25 Best Lower Ab Workouts to Make Your Six-Pack Pop

Why It Works

Bicycle crunches interact your core to problem the rectus abdominis, obliques, and hip flexors.

How to Do It

1. Lie in your again and lengthen your legs. Lift your higher again off the ground and steadiness in your butt, to start. 
2. With arms behind your head, rotate your torso clockwise as you pull your proper knee again to contact your left elbow. That’s one rep.
3. Pause briefly, then twist your body to contact your proper elbow to your left knee. Continue alternating on every rep.

Pro Tips

• Rather than blast via the motion for pace utilizing momentum, transfer out of your abs.
• Don’t place any pressure in your neck. Your fingers ought to calmly contact your head. 
• To make this more durable, strive a banded bicycle crunch and loop a small resistance band round your toes.

Why It Works

Adding ahead movement to a plank places your abs and glutes into overdrive to keep balanced, whereas your deltoids (high of the shoulders) get some further attention, too. 

How to Do It

1. Start in a high plank with arms shoulder-width and toes touching, ankles flexed, to start. You can do that exercise sporting socks on a hardwood or tiled flooring, or place toes (with or with out sneakers) on sliders.
2. Walk arms ahead whereas sustaining a superbly straight line from head to toe. 
3.  Your toes ought to drag in a straight line, not zig-zag backwards and forwards. Start with three sets of 20 steps earlier than growing problem or reps. 

Pro Tips

• Fight the urge to sway your hips. That’s a purple flag for a unfastened core.
• When you’re prepared to add depth, strive the alligator crawl in reverse or intersperse some pushups as you go.  

Why It Works

This is a superb exercise to interact your anterior core muscle groups, together with the exterior and inner obliques, rectus abdominis, and transversus abdominis. It additionally improves flexibility via your calves.

How to Do It

1. Place sliders beneath every foot and get right into a plank place with forearms planted on the ground at shoulder-width, to start. 
2. Brace your core and pull your elbows in so your body strikes ahead, then transfer your body backward as if it have been a noticed. That’s one rep.

Pro Tips

• Initiate the motion out of your abs and core, not from pushing your toes on the sliders. 
• Keep your hips in step with your torso.

Why It Works

While there’s nothing improper with a weighted crunch, holding a plate in your chest or behind your head could be uncomfortable and awkward. And the stronger you get, the more durable it’s to add weight with out crushing your ribs or straining your neck. Kneeling cable crunches permit you to add weight with the pull of a pin. The fixed pressure challenges your abs at each level within the exercise’s vary of movement.

How to Do It

1. Attach a rope deal with to the pulley of a cable station and get down in your knees just a few toes in entrance of the station, to start. 
2. Keeping your weight in your knees and shins, let the cable pull in your arms and torso so you are feeling a lightweight stretch in your belly muscle groups. 
3. Crunch your body, bringing your forearms down to your knees and your head to the ground. 
4. Slowly return to the beginning place. That’s one rep.

Pro Tips

• Go sluggish and use your abs and core to provoke the motion. It’s not about pulling together with your arms or bending your neck.
•  Keep your chin tucked all through the exercise.
• Don’t relaxation in your heels. Keep your glutes and hamstrings engaged all through. 

Why It Works

This would not simply blast your core; you’re employed your arms, again, and shoulders with the push movement; and achieve flexibility via the hips with the hinge sample of the pike. There’s a ton of stabilizing happening all through.

How to Do It

Get right into a pushup place together with your toes within the TRX straps and tuck your pelvis. While conserving your knees straight, pull your hips as high as you may whereas dropping your head between your arms.

1. Set TRX straps to mid-length and get right into a plank place with toes within the foot cradles and arms instantly below shoulders, to start.
2. Tuck your pelvis barely, interact your core, and push via your arms as you hinge at your hips to drive your butt up towards the ceiling.
3. Stop as soon as your torso is almost straight (perpendicular to the bottom), then decrease again down to a plank place. That’s one rep.

Pro Tips

• Use your hips and core to energy the pike. If you’re driving off the TRX straps, you’re dishonest the abs.
• Move slowly and with management to encourage better time below pressure.
• For extra of a problem, stroll your toes away from the anchor level.

Why It Works

Aside from cooking your core, doing leg raises on a dip bar challenges your shoulder and again strength and stability.

How to Do It

1. Suspend your self over the parallel bars at a dip station, to start. 
2. Engage your core and use it to increase your legs in entrance of you till they’re parallel to the ground.
3. Slowly decrease down. That’s one rep.

Pro Tips

Don’t swing your legs to construct momentum. You’re working your abs, not training gymnastics.

Why It Works

Flutter kicks assist goal the decrease rectus belly muscle groups, in addition to your hip flexors. Because you are transferring shortly, it might probably additionally get your heart-rate up and function low-impact cardio.

How to Do It

1. Lie in your again with legs straight and lengthen and arms by your sides, to start. 
2. Lift your head and heels about 6 inches off the ground, then quickly kick your toes up and down in a fast, scissor-like movement.
3. Do these for time (beginning with 30-second bouts), as a substitute of reps, as you may do high reps with the rate. 

Pro Tips

• Initiate the motion out of your abs and core. Don’t consider it as kicking, however as in case your toes are alongside for the experience. 
• For a better problem, add ankle weights. 

Why It Works

This is a sneaky core exercise. Because the barbell is racked throughout your chest, your core is bracing to management and stabilize all through all the vary of movement.

How to Do It

1. Set a barbell on an influence rack at shoulder top (should you don’t have a rack, clear it to your shoulders). Grasp the bar with arms at shoulder width and lift your elbows till your higher arms are parallel to the ground, to start. 
2. Take the bar out of the rack and let it relaxation in your fingertips—so long as your elbows keep up, you’ll give you the option to steadiness the bar. 
3. Step again and set your toes shoulder-width aside with toes turned out barely.
4. Squat as little as you may with out shedding the arch in your decrease again. Stop as soon as thighs are parallel to the bottom. 
5. Push via heels to rise. That’s one rep.

Pro Tips

• Before you provoke the squat, inhale deep into your stomach and brace your core earlier than you decrease, then exhale as you rise.
• When you rise, push via your hips to the standing place however make sure that not to hyperextend your backbone.

Why It Works

Leg raises goal the higher and decrease belly muscle groups, enhance total core strength, and even strengthen the pelvic flooring, which is essential for males wanting to maximize erections, stop urinary points, and even stop untimely ejaculation.

How to Do It

1. Lie on the ground and maintain onto a bench or the legs of a heavy chair behind your head for assist together with your legs prolonged straight, to start. 
2. Engage your core, then exhale as you increase your legs till they’re vertical and perpendicular to the bottom. 
3. As you slowly decrease your legs, inhale and preserve contact between your low again and flooring. Stop a pair inches off the ground to maintain pressure in your abs. That’s one rep.

Pro Tips

• Activate your transverse abdominis on the start of the motion by pulling your stomach button in as if pushing your decrease again into the bottom.
• Go sluggish in each instructions. Avoid letting momentum take over and taking pressure off your abs.

Why It Works

The hanging leg increase primarily targets the decrease ab muscle groups, but additionally works the hip flexors and stabilizes the decrease again.

How to Do It

1. Hang from a pullup bar with arms barely wider than shoulder width and palms going through ahead, to start.
2. Set your lats (pull your shoulder blades down your again) and interact your core to increase your knees to your chest. Or, to make it more durable, maintain your legs straight out in entrance of you as you increase them (pictured). 
3. Lower with management to the hanging place.

Pro Tip

Fight momentum and use simply your core to raise and decrease.

Why It Works

Your core each powers and stabilizes every section of this exercise, successfully exhausting your abs.

How to Do It

1. Get into pushup place together with your toes on a Swiss ball, to start. 
2. Hinge at your hips and interact your core to roll the ball towards you as you raise your hips up right into a pike. 
3. Lower your torso so that you’re again in a plank place, then roll the ball up your legs so it might probably assist extra of your body weight as you lengthen your arms vast however with arms nonetheless on the ground. You ought to appear like Superman flying downward. That’s one rep. 
4. Pull with your lats to return to the plank place and start the subsequent rep.

Pro Tip

Don’t let your hips sag. This retains the main focus in your abs and prevents your decrease body from doing an excessive amount of of the work.

Why It Works

Because the TRX suspends your legs off the bottom, it challenges your decrease abs to always stabilize as you draw your legs in.

How to Do It

1. Place your toes within the foot cradles of the suspension coach and get into pushup place with arms on the ground. 
2. Drive one knee to your chest whereas the opposite leg stays prolonged, then drive the other leg to your chest when you lengthen the opposite again. That’s one rep.
3. Continue alternating.

Pro Tip

• Keep your stomach button in and your head in step with your body, going through down.
• Move slowly, quite than letting momentum take over.

Why It Works

Changing up motion patterns emphasize completely different muscle groups. Traditional crunches work your higher abs, whereas the banded reverse crunch targets the decrease abdominals. Plus, the added resistance forces you to work for each rep.

How to Do It

1. Lie in your again, wrap a lightweight resistance band across the arches of your toes, cross it to make an “X” throughout your midline, and grasp the opposite finish of the loop, to start.  
2. Bend your hips and knees so your knees are close to your chest, then crunch your torso off the ground. 
3. Extend your legs when you increase your arms overhead, conserving your shoulder blades off the ground. That’s one rep. 
4. Pause on the high, then decrease again down.  

Pro Tip

Don’t permit your decrease again to arch and lose contact with the ground.

Why It Works

The V-up is already a difficult core exercise, however including weight with the medication ball additional strengthens your rectus abdominis and the deeper transversus abdominis. The V-Up retains you from placing pointless torque in your neck and utilizing momentum to full the crunch.

How to Do It

1. Lie in your again with legs prolonged, holding a medication ball with each arms at your chest, to start. 
2. Brace your abs, then increase your legs as you concurrently attain on your toes with the ball. Your body ought to type a V form on the high.
3. Lower again down. That’s one rep.

Pro Tip

Exhale as you raise your legs and crunch, then inhale as you come to the beginning place. 

Why It Works

Another manner to degree up the body weight V-up, this two-part Swiss ball exercise forces your abs to contract in each phases, which boosts muscle endurance. 

How to Do It

1. Lie in your again and maintain a Swiss ball between your ankles off the bottom, with arms behind your head, to start. 
2. Sit up as you increase your legs—with out bending your knees!—to go the ball out of your toes to your arms. 
3. Lower your legs and arms towards the bottom. That’s one rep. 
4. On the subsequent rep, crunch up to go the ball out of your arms to your toes. 

Pro Tip

Exhale as you raise your legs and crunch, then inhale as you come to the beginning place.

Why It Works

Weighted situps gentle up all the belly area, however this variation primarily hits the rectus abdominis. By conserving your legs straight, you additionally work the hip flexors. 

How to Do It

1. Lie on the ground holding an empty or calmly loaded bar over your chest, to start. Your legs must be prolonged on the ground in entrance of you. 
2. Perform a situp, elevating your torso till it’s vertical, whereas conserving the bar over your head. It ought to drift again to an overhead press place on the high of the situp.
3. Use your core to decrease again down below management. That’s one rep.

Pro Tip

Start with a lightweight weight or simply the bar to consider type. You’ll transfer up in weight shortly.

Why It Works

By widening your stance, you’re taking away the direct line of assist of your higher and decrease body, placing extra of the pressure in your abs to stabilize. 

How to Do It

1. Get into pushup place with arms below shoulders, to start.
2. Walk your toes and arms out as vast as doable. Your body ought to resemble a star form. 
3. Hold the place together with your torso straight and abs braced for 30 seconds.

Pro Tip

Keep your core engaged, pelvis barely tucked, and your head in step with your backbone.

Why It Works

Weighted situps strengthen your abdominals extra successfully than body weight crunches. When you add in a throw, both towards a wall or to a accomplice, your core has the added problem of bracing and stabilizing to catch then decrease and repeat. 

How to Do It

1. Hold a medication ball with each arms in entrance of your chest and anchor your toes below one thing sturdy for assist, like two dumbbells. Lie again on the ground just a few toes away from a brick or concrete wall, to start. 
2. Explosively sit up and throw the ball into the wall, then catch it on the rebound. If you’ve got a accomplice, you may throw the ball to them.
3. Catch the med ball, then slowly decrease with management. That’s one rep. This eccentric decreasing will place better time below pressure in your abs.

Pro Tip

Initiate the motion from the core. Don’t use the momentum of the throw as an excuse for unhealthy type.

Why It Works

Aside from working core stability, this transfer additionally helps with glute activation and ankle mobility.

How to Do It

1. Sit on a bench and squeeze a medication ball between your toes, to start. 
2. Extend your legs out in entrance of you, then lean your torso again so your body types a straight line. Hold on to the bench for assist. 
3. Crunch your torso ahead and convey your knees to your chest to carry out a tuck. Lower with management again to the start. That’s one rep.

Pro Tip

Squeeze your glutes to maintain pressure on the ball.

Why It Works

Feet-elevated planks and pushups primarily hit your pecs, however your abs kick in to assist stabilize the motion at every stage of this dynamic variation. 

How to Do It

1. Get into pushup place together with your toes within the cradles of a suspension coach, arms instantly below shoulders, to start.
2.  Bend at your elbows to decrease down into the underside of a pushup, then explode up so your arms go away the ground and you’ll clap midair (should you’re not getting sufficient top, simply increase arms off flooring).
3. Softly land

Pro Tip

Keep your body in line from head to ankles all through the motion. Don’t let your midline sag.

Why It Works

The hanging knee increase is especially good at focusing on the rectus abdominis and exterior obliques. Adding in a pullup is a good way to add in some extra core, because it additional works your rectus abdominis. Your core is consistently counterbalancing from the underside dangle to the pull up. You have to transfer your legs and hips in entrance of the bar to clear your head, so that you briefly assume a hole maintain earlier than transitioning to the knee increase.

How to Do it

1. Hang from a pullup bar with arms outdoors shoulder-width and palms going through away from you, to start. 
2. Pull your self up, transferring your legs ahead with out swinging to clear your head and chin over the bar.
3. Raise your knees to your chest in the highest place. Hold for a beat, then slowly decrease. That’s one rep.

Pro Tip

This must be a sluggish, steady movement. Don’t swing; maintain the give attention to the abs.

Why It Works

Because you’ve got to steadiness on a comparatively small, unstable floor, your core is constantly counterbalancing as you drive your knees backwards and forwards.

How to Do It

1. Hold the medication ball with each arms and get into pushup place, to start. 
2. Drive one knee up towards your chest, then shortly drive it again when you increase the other knee. That’s one rep.
3. You can do that for time, as opposed to reps.

Pro Tip

Keep your hips down for all the movement. Like a mountain climber working a wall, you utilize the abs and hip flexors to “climb.”

Why It Works

The twisting movement of a woodchop works the transverse abdominis and obliques.

How to Do It

1. Set an adjustable cable pulley to shoulder degree (or connect a band to a sturdy object) and grasp the deal with with each arms, to start.
2. Stand with toes shoulder-width aside, perpendicular to the anchor level, and arms prolonged, far sufficient away from the machine so there’s pressure on the cable. 
3. Twist away from the machine utilizing your core, as should you have been chopping right into a tree. Keep your toes stationary. Resist the weight on the return, quite than letting it snap again. That’s one rep. 

Pro Tip

Power this transfer out of your midsection. Your arms are simply alongside for the experience.

Why It Works

For an exercise that lights up your whole core, it is exhausting to beat a Swiss ball crunch. It actually works the rectus and transverse abdominis.

How to Do It

1. Lie again on the Swiss ball with toes shoulder-width aside on the ground, to start.
2. Adjust your self so your low again is supported by the ball, then place your arms behind your ears and tuck your chin. 
3. Curl your body up off the ball and carry out a crunch till you are sitting up. Lower again down below management. That’s one rep. 

Pro Tip

This transfer is all in regards to the element work. Touch your shoulders, again, and glutes to the ball to stretch your abs on the decrease section. When you rise, roll your hips and chest up, crunching from the highest of your torso.

Why It Works

Rollouts construct up and strengthen the rectus and transverse abdominis. It’s equally as taxing in each the roll in and out.

How to Do It

1. Kneel on the ground and maintain an ab wheel instantly beneath your shoulders, to start. 
2. Brace your abs, glutes, and lats, then roll the wheel ahead till you are feeling you’re about to lose pressure in your core and your hips may sag. 
3. Pause briefly, then roll your self again to start. That’s one rep.

Pro Tip

Keep your stomach button in and shoulders pushed away from the ab wheel.