These exercises cover the muscles of the abdominal area...the Rectus Abdominis (a.k.a. the 6-pack abs), the Obliques (internal and external), and the Transverse Abdominis (the deepest muscle of the core).

 

Abdominal Crunches The standard crunch is one of the most well-known abdominal exercises. It's a simple movement that involves flexion of the trunk. Learn the tricks on how to make it work better here.

 

Abdominal Sit-Ups This exercise uses a unique pivot point adjustment to force the tension of the sit-up exercise onto the abs rather than the hip flexors and lower back.

 

Barbell Pullover Dragon Flag Leg Raises This advanced exercise targets the core from top to bottom, using a multi-part movement and resistance to put incredible tension on the entire midsection.

 

Bench Press Leg Raises Leg raises have a reputation of being tough on the lower back. This exercise loads the other end of the body to help take that torque off the back while also adding direct loading on the six-pack abs.

 

Cable Crunches Add resistance to the crunch with a high-pulley cable crunch. This exercise puts excellent tension on the rectus abdominis (6 pack muscles) when done properly.

 

Cable Zercher Squats The Zercher Squat is an excellent core support exercise done using a barbell. This variation makes setup much easier while still targeting the core strongly.

 

Barbell Curl Squats Developing "supporting" strength in the core will carry over to every strength exercise you do, especially squats and deadlifts. This squat exercise shifts the load onto the frontal abdominal wall for serious core strength development.

 

Dumbbell Crawling The deep muscles of your core work in a rotational and anti-rotational fashion. This simple act of crawling with dumbbells makes every step forward an incredibly effective workout for your entire midsection.

 

Trunk Twists With a Twist This twisting exercise is FAR more effective than standard twisting. The simple tweak to the exercise form is all you need to laser target and tighten the muscles under your love handles.

 

Explosive Knee-Ups To increase running speed, you need to increase leg speed...and that means improving hip flexor explosiveness. This exercise targets that using bands.

 

Feet-Anchored One-Arm Dumbbell Bench Press Some of the best core exercises are single-limb movements that utilize the core as a stabilizing force and for force transfer. This exercise is perfect for MMA and martial arts.

 

Human Flag Starter Version The Human Flag is an extremely difficult exercise...this version makes it accessible to just about everyone by taking up most of the load of your bodyweight using a bench.

 

Incline Bench Hanging Leg Raises If normal leg hanging leg raises are too easy for you, this variation will crank up the tension. By introducing a pivot point to the exercise, you put much greater tension on the lower abdominal area.

 

Lower Ab Planks Target your lower abs directly with a plank by positioning your body in this unique way. Holding this plank changes the angle of your body to specifically shift tension down to the lower abdominals.

 

Lower Ab Pooch Belly Leg Raises This is a simple, easy exercise that anybody can do...no equipment required...the flatten the lower "pooch" belly area of the stomach.

 

Lying Cable Curl Crunches This cable exercise targets the extreme upper abdominals to bring out the definition of the six-pack muscles.

 

Lying Leg Raise and Thrust This combination movement puts together a lying leg raise to target the lower abs, and a thrust up towards the ceiling to involve the upper abdominal area more.

 

One-Arm Hammer Planks This advanced plank variation puts extreme tension on the deep, anti-rotational muscles of the core...the obliques and transverse abdominis.

 

One-Arm Lever Deadlifts Off-center loading is an extremely powerful way to target core strength and power. This deadlift exercise shifts the entire load to one side of the body, forcing the core to stabilize.

 

One-Shoulder Barbell Squats You'll put tremendous demands on your core for stability and strength when you load a heavy bar onto just one shoulder...then train your core to function optimally while performing a squat.

 

One-Side Loaded Barbell Squats This exercise uses the power of uneven loading to target frontal-plane stability and strength in the core, which will also help tighten the waist and improve lower back strength.

 

Rack-Rail Leg Raises If you're ready for an incredibly demanding ab exercise, look no further. This leg raise variation takes away all skeletal support and forces your core to stabilize and move the legs at the same time.

 

Seated Hanging Leg Raises You'll be hitting the abs with a very short range of motion on this exercise to achieve a peak contraction on the rectus abdominis and develop the six-pack.

 

See-Saw Leg Raises for Lower Abs Laser-target the lower abs with this unique movement that utilizes a specific "rocking" motion to force tension directly onto the lower abs.

 

Ski Jumper Planks This version of the plank shifts the focus of the exercise to the upper aspect of the rectus abdominis (the six pack abs).

 

Small Ball Crunches Using a small ball for a crunch puts the abs in a stretched position to start the exercise, increasing the effective range of motion of the movement.

 

Two Dumbbell Ball Twists Develop incredible anti-rotational deep core strength and stability with this resistance-based abdominal exercise.

 

Weight Plate Steering Wheel Rolls Think of this exercise as a dynamic plank. It hits the same stabilizing muscles as the plank but with a rotational component to shift the focus to a variety of different muscles and muscle fibers.

 

Dumbbell Throw-Up and Catch If you're looking for a GREAT oblique exercise that targets core support and explosive work, this is one you're definitely going to want to try. Terrible name but excellent exercise.

 

 

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Abdominal Exercise Tips, Tricks and Training Techniques

 

Do Crunches With Your Feet on the Wall This is a very simple way to increase the resistance of the standard crunch. Involving the legs in this fashion allows you to target your own increase in resistance as you need it.

 

How to Get More Out of Hanging Knee Raises Learn a simple tweak to your form to help you put more tension where you want it (the abs) and less where you don't (the hip flexors and lower back).

 

How to Work Your Abs When Doing Shoulder Presses It's all in how you stand. This change in foot position means the exercise works not only the shoulders, it puts excellent supporting load on the stabilizing muscles of the core as well.