-width apart.
Flex your spine and draw your sternum down toward your pelvis.
Lift your chest to get a stretch in your abs, and repeat.
Benefits:
Easy to scale by reducing or increasing the load.
More effective than the kneeling variation of this exercise.
A very lower back-friendly core exercise.
Tips:
Exhale as you contract your abs to increase muscle engagement.
Hold the handles in one hand only to work the obliques more.
You can also do this exercise with a resistance band:
2. Pallof press
Muscles targeted: Obliques, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis.
The Pallof press was invented by Bostonian physical therapist John Pallof. This is an anti-core exercise, meaning you’ll be using your midsection to prevent unwanted movement. This is how your core often has to work in nature, making Pallof presses a very functional abs exercise.
Steps:
Attach a D-shaped handle to a cable machine set to mid-chest height.
Stand side-on to the pulley with the handle in both hands. Your feet should be about shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Brace your core.
Pull your hands into your chest and step away from the machine.
Without moving your hips or shoulders, extend your arms out in front of you.
Bend your arms and return your hands to your chest.
Repeat for the required number of reps and then switch sides.
Benefits:
Minimal lower back stress.
Very scalable – just add or subtract weight according to your needs.
An excellent exercise for integrating the upper and lower body with the core.
Tips:
The narrower your stance, the more challenging this exercise becomes.
Vary the height of your arms to work your core from different angles.
Do this exercise with a resistance band for home workouts.
3. Overhead Pallof press
Muscles targeted: Rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis.
Where regular Pallof presses are an anti-rotation exercise, this version is an anti-extension exercise, so it hits your anterior abs more than your obliques. This challenging exercise is basically a standing, moving plank.
Steps:
Attach a rope handle to a high pulley. Grab the handle and then turn your back to the machine. Hold your hands at shoulder height and brace your core. Adopt a split stance for balance.
Without leaning forward or backward, press your arms above your head.
Return your hands to your shoulders and repeat.
Benefits:
A full-body standing abs exercise.
Good for increasing core and upper body stability.
Can be made as hard or as easy as required by adjusting the weight
Tips:
You can also do this exercise with a resistance band.
The closer/narrower your feet, the more challenging this exercise will be.
Exhale as you raise your arms to increase core engagement.
4. Dumbbell side bend
Muscles targeted: Obliques, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis.
Many people do this exercise with a dumbbell in each hand – don’t be one of them. Using two weights means one dumbbell counterbalances the other, rendering the exercise useless. Use one dumbbell only, and you’ll get a much better core workout.
Steps:
Hold a dumbbell in one hand, arm by your side. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Brace your core and pull your shoulders down and back.
Lean to the side and lower the weight down the outside of your leg.
Stand upright and repeat.
Benefits:
An effective dynamic oblique exercise.
Good for increasing lateral mobility.
A useful forearm and grip strengthening exercise.
Tips:
Keep your hips and shoulders squared – no twisting.
Use a kettlebell instead of a dumbbell if you wish.
Hold a weight in one hand only!
5. Landmine full-contact twists
Muscles targeted: Rectus abdominis, obliques, transverse abdominis.
A landmine is a simple device that turns a barbell into a functional workout machine. You can do many exercises with a landmine, and they’re all excellent. No landmine? No problem! Just wedge the end of your barbell into a corner or against the bottom of a squat rack. Full contact twists are an excellent standing core exercise.
Steps:
Place one end of your barbell in the landmine, and grab the other in both hands.
Lift the bar and hold it above your head with your hands close together, palms facing inward.
Brace your core and pull your shoulders down and back. Press the bar forward and down into the landmine.
Maintaining your core tension, rotate your shoulders and arms and lower the bar down to one side. Turn your hips in the same direction as your arms.
Lift the weight back to the center and repeat on the opposite side.
Continue alternating sides for the duration of your set, driving your arms forward and down throughout.
Benefits:
An excellent exercise for athletes.
Can be performed with heavy weights to develop a strong, powerful core.
A full-body, functional, total core strength exercise.
Tips:
Raise the weight explosively but lower it slowly to make this exercise as effective as possible.
Don’t just use your arms for this exercise; put your entire body into each rep.
Keep flexing your abs throughout.
6. Saxon side bend
Muscles targeted: Obliques, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis.
The Saxon side bend is named after old-school professional strongman Arthur Saxon. As a strongman performer, Saxon did incredible feats of strength live onstage, often in front of enormous crowds. The Saxon side bend was one of his favorite exercises for developing core strength.
Steps:
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Hold and raise a weight above your head, e.g., a medicine ball or a single dumbbell.
Without twisting your shoulders or hips, lean from one side to the other to challenge your core.
Adjust your range of motion according to your flexibility and mobility.
Benefits:
You don’t need heavy weights for this exercise; a little goes a long way.
Good for improving lumbar spine lateral mobility.
An effective shoulder stability exercise.
Tips:
Don’t go too heavy too soon – this exercise is more strenuous than it looks!
Hold the weight in front of your chest to shorten the lever and make this exercise easier.
Do not allow your hips or shoulders to twist, as doing so makes this exercise less effective.
7. Cable high-to-low woodchop
Muscles targeted: Obliques, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis.
This exercise is so-called because, when you do it, you look a little like you are chopping wood. The cable woodchop is an effective oblique strengthener and teaches you how to integrate your upper and lower body with your core.
Steps:
Attach a D-shaped handle to a high cable machine. Hold the handle in both hands and then stand sideways onto the pulley. Take 1-2 steps away to tension the cable.
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent.
Keeping your arms straight, turn your upper body through 180 degrees so your hands travel diagonally downward to hip height.
Return to the starting position and repeat.
Do the same number of reps on each side.
Benefits:
Easy to modify for all levels of exerciser.
Teaches you how to brace your core while using your upper and lower body.
A very lower back-friendly exercise.
Tips:
You can also do this exercise with horizontal arms or working from low to high.
Try shifting your weight from one leg to the other as you rotate your upper body.
No cable machine? Do this exercise with a resistance band attached to a sturdy anchor.
8. Standing oblique crunch
Muscles targeted: Obliques, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis.
Not all standing abs exercises use cables or weights to strengthen your core. This movement might not be overly challenging, but it provides your abs and obliques with a pleasant workout. Best of all, you can do it anywhere and anytime, as no equipment is involved.
Steps:
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Clasp your hands behind your head and press your elbows out and back to open your chest. Brace your core.
Bend one leg and lift your knee out and up. Simultaneously lean sideways and lower your elbow down toward your need.
Lower your leg, stand back up, and repeat.
Do the required number of reps and then switch sides.
Benefits:
A standing, equipment-free abs exercise you can do anywhere and anytime.
Ideal for beginners.
A good way to mobilize your hips and lower back as you work your abs.
Tips:
Do this exercise with an alternating action if preferred.
Make this exercise harder by wearing ankle weights.
Pause at the mid-point of each rep to maximally contract your abs and make this exercise more effective.
9. Standing bicycle crunch
Muscles targeted: Rectus abdominis, obliques, transverse abdominis.
Regular bicycle crunches are an excellent, if highly challenging, abs exercise. This standing version is far more accessible, making it ideal for beginners. It’s also a useful teaching exercise before attempting full bicycle crunches and can also be used as a warm-up. However, the overload on your abs is pretty low, so make sure you contract your muscles hard to gain any benefits.
Steps:
Stand with your feet together, knees slightly bent for balance. Place your hands on your temples. Brace your abs.
Bend one leg and lift your knee up and across the front of your body. Simultaneously lean forward and lower your opposite knee to your elbow.
Stand up straight, lower your foot to the floor, and then repeat on the other side.
Continue alternating sides for the duration of your set.
Benefits:
A good standing abs exercise for beginners.
An excellent hip and spine mobility exercise.
A good move to prepare you for full bicycle crunches.
Tips:
Do not clasp your hands behind your neck, as you are more likely to pull with your arms if you do.
Pause at the midpoint of each rep for maximum effectiveness.
Drive your supporting foot into the floor to make balancing on one leg easier.
10. Single-arm dumbbell press
Muscles targeted: Obliques, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis.
While dumbbell presses are usually viewed as an upper-body exercise, they also provide an effective abs workout. Done standing, the single-arm dumbbell press is as good for your abs as it is for your shoulders.
Steps:
Hold a dumbbell in one hand at shoulder height. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Brace your core.
Without leaning sideways, press your weight up and overhead to arm’s length.
Lower the weight back to your shoulder and repeat.
On completion of your set, swap sides and repeat.
Benefits:
An effective and accessible lateral core exercise.
A great time-saver – work your core, deltoids, and triceps simultaneously.
An excellent way to integrate your core with your upper body.
Tips:
Do the same number of reps on both sides.
Stand with your feet closer together to make this exercise harder.
You can also do this exercise with a barbell instead of a dumbbell:
11. Suitcase deadlift
Muscles targeted: Obliques, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis.
When most people do deadlifts, they do them to build full-body strength or a bigger, more muscular back. However, this variation is a very effective if challenging standing abs exercise. You’ll need to use all your core muscles to maintain a neutral spine, so your abs will be acting as stabilizers. This is how your core usually works in nature, so this is a very functional movement.
Steps:
Place a kettlebell or dumbbell on the floor and stand next to it so the handle is parallel to your feet.
Bend down and hold the handle with a neutral or palms-in grip.
Pull your shoulders down and back, brace your core, and look straight ahead.
Drive your feet into the floor and stand up straight. Do not lean sideways or round your back.
Lower the weight back to the floor, allow it to settle for 1-2 seconds, and repeat.
Turn around and do the same number of reps on the opposite side.
Benefits:
A very functional exercise.
Teaches you how to safely lift heavy objects off the ground.
Helps identify and fix left-to-right strength imbalances.
Tips:
Use gym chalk to prevent your hands from slipping.
Perform this exercise in front of a mirror to ensure you don’t lean to the side.
You can also do this exercise with a barbell.
12. Single-arm farmer’s walk
Muscles targeted: Obliques, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis.
This is another standing core exercise that many people do for an entirely different reason. Farmer’s walks are a well-known grip and general conditioning exercise. However, when performed using just one weight, it quickly becomes a very challenging abs workout.
Steps:
Hold a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell in one hand with your arm by your side. Brace your core and set your hips and shoulders so they are level.
Without leaning to either side, walk around your training area.
Having completed the required distance, lower the weight to the floor, swap hands, and repeat.
Benefits:
A very functional standing abs exercise.
An excellent way to spot and fix left-to-right strength imbalances.
A challenging grip-building exercise.
Tips:
Use chalk to stop your hands from slipping.
Keep your shoulders down and back throughout.
Lower the weight to the floor as you feel your grip starting to give out. Don’t drop the weight.
13. Standing ab wheel rollout
Muscles targeted: Rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis.
Standing abs exercises don’t come much more challenging than the infamous rollout. This exercise combines extended planks with a pull-over arm action, making it one of the most brutal core exercises around. Only attempt this move if you have mastered the kneeling ab wheel rollout.
Steps:
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Hold your ab wheel with an overhand grip.
Brace your core, bend your knees slightly, and lean forward to place the ab wheel on the floor in front of your feet.
Keeping your arms straight, push the roller out and away, lowering your body toward the floor. Extend your arms as far as you can without losing core tension.
Pull the wheel back toward your feet, lifting your hips up as you do so.
Continue for the prescribed number of reps.
Benefits:
Probably the most challenging standing abs exercise.
Provides an effective lat-building workout.
An ideal exercise for home workouts.
Tips:
Do this exercise facing a wall to prevent the wheel from rolling too far.
Only extend your arms as far as comfortable to avoid injuring your lower back.
Rest on your knees to make this exercise easier.
14. TRX Hip drops
Muscles targeted: Obliques, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis.
The TRX was invented by a Navy SEAL who wanted a portable training device he could take on deployment. TRXs can be used to replicate many machine and dumbbell exercises, and there are several unique bodyweight movements you can do with this type of suspension trainer. TRX hip drops are an especially challenging lateral core exercise.
Steps:
Attach your TRX to a high anchor point. Hold the handles on both hands and raise your arms above your head so your body is straight.
Lean your hips out to the side so your body forms a distinct C shape.
Pull your hips back to the center and repeat.
Continue for the prescribed number of reps and then switch sides.
Benefits:
An excellent exercise for home workouts.
A very functional, challenging standing abs exercise.
Easy to change the difficulty by varying your range of motion.
Tips:
Place your feet closer together to make this exercise harder.
The longer the straps, the more challenging this exercise becomes.
You can also do this exercise with gymnastic rings and other types of suspension trainer.
15. Single-arm cable chest press
Muscles targeted: Rectus abdominis, obliques, transverse abdominis.
No, we haven’t included this exercise by mistake. Despite its name, the single-arm chest press is actually a terrific standing abs exercise. You’ll need to use all your core muscles to stabilize your midsection as you extend and bend your arm. But yes, it’s also a great chest exercise!
Steps:
Attach a single handle to a chest-high cable machine. Hold the handle and turn your back on the pulley so the wire runs outside or under your arm.
Step forward into a split stance for balance. Brace your core.
With your hips and shoulders still, press your arm forward and out to full extension.
Return the handle to the side of your chest, and repeat.
Switch sides and do the same number of reps with the opposite arm.
Benefits:
Teaches you how to stabilize your spine while moving your arms.
An excellent exercise for athletes.
An easy exercise to modify for all fitness levels.
Tips:
Bring your feet closer together to make this exercise more challenging.
Use your core to make sure your torso doesn’t twist.
Pair with single-arm cable rows to work your abs from the front and back.
16. Single-leg Romanian deadlift
Muscles targeted: Obliques, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis.
Single-leg Romanian deadlifts are an excellent exercise for your glutes and hamstrings. However, you’ll also need to use your core to stabilize your spine and prevent your upper body from twisting. As such, it’s also a great standing abs exercise.
Steps:
Stand with your feet together and a dumbbell or kettlebell in your left hand. Shift your weight onto your right foot. Brace your core and pull your shoulders down and back.
Hinging from your hips, bend forward and lower the weight down the front of your leg. Lift your left leg out behind you for balance.
Stand back up and repeat.
Rest a moment and then change legs, remembering to switch hands, too.
Benefits:
Teaches you how to integrate your core with your upper and lower body.
A very lower back-friendly exercise.
An excellent balance-building workout.
Tips:
Do this exercise next to a wall and use your free hand for balance if required.
You can also keep your non-supporting foot resting lightly on the floor for balance, i.e., a kickstand or B-stance Romanian deadlift.
Keep your supporting knee slightly bent throughout.
17. Kettlebell around the world
Muscles targeted: Obliques, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis.
Many of the best standing core exercises work one side of your abs at a time. This one is slightly different as it works your entire core in one straightforward movement. Done with light weights, this exercise is an excellent warm-up for your whole midsection. But, done with greater loads, it’s a challenging yet fun total abs exercise.
Steps:
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent for balance. Brace your abs. Hold a kettlebell in front of your hips.
Swing the weight around your waist, transferring from one hand to the other behind your back and in front of your hips.
Use your core muscles to resist being pulled toward the weight.
Continue for the desired number of reps, rest a moment, and then switch directions.
Benefits:
A very time-efficient exercise.
Very little lower back stress.
An excellent way to mobilize your shoulders and activate your deep core muscles before more demanding exercises.
Tips:
Keep your feet planted firmly on the floor to maintain your balance.
Lift your chest and set your shoulders down and back throughout.
Use gym chalk to stop the kettlebell handle from slipping out of your hands.
Standing Abs Exercises – FAQs
Do you have a question about standing abs exercises or core training in general? That’s okay because we’ve got the answers!
1. Will these standing abs exercises give me a six-pack?
While many of these exercises involve your six-pack muscle – the rectus abdominis – there is no guarantee that doing them will give you six-pack abs. That’s because, for the contours of your abs to be visible, you need to have a low body fat percentage. This is typically ten percent or less for men and below 15 percent for women.
It’s entirely possible to have well-develop abs but for them not to be visible because they’re hidden under a layer of fat.
So, while these standing abs exercises COULD lead to a six-pack, your results hinge on your diet as much as your workouts.
2. How many reps and sets should I do of these exercises?
You can do anywhere from 5 to 30 reps to train your abs. Low reps with heavy weights are best for building brute strength, while higher reps and lighter loads are better for endurance, hypertrophy, and general fitness.
However, some exercises lend themselves to higher or lower reps. For example, suitcase deadlifts work well with bigger loads, while standing bicycle crunches are more suitable for higher reps.
Very high reps, i.e., more than 30, are not recommended as they are largely a waste of time and not challenging enough to be effective.
Regardless, you should take each set to within a couple of reps of failure. Easy sets won’t have much of an effect on the condition of your abs.
Regarding the number of sets, 2-4 should be sufficient for most people. If you feel you need to do more than this, you probably aren’t training close enough to failure, or you are resting too long between sets.
3. XYZ exercise hurts my back – what gives?
While the majority of these standing abs exercises are very lower back-friendly, some will put a strain on your lumbar spine. Others can cause back pain when performed incorrectly or with too much weight.
So, if any of these exercises hurt your back, firstly, make sure you are performing them correctly. Perfect form is critical for a safe and pain-free workout. Then dial back the weight a little to see if that helps.
If you still feel your lower back, skip that movement and do something else. It could be that the exercise in question just doesn’t suit you.
4. Are standing abs exercises better than those performed lying down?
While standing abs exercises offer several advantages, that doesn’t mean they’re better than more traditional lying abs exercises. Ultimately, the best exercises for you are the ones you like, and that meet your workout needs.
If you want to isolate your abs, lying exercises are often best, as they don’t involve many additional muscle groups. But, if you want a more functional workout, standing exercises are arguably the better choice.
Or, you could just combine standing and lying abs exercises and enjoy all the benefits these two different types of training provide. There is no need to choose between them.
5. Will these exercises burn belly fat?
Many people think that doing lots of abs exercises will burn belly fat. Sadly, this is nothing but an old exercise myth. Your body stores and then burns fat from all over your body, not just from the areas you train. As such, if you want to burn fat and get lean, you need to work your entire body and not just where you want to lose the fat from.
So, sorry, these exercises will NOT burn belly fat.
Closing Thoughts
There is no need to head straight to the floor to train your abs. In fact, there are plenty of standing abs exercises that are every bit as effective as the ubiquitous crunches, sit-ups, and leg raises.
Movements like cable high-to-low woodchops, Saxon side bends, standing cable crunches, and standing bicycle crunches are ideal for those times when you don’t want to lie down or just want to hit your abs from a different, more functional angle.
Are standing abs exercises better than ab exercises done on the floor? Not necessarily. However, they may be more suitable for some exercisers and are worth including in any well-balanced core workout plan.
30-Day Abs Challenge for A Rock-Hard Core
Most decent fitness information revolves around building good long-term diet and workout habits. This makes a lot of sense, as fitness and health should be life-long pursuits. Sadly, you cannot store fitness, and your strength and conditioning will soon decline if you stop working out or eating healthily.
There is a reason that ex-athletes often look so out of shape – they stopped training.
So, in most cases, long-term consistency will always beat short-term fitness fixes. That said, there is a time and a place for workouts and diets that are only meant to last a few weeks. Things like 30-day push-up challenges or 14-day diets can help restore lost momentum and bust through plateaus.
Short-term workout challenges and diets can also test and develop your willpower and intestinal fortitude, or guts. You’ll undoubtedly feel a sense of satisfaction on reaching the end of one of these challenges, which can be a reward in its own right.
This 30-day abs challenge will give you a hard, strong core and could even take you a few steps closer to developing a shredded six-pack.
Abs Anatomy Basics
So, what muscles will you be working during this 30-day abs challenge? Rather than focus just on those at the front of your abdomen, this workout is designed to work all the muscles that encircle your waist and make up your core:
Rectus abdominis – located at the front of your abdomen, this is your six-pack muscle, although you’ll need to be pretty lean to see it. The functions of your rectus abdominis are flexion and lateral flexion of your spine. It also plays a part in compressing your abdominal contents.
Obliques – there are two sets of oblique muscles: internal and external. They work together to laterally flex and rotate your spine. The obliques are basically your waist muscles.
Transverse abdominis – encircling your midsection like a weightlifting belt, the TVA compresses your abdominal contents to produce intra-abdominal pressure, or IAP for short. This pressure helps stabilize your lumbar spine from within.
Erector spinae – the erector spinae is a group of three muscles that run up either side of your back. Together they extend and stabilize your lower and upper spine.
30-Day Abs Challenge – Program Overview
This is an abs specialization program. That means you’ll be working your abs more frequently than usual and with more volume and intensity than you’re probably used to. However, you won’t be training your abs every day, which could lead to injury and overtraining. Instead, you’ll be hitting your abs four days a week for one month straight.
It’s up to you on which days you train, but it’s generally best to avoid doing all your abs workouts in a row. We don’t want you to work your abs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Instead, separate at least a few of your abs workouts with a different form of training or a rest day. For example:
Monday – Abs Workout
Tuesday – Cardio/Strength Training
Wednesday – Abs Workout
Thursday – Abs Workout
Friday – Cardio/Strength Training
Saturday – Abs Workout
Sunday – Rest
Each workout contains four exercises so that you work all your core muscles equally. Each week involves different, more demanding exercises to ensure your core strength increases over the coming 30 days. The workouts themselves are also progressive, and the volume/intensity builds up over the course of the month.
In terms of equipment, you don’t need much to complete this 30-day abs challenge. In fact, you can do this challenge at home with a few items of basic workout gear.
However, you will need:
Exercise mat
Ab wheel or a barbell and weight plates
Resistance bands
Stability ball
Pull-up bar/captain’s chair
Medicine ball or dumbbell/kettlebell
Finally, this 30-day workout challenge is not designed for beginners. Instead, it’s aimed at intermediate or advanced exercisers looking to take their core conditioning to a new, higher level. Beginners should follow a less intense workout plan that focuses on building basic core strength.
30-Day Abs Challenge – Week One
Week one of our 30-day abs challenge starts with some fairly basic exercises and a moderate level of volume and intensity. Think of this as your warm-up week. Do three sets of each exercise, resting 60-90 seconds between efforts. However, regarding reps, continue each set until the target muscles start to fatigue. The reps quoted in the chart below are for guidance only.
#
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Recovery
1
RKC plank
3
20-30 seconds
60-90 seconds
2
Stability ball crunch
3
15-20
60-90 seconds
3
Reverse crunch
3
15-20
60-90 seconds
4
Side plank
3
15-20
60-90 seconds
1 – RKC Plank
Unlike regular planks, RKC (Russian kettlebell challenge) planks are designed to fatigue your abs as fast as possible. Brace and contract your core as hard as you can; seek failure, and don’t wait for failure to come to you! If you feel that you can go for more than 30 seconds, you weren’t bracing hard enough.
Steps:
Lie on the floor and rest on your elbows and forearms. Clasp your hands together if you wish. Brace your core and pull your shoulders back and down.
Lift your hips up so your body is straight. Contract your hands, arms, chest, shoulders, legs, and glutes.
Without holding your breath, contract your core as hard as possible.
Hold for as long as you can but, if you can do more than 30 seconds, you weren’t bracing hard enough.
Tips:
Rest your elbows on a folded mat for comfort.
Imagine you are trying to drag your toes toward your elbows to maximally engage your abs.
Do not hold your breath, as doing so can cause your blood pressure to rise.
2 – Stability ball crunch
While floor crunches are fine, they have a short range of motion, so they’re too easy for fitter, more experienced exercisers. Using a stability ball makes crunches much more challenging, especially now your abs are tired from the RKC planks.
Steps:
Sit on your stability ball. Walk your feet forward and lean back until the ball fills the curve of your lower back. Place your hands on your temples and brace your abs.
Press your lower back into the ball, curve your spine, and lift your upper back up to form a C shape.
Lean back, get a good stretch in your abs, and repeat.
Tips:
Make this exercise harder by holding a weight behind your head or across your chest.
Exhale as you lift your shoulders to maximally engage your abs.
Pause at the top of each rep for a more effective workout.
3 – Reverse Crunch
There is no such thing as upper abs vs. lower abs. Instead, your rectus abdominis is one long, flat muscle. That said, it is possible to use your abs to lift your shoulders or lift your hips by engaging different groups of muscle fibers. Reverse crunches tend to emphasize the lower fibers of the rectus abdominis, but the upper fibers are working, too.
Steps:
Lie on your back with your legs bent and feet in the air. Place your hands on the floor next to your hips.
Press your lower back into the floor and lift your hips off the floor. Pull your knees toward your shoulders.
Lower your hips and legs back down and repeat.
Tips:
Avoid pressing with your arms, which takes work away from the target muscles.
Exhale as you lift your legs to increase abs engagement.
Pause at the top of each rep to make this exercise more challenging and effective.
4 – Side plank
Where regular planks emphasize your rectus abdominis, side planks hit your obliques more. Most people find side planks harder than front planks, which makes sense given that the obliques are much smaller than the rectus abdominis muscle.
Steps:
Lie on your side so your body is straight and your hips and shoulders are square. Rest on your lowermost forearm and elbow. Brace your core.
Lift your hips and then hold them up for the required duration.
On completion, lower your hips to the floor, roll over, and repeat on the opposite side.
Tips:
Do not hold your breath, as doing so can cause your blood pressure to increase.
Lift your uppermost leg to make this exercise more challenging.
You can also do side planks with your supporting arm straight, like this:
30-Day Abs Challenge – Week Two
Week two of our 30-day abs challenge builds on what you achieved in week one. The exercises are slightly more difficult, so you should be ready to work a little harder. Your interset rest periods are also a little shorter. As before, reps are quoted for illustrative purposes only. Do as many reps as it takes to fatigue the target muscles.
#
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Recovery
1
Stability ball stir the pot
3
15-20
45-75 seconds
2
Serratus crunch
3
15-20
45-75 seconds
3
Hanging knee raises
3
15-20
45-75 seconds
4
Russian twist
3
15-20
45-75 seconds
1 – Stability ball stir the pot
Planks on a stable surface are fine, but you’re probably ready for a more challenging abs workout. Stability ball stir the pot is a much more dynamic and challenging way to do planks. This is an exercise you’ll love to hate!
Steps:
Place your forearms on a stability ball and then walk your feet out and back so your body and legs are straight. Brace your core.
Without dropping your hips, make small circles with your arms, alternating between clockwise and counterclockwise.
Keep your body extended and your core braced throughout.
Tips:
The larger the ball, the less challenging this exercise becomes.
Make larger circles to increase instability and make this exercise harder.
Move your feet further apart to make stir the pots a little easier.
2 – Serratus crunch
The serratus crunch is so-called because, as well as working your rectus abdominis, it also hits your serratus anterior muscles. While not strictly part of your core, these small but visually impressive muscles can add a lot to your appearance. Needless to say, this exercise also overloads your abs.
Steps:
Lie on your back with your legs bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold a weight in your hands (medicine ball, dumbbell, kettlebell) and extend your arms so they’re vertical. Press your lower back into the floor.
Contract your abs and lift your head and shoulders off the floor. Reach up with your arms as if you’re trying to touch the ceiling.
Lie back down and repeat.
Tips:
Exhale as you lift your shoulders to fully engage your abs.
You can also do this exercise with your legs raised.
Don’t go too heavy too soon; this exercise works best when you focus on the movement rather than the load.
3 – Hanging knee raises
Like reverse crunches from last week’s program, hanging knee raises target the lower fibers of your rectus abdominis. However, lifting the entire weight of your legs makes this exercise much more challenging. On the downside, you will need a pull-up bar or captain’s chair to do this exercise.
Steps:
Hang from your pull-up bar with your arms straight. Alternatively, rest on your elbows on a captain’s chair station. Brace your abs.
Without using momentum to help you raise your legs, bend your knees and lift them up until they’re higher than your hips.
Lower your legs under control and repeat.
Tips:
Use lifting chalk or wrist straps if your grip fails before your abs.
Do not swing your knees up. Instead, move slowly and deliberately to keep the tension on your abs.
Too easy? Clamp a dumbbell between your feet to make this exercise more demanding:
4 – Russian Twist
It’s not really clear why Russian twists are so-called because they don’t have anything to do with Russia. Regardless, they’re a challenging and effective oblique and rectus abdominis exercise that most people love and hate in equal measure.
Steps:
Sit on the floor with your legs bent and feet flat.
Lean back until your body is inclined to about 45 degrees.
Extend your arms out in front of you at shoulder height.
Rotate your upper body as far as possible to the left and right. Do not lean back or lift your torso; keep the angle the same.
Continue for the specified number of reps.
Tips:
Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell to make this exercise more challenging.
Anchor your feet if necessary.
Maintain a neutral spine throughout. Do not round your lower back.
30-Day Abs Challenge – Week Three
Week three sees an increase in training volume as you progress from doing three sets of each exercise to four. There is also a slight increase in exercise difficulty. Don’t worry – you can handle it. And congratulations on reaching the halfway stage of this four-week challenge!
#
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Recovery
1
Ab wheel rollout
4
15-20
45-75 seconds
2
Bicycle crunch
4
15-20
45-75 seconds
3
Straight leg lifts
4
15-20
45-75 seconds
4
Resistance band Pallof press
4
15-20
45-75 seconds
1 – Ab wheel rollout
Ab wheel rollouts are a sort of moving plank. With this exercise, you extend your arms out in front of you to create a long lever which puts a lot of tension through your abs. This is a challenging core exercise, but after two weeks of intense core training, you are ready for it!
Steps:
Kneel down and place your ab wheel on the floor in front of your knees. Hold the handle with an overhand grip, arms straight, and core braced.
Push the ab roller away from you and lower your body toward the floor. Take care not to hyperextend your spine.
Use your abs and lats to pull the roller back to your legs and repeat.
Tips:
Shorten your range of motion if you feel this exercise in your lower back.
Kneel on a folded exercise mat or foam pad for comfort.
You can also do this exercise from standing. However, this is MUCH more demanding:
2 – Bicycle crunch
The bicycle crunch is a tough but popular abs exercise. It involves all your significant core muscles, as well as your hip flexors. Done slowly and through a full range of motion, this exercise will challenge even the strongest exerciser.
Steps:
Lie on your back with your legs straight and your hands on your temples. Press your lower back into the floor and lift your feet a few inches off the floor. Keep them up for the duration of your set.
Lift your head and shoulders and bend one leg. Twist and touch one knee to the opposite elbow.
Return to the starting position and then repeat on the opposite side.
Continue alternating for the duration of your set.
Tips:
Start with legs bent and feet on the floor to make this exercise more manageable.
Take care not to pull on your neck, which could lead to injury.
Try to touch the outside of your elbow to the outside of your knee to hit your obliques harder.
3 – Straight leg lifts
Straight leg lifts are a low-tech but high-effect abs exercise. Like hanging knee raises, they target the lower fibers of your abs and hip flexors. Doing straight leg raises after bicycle crunches will be a special kind of core-training hell!
Steps:
Lie down and press your lower back into the floor. Lift your feet a few inches off the floor. Rest your arms on the floor next to your hips.
Without using your arms for assistance, raise your legs up until they’re vertical.
Lower your legs down until your feet are a few inches above the floor and repeat.
Tips:
Keep your lower back pressed into the floor throughout. Do NOT allow your back to arch.
If necessary, place your hands under your butt to help keep your back flat.
Bend your legs to shorten the lever and make this exercise easier. You can also try raising one leg at a time.
4 – Resistance band Pallof press
The Pallof press is an anti-core exercise, meaning it works your muscles without involving any movement. Don’t let this put you off; the Pallof press is still a great way to work your abs, especially your obliques.
Steps:
Attach a resistance band to a chest-high anchor.
Grip the end of the band and stand sideways onto your anchor point. Hold your hands in front of your chest.
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent.
Extend your arms in front of you, noting how the tension on your core increases. Do NOT allow your torso to twist.
Bring your arms back in and repeat.
Do the same number of reps on both sides.
Tips:
Stand further away from your anchor point to put more tension on the band and make this exercise harder.
You can also do this exercise with a cable machine.
You can also do this exercise in a half-kneeling position for variety:
30-Day Abs Challenge – Week Four
Week four is graduation week, and we’re going to finish strong! As well as introducing another four new core exercises, you’ll also get shorter rests between sets, turning the intensity up to the max. Keep pushing hard all the way to the end, and keep reminding yourself it’s the final week of workouts.
#
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Recovery
1
Renegade row
4
15-20
30-60 seconds
2
V-sit
4
15-20
30-60 seconds
3
Flutter kick
4
15-20
30-60 seconds
4
Saxon side bend
4
15-20
30-60 seconds
1 – Renegade row
Renegade rows were invented by NFL strength and conditioning expert John Davies. It is a plank variation that also involves an anti-rotation element. It’s a challenging exercise, so don’t go too heavy too soon!
Steps:
Adopt the push-up position with a dumbbell in each hand. Your arms, legs, and body should be straight. Brace your core, and pull your shoulders down and back.
Keeping your body tight and still, bend one arm and row the dumbbell off the floor and into your lower ribs.
Place the dumbbell back on the floor, swap sides, and repeat.
Alternate arms for the duration of your set.
Tips:
Use hex-shaped dumbbells if available, as they tend to be more stable.
You can also do this exercise with kettlebells.
Bend your legs and rest on your knees to make this exercise easier.
2 – V-sit
The V-sit is an old-school abs strength and conditioning exercise. This is a tough move, but after three weeks of prep work, you’re ready for it. The V-sit is so-called because your body makes a V-shape at the midpoint of each rep.
Steps:
Lie on your back with your legs straight and arms above your head. Press your lower back into the floor and brace your abs.
Lift your legs and upper body simultaneously and reach up toward your toes. At this point, you should be balancing on your butt, body making a V-shape.
Lie back down and repeat.
Tips:
Place a folded matt under your lower back for comfort.
Make this exercise harder by holding a medicine ball and touching it to your feet.
Bend your legs and pull your knees into your chest to make this exercise easier.
3 – Flutter kick
Flutter kicks are a favorite abs exercise in the military. You’ll often see this exercise done by Navy SEALs, usually as they lie on a beach with waves breaking over them. Part punishment, part core strengthener, this challenging exercise will hammer the lower fibers of your rectus abdominis.
Steps:
Lie on your back with your legs straight, hands together, and under your butt.
Press your lower back into the floor and lift your feet a few inches off the floor.
Lift your head and shoulders a few inches off the floor.
Keeping your legs straight, kick your legs up and down like you are swimming. Four kicks equal one rep.
Continue for the prescribed number of reps.
Tips:
Stop your set if your lower back starts to lift off the floor.
The slower the tempo, the more challenging this exercise becomes.
Bend your knees slightly to shorten the levers and make this exercise easier.
4 – Saxon side bend
Saxon sidebands are named after old-school strongman and bodybuilder Arthur Saxon. Performing with his brothers, Saxon was known for his incredible feats of strength, which included lifting horses and pressing several times his body weight overhead. The Saxon side bend was one of his favorite abs exercises.
Steps:
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Brace your core.
Raise and hold a weight (dumbbell, medicine ball) overhead.
Keeping your arms extended, lean to the left and then to the right for the prescribed number of reps. Only lean sideways, and not forward or backward.
Tips:
Take care not to twist your shoulders or hips.
Bend your arms and lower the weight to your head to make this exercise a little easier.
Because of the long levers involved, this is a challenging exercise, so don’t go too heavy too soon.
FAQs
Do you have a question about our 30-day abs challenge or core training in general? No sweat Boba Fett, because we’ve got the answers!
1. Will this challenge give me a six-pack?
Getting a six-pack is as much about your diet as it is your workout program. This 30-day abs challenge will definitely strengthen and harden your abs, but you won’t be able to see them unless you carve your body fat down to under ten percent for men and less than 15 percent for women.
Because of this, it’s often said that abs are built in the kitchen, although the saying should really be that abs are revealed in the kitchen.
Getting leaner invariably means eating less and exercising more to create a calorie deficit, so your body has no option but to burn stored body fat for fuel.
Read more about eating for ripped abs here.
2. Can I change the exercises in the 30-day abs challenge workouts?
If there are any exercises that you cannot do or that cause pain, feel free to do something else instead. However, try and use similar exercises so that you stay true to the spirit of the program. For example, you could do cable crunches instead of stability ball crunches, as they are basically the same movement. However, sit-ups and hanging leg raises are too dissimilar to be interchangeable.
If you are thinking of changing an exercise because you find it hard – don’t! This is a CHALLENGE, and it’s the hard exercises that will deliver the best results. Even if you can only do a few reps, stick with the hard moves. Your efforts will be rewarded in the end.
3. XYZ exercise hurts my back – what should I do?
If any of the exercises cause back pain, you should stop immediately and revisit your technique. Make sure you are doing the movement correctly. If it still causes pain, replace that exercise with something similar that doesn’t cause you problems. While exercise is good for everybody’s body, some movements may not suit your body type or fitness level.
4. How do I know if I’ve done enough reps?
One of the reasons that prescribing a rep range for a workout is so hard is that we have no way of knowing how strong you are. For some, 15 reps of leg raises will be too easy, but for others, it’ll be way too hard. If we tell you how many reps to do, we’d just be guessing.
So, instead, do as many reps as you can, stopping 2-3 short of failure. At this point, you should feel your muscles working (love that burn!), and your movements will probably noticeably slow down.
Push yourself close to failure, and your muscles will respond by getting stronger. But stop too soon, and your workout won’t be as effective as it could have been.
That said, try to do more reps workout by workout. This is called progressive overload, which is one of the cornerstones of effective training.
5. Will doing abs exercises help me lose belly fat?
Many people believe that doing exercises for a particular body part will melt fat from that area. This is called spot reduction. Unfortunately, there is no evidence to suggest that spot reduction happens, so it’s probably best to forget about this much-loved myth. The same is true for “sweating off fat” – that’s impossible, too.
Your body stores and burns fat globally, i.e., all over. While exercising, healthy eating and a calorie deficit will force your body to burn fat for fuel, you cannot influence from where that fat will come. It MAY be your abs, but it could also be your arms, butt, or chest.
So, while you can lose belly fat, we cannot guarantee that abs exercises will help give you a slimmer stomach. Forget about spot reduction, and focus on your entire body for the best fat-loss results.
30-Day Abs Challenge – Closing Thoughts
Sometimes, the best way past a fitness plateau is to smash through it! Sticking with your regular workout program is not the answer. Instead, you need to push the volume and intensity up a notch and get Hulk-mad, going beyond your normal limits.
This 30-day abs challenge might not give you a six-pack, but after four weeks, your core will be harder and stronger than ever before. Dial in your diet, and, who knows, you may even start to see your abs.
And the best part? You can do these workouts at home, so it’s virtually excuse-free.
So, what are you waiting for? Get started today!
Rocking Plank Guide: Muscles Worked, How-To, Benefits, and Alternatives
Planks are one of the most popular core exercises on the planet. Not so long ago, if you wanted to work your abs, you did crunches and sit-ups. However, those exercises gradually fell out of favor, and the plank took over.
This history of planks is long and storied, and there are examples of planks in yoga, Pilates, and other traditional workout methods.
Fast forward to the 21st century, and now there are online plank challenges, plank workout apps, and competitive planking is a thing. Did you know that the Guinness World Record for holding a continuous plank is a staggering 9 ½ hours!
While planks are undoubtedly an effective exercise, some people find them boring. After all, planks are an isometric exercise, meaning you contract your muscles without moving. So, instead of planking for reps, you just maintain your position for longer and longer durations.
Getting good at planks means you could be doing them for several minutes at a time, which is neither efficient nor very interesting. It’s no wonder that planks can seem dull.
The good news is that you don’t have to limit your core workouts to the same old static plank. There are several variations and alternatives you can use to make your training more time-efficient and interesting.
In this article, we take a look at rocking planks, explaining why and how to do this great bodyweight core exercise.
Rocking Plank – Muscles Worked
Rocking planks are a core exercise, and core is the collective term for the muscles of your midsection. However, they also involve several other muscles. The main muscles developed by rocking planks are:
Rectus abdominis
The rectus abdominis is the long, flat muscle on the front of your abdomen. Its functions are flexion and lateral flexion of your spine. It’s also involved in the compression of the abdominal contents. During rocking planks, the rectus abdominis works to stop your lumbar spine from extending.
Transverse abdominis
Where the rectus abdominis runs vertically up your abdomen, the transverse abdominis runs around it horizontally. Known as the TVA for short, this weightlifting belt-like muscle encircles your midsection and, when it contracts, squeezes inward to create intra-abdominal pressure (IAP). IAP supports your lumbar spine and prevents unwanted movement.
Obliques
The obliques are basically your waist muscles. There are two sets of oblique muscles – internal and external – which work together to rotate and laterally flex your spine. The obliques act as stabilizers during rocking planks, preventing any unwanted side-to-side movement.
Erector spinae
The erector spinae are the muscles of your lower back that work to prevent unwanted movement during rocking planks. However, if you do rocking planks correctly, you should not be able to feel these muscles working.
Quadratus lumborum
Known as the QL for short, these muscles lie beneath your obliques and are involved in lateral flexion and stabilization of your lumbar spine. While you can’t see your QL muscles, you may feel them working during rocking planks.
Deltoids
While rocking planks are undeniably a core exercise, your upper body will also get a workout. The rocking motion hits your deltoids, which are your shoulder muscles.
Done correctly, rocking planks involve many other muscles and muscle groups, including your quadriceps, calves, lats, and glutes. However, these muscles aren’t working particularly hard, so they won’t get much benefit from this exercise.
How to Do Rocking Planks
Get more from rocking planks while keeping your risk of injury to a minimum by following these guidelines:
Kneel down and place your forearms on the floor. Brace your core and pull your shoulders down and back.
Walk your feet back so your body is straight. Your shoulders should be over your elbows.
Point your toes and shift your weight forward, lowering your shoulders down toward your hands.
Push back with your arms and return to your starting position.
Continue for the desired number of reps.
Pro Tips:
Place your elbows on a folded exercise mat or foam pad for comfort.
Keep your core braced but do not hold your breath during this exercise.
Keep your forearms parallel or clasp your hands together as preferred.
Make this exercise harder by wearing a weighted vest.
The larger your movements, the more demanding this exercise becomes. Adjust your range of motion based on your core strength.
Rocking Plank Benefits and Drawbacks
Not sure if rocking planks deserve a place in your workouts? Consider these benefits and then decide!
No equipment required
Rocking planks are an excuse-free exercise that you can do anywhere and anytime. With no equipment required, you can do this exercise at home, in your hotel room, or anywhere else you have enough space to lie down.
Count reps instead of time
No watch or timer app? No problem! Instead of working your core for a fixed duration with stationary planks, rocking planks are done for reps. Do sets of straight reps, and don’t worry about how long you’ve been planking for.
More challenging than regular planks
Rocking planks increase the length of your support base, making them more challenging than stationary planks. However, because they’re done for reps, the tension on your muscles is not constant. In this way, rocking planks are more like an isotonic than an isometric exercise.
While rocking planks are a mostly beneficial exercise, there are also a few drawbacks to consider:
Increased shoulder stress
Rocking planks are a core exercise, but you’ll also be working your shoulders. Depending on how far you shift your weight forward, this could put undue stress on your shoulder joints. Perform this exercise with caution if you have a history of shoulder pain.
Increased lower back stress
Planks are perfectly safe if you maintain a neutral (slightly arched) spine. However, if you hyperextend your spine, you could experience back pain. Because rocking planks are more demanding than regular planks, you may find your core muscles fatigue faster, making it harder to maintain a neutral spine. Brace your core muscles hard to prevent this problem.
7 Rocking Plank Variations and Alternatives
Rocking planks are a highly effective core exercise, but that doesn’t mean you need to do them all the time. There are several variations and alternatives you can use to keep your workouts productive and interesting:
1. Body saw
While rocking planks are undeniably harder than stationary planks, your range of motion is limited by your ankle mobility. With body saws, you are free to move further, putting more tension on the target muscles. This exercise is significantly more intense than rocking planks, so proceed with caution!
Steps:
Adopt the plank position with your feet resting on a gym towel or sliding discs. Alternatively, you can take your shoes off and do this exercise in your socks. Brace your core.
Push yourself backward and slide your feet away from your arms. Do not allow your lower back to hyperextend.
Pull yourself forward again and repeat.
Muscles Targeted:
Primary: Core.
Secondary: Deltoids, latissimus dorsi.
Benefits:
A low-tech but high-effect bodyweight core exercise.
More strenuous than rocking planks, so suitable for more experienced exercisers.
Do this exercise anywhere you have a smooth surface to slide on.
Tips:
Do this exercise from the push-up position for a more intense workout.
Adjust your range of motion according to your core strength. The further you slide your feet, the harder the exercise becomes.
You can also do this exercise with your feet in a suspension trainer:
2. Stability ball stir the pot
Rocking planks primarily work your rectus abdominus. While your obliques are involved, they mostly work in a supporting role. With the stability ball stir-the-pot exercise, the obliques get promoted and have much more work to do.
Steps:
Place a stability ball on the floor and kneel behind it. Place your forearms on the ball and then walk your feet out and back into the plank position. Brace your core.
Keeping your body straight, make circles with your arms. Go clockwise and counterclockwise.
Continue for the desired number of reps and then rest.
Muscles Targeted:
Primary: Core.
Secondary: Deltoids.
Benefits:
The obliques get more of a workout.
More demanding than rocking planks.
A functional and effective core exercise.
Tips:
Dust your forearms with lifting chalk to stop them from sliding off the ball.
Bend your legs and rest on your knees to make this exercise easier.
Raise your feet to make this exercise more challenging:
3. Ab wheel rollouts
Rocking planks increase the length of your support base, but not by much. Once you are strong enough to do a dozen or so rocking planks in good form, you should be ready for a new challenge. Ab wheel rollouts are an excellent option and one of the best anterior core exercises you can do.
Steps:
Kneel down and place your ab wheel in front of your knees. Brace your core and straighten your arms.
Without hyperextending your lumbar spine, push the wheel away from you and lower your chest toward the floor. Go as far as you can without losing your neutral spine.
Pull the wheel back into your knees and then repeat.
Muscles Targeted:
Primary: Core.
Secondary: Deltoids, latissimus dorsi.
Benefits:
A challenging movement for more experienced exercisers.
Low-tech but high-effect.
Ab wheels are cheap and readily available.
Tips:
No ab wheel? You can also do this exercise with a barbell.
Wear a weighted vest to make this exercise harder.
Progress to doing this exercise from standing:
4. Walkouts
Walkouts are like ab wheel rollouts, but you don’t need any equipment to do them. They work the same muscles as rocking planks, but the distance between your feet and hands is greater, so they’re a little more challenging. Kick your core workout up a level with walkouts.
Steps:
Stand with your feet together, arms by your sides. Brace your abs.
Hinging from your hips, lean forward and place your hands on the floor.
Taking small steps, walk your hands forward as far as you can while maintaining a neutral spine.
Hold the extended position for a couple of seconds.
Without relaxing your core, walk your hands back toward your feet and stand up.
Continue for the required number of reps.
Muscles Targeted:
Primary: Core.
Secondary: Deltoids, triceps.
Benefits:
A very challenging bodyweight core move that’s ideal for more experienced exercisers.
No equipment required, so ideal for home workouts.
A significant step up from rocking planks.
Tips:
Stop your set if you cannot maintain core stability or start to feel this exercise in your lower back more than your abs.
The further you walk your hands beyond your shoulders, the harder this exercise becomes.
You can also do this exercise from kneeling.
5. Inchworm
Inch worms are very similar to walkouts. However, instead of walking your hands backward to return to the standing position, you move your feet forward to meet your hands. This makes inchworms ideal for outdoor workouts or when training in spacious gyms.
Steps:
Stand with your feet together, core braced, and arms by your sides.
Hinging from your hips, lean forward and place your hands on the floor.
Walk your hands forward as far as you can while maintaining your core stability.
Still bracing, and bending your knees as little as possible, walk your feet up to your hands.
Without standing up, start walking your hands forward into another rep.
Muscles Targeted:
Primary: Core.
Secondary: Deltoids, triceps.
Benefits:
Tips:
Walk your hands as far forward as you wish. The further your hands are from your feet, the harder this exercise becomes.
Take care not to move your hands so far forward that you feel this exercise in your lower back.
Bend your knees as you lean forward if your hamstrings are tight.
6. High bird dog
Bird dogs are so-called because, when you do them, you look a little like a hunting dog pointing at its fallen prey. Regular bird dogs are performed from kneeling and are a great exercise for beginners. However, the high bird dog is much more challenging and an excellent core strengthener for more experienced exercisers.
Steps:
Adopt the push-up with your arms, legs, and body straight. Brace your core.
Keeping your hips and shoulders level, lift your left hand and right foot so they are roughly parallel to the ground.
Hold this position for 3-5 seconds.
Lower your arm and leg, and then repeat on the opposite side.
Continue alternating sides for the duration of your set.
Muscles Targeted:
Primary: Core.
Secondary: Deltoids, triceps.
Benefits:
A very challenging bodyweight core exercise.
Increased oblique engagement.
A good exercise for developing better balance.
Tips:
Take care not to hyperextend your lumbar spine, as doing so could cause lower back pain and injury.
Make this exercise harder by moving your arms forward to extend your base of support.
You can also do this exercise with your legs bent and knees hovering a few inches off the floor, which is called the bear plank bird dog:
7. Kneeling overhead Pallof press
The horizontal Pallof press is a proven core anti-rotation exercise. However, the overhead version is more similar to rocking planks. Because weights are involved, you can easily make this exercise harder or easier according to your needs and goals. However, you should start with a light load because this exercise is harder than it looks.
Steps:
Attach a rope handle to a pulley machine set to about waist height.
Core braced, kneel with your back to the pulley and hold one end of the rope handle in each hand at shoulder level.
Keeping your torso upright, extend your arms overhead.
Lower the handles back to your shoulders and repeat.
Muscles Targeted:
Primary: Core.
Secondary: Deltoids, triceps.
Benefits:
Infinitely scalable by adjusting the weight.
An excellent exercise for all levels of fitness.
Easier to progress/regress than most bodyweight core exercises.
Tips:
Kneel on a folded exercise mat or foam pad for comfort.
This exercise can also be done standing, making it more challenging, but it may also increase lower back stress.
You can also do this exercise with a resistance band:
Rocking Plank FAQs
Do you have a question about rocking planks or core training in general? No problem, because we’ve got the answers!
1. Will rocking planks give me six-pack abs?
While rocking planks will undoubtedly strengthen your rectus abdominis or six-pack muscle, they won’t necessarily give you a visible six-pack. Getting a six-pack involves lowering your body fat percentage so the outline of your abs shows through. For men, this usually means getting your body fat down to ten percent or less. Women typically need to hit 15% or lower.
As such, you’ll need to pay equal attention to your diet and your workouts if you want to get a six-pack.
Read more about training and eating for six-pack abs here.
2. Rocking planks hurt my lower back – what gives?
While rocking planks are generally safe, they could cause back pain if you let your hips drop or hyperextend your lumbar spine. Keeping your core brace will help prevent this problem, as will paying attention to your form.
However, if you still experience discomfort and pain during this exercise, it could be that your core muscles are too weak to fully support your lower back. In this case, choose a less demanding exercise, such as regular planks, and use them to build up your strength until you’re ready to try rocking planks again.
Either way, do not ignore pain, as it’s your body’s way of telling you something is wrong. Working through pain invariably makes things worse.
3. Should I train my abs every day?
While training your abs every day might be tempting, it’s probably not a good idea. Exercises like rocking planks cause micro trauma to your core muscles, which is the trigger for them to get stronger. However, the rebuilding process takes time, so you need to let your muscles to rest and recover so this can occur.
So, it’s generally best to limit your abs workouts to 2-3 times per week. This provides a good balance between work and rest. Training your abs every day could result in overtraining and inhibit rather than speed up your progress.
4. How many reps and sets of rocking planks should I do?
The answer to this question is, how many reps CAN you do? Because rocking planks are a bodyweight exercise, their difficulty depends on things like your weight and limb length, so some people will find them harder than others.
So, it’s up to you to determine how many reps to do. Perform the exercise until you feel the target muscles starting to fatigue. Then, over the coming weeks, gradually try to do more reps.
Regarding sets, 2-4 should be sufficient for most exercisers. If you feel you need to do more than four sets, you are either not working hard enough or are resting too long between sets. Try to fatigue your muscles in three sets to make your workouts more time-efficient.
5. Are rocking planks safe?
Performed correctly, rocking planks are a relatively safe exercise. Unlike crunches and sit-ups, they involve no significant movement of your spine, so they’re very lower back-friendly. However, if you lose core stability and hyperextend your lumbar spine, rocking planks could cause injury.
That said, if your technique is good and you stop your set before your form begins to deteriorate, rocking planks should be no more dangerous than regular planks.
Rocking Plank Guide – Wrapping Up
There is no denying the popularity and effectiveness of regular planks. They’re simple, accessible, and safe. That said, like most exercises, if you do them too often, planks can soon become boring and lose some of their benefits.
While you could just plank for longer, you’ll probably get better results from your workouts if you use some different exercises in your core workouts.
Rocking planks are a logical progression from regular planks and a simple way to take your core workouts to a new level.
Try them – you’re going to like them!
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