Are you looking for the best ab workouts to strengthen your core? Can’t get rid of the stubborn belly fat? Try out these core exercises to help build that perfect six-pack look!
- Jackknife Sit-Ups Core Exercise
- Barbell Roll Out Ab Workout
- Bicycle Crunch Core Exercise
- Plank Core Exercise
- Hanging Leg Raises Ab Workout
- Dumbbell Russian Twist Core Exercise
- Kneeling Cable Crunch Core Exercise
- Stability Ball Crunch Ab Workout
- The Dead Bug Core Exercise
- Hollow Body Barbell Bench Press Ab Workout
Benefits of Core Exercises
Having a strong core offers numerous benefits that go far beyond the 6-pack appearance. Many people think that core workouts are just ab exercises, but that’s not always the case! Core exercises are so important because your core supports the trunk of your body and enables you to do complex and compound movements. Core workouts also train your hips and back and help to stabilize the core musculature.
- Core exercises help with balance & stability: Your core is the link between your upper and lower body. As you do a wide variety of core workouts, you can improve your overall balance and stability.
- Core exercises support better posture: Do you ever notice yourself slouching over your desk at work, or continuously tilting your head back to compensate for staring down at your phone? We all do it! Your core muscles support your spinal column, allowing it to extend and flex pain-free while also delivering the foundation you need to sit up straight.
- Core exercises enhance flexibility: Core workouts improve movement control and posture reaction. Learning to engage your core muscles can help you stay upright, preventing a fall or sports injury.
- Core exercises boost performance: Building your core strength can give your workouts a major boost! Over time, consistent core work can highly benefit your athletic performance.
- Core exercises help to prevent injury: The added stability that comes with a strong core helps prevent injuries in multiple ways. A strong, stable core improves your balance, so you’re less likely to twist an ankle or fall down. Also, if you have a weak core, your other muscles have to work extra hard to compensate, which puts you at risk for injury.
- Core exercises enhance mobility for everyday functions: Whether getting out of bed, bringing in the groceries, or doing laundry, having a strong core makes life easier. Since your core is the foundation of your muscular system, keeping it strong and mobile is crucial.
10 Ab Workouts to Strengthen your Core
Jackknife Sit-Ups Core Exercise
Jackknife sit-ups are a great low-impact exercise for strengthening abdominal muscles. They help tighten the lower abs, work the deeper core muscles, and give you six pack abs. Jackknife sit-ups will give your abs a challenging workout, but the basics are easy to master!
Jackknife Sit-up Instructions:
- Lie flat on a mat, legs straight and arms extended so you form a line from toes to fingers. Your palms should be facing each other.
- Engage your core, push your lower back into the mat, and bend your knees with your legs toward your chest. At the same time, raise your head, shoulder blades, and upper back, and smoothly bring your straight arms forward to slide past your thighs.
- Slowly return to your starting position but try to keep your feet slightly off the floor. Repeat.
Barbell Rollout Core Exercise
By engaging every muscle group of the core, barbell rollouts are one of the most effective exercises for core strengthening. This ab exercise is done with a barbell with rotating collars. As an anti-extension exercise, it requires an immense amount of core strength and stability that gives you the results you want.
Barbell Rollout Instructions:
- You will need a loaded barbell. The weight isn’t important, but make sure to use round plates as this is essential for smooth rolling.
- Position yourself on your knees with both hands gripping the barbell at about shoulder width apart.
- With your core fully engaged, lean forward and slowly roll the barbell straight out in front of you, until your torso is almost parallel to the floor.
- Keep your core tight throughout the movement, ensuring no bending of the arms and no sagging of the back.
- Slowly bring the barbell back to the start position through the same clean and controlled movement. Repeat.
Bicycle Crunch Core Exercise
Bicycle crunches retain the upward bend of traditional crunches, but amplify the intensity and benefits by incorporating twists and leg work, thus requiring greater core stabilization and muscle activation. Besides working your abs, you will also be toning your thighs, as both your hamstrings and quads will be involved with bicycling.
Bicycle Crunch Instructions:
- Lay down on your back with your legs long on the mat. Make sure to keep your lower back rooted into the mat by tucking your pelvis down.
- Bring your legs to tabeltop position and interlace your hands behind your head or cradle your neck.
- Lift your head, neck, and shoulders up as you twist you rbody, bringing your right knee to your left elbow. Come through the middle, rolling across your shoulder blades, to switch to the other side. Repeat.
Plank Ab Workout
A plank involves balancing on toes and forearms as you hold the rest of your body off the ground. You truly are positioned as a “plank!” Your spine is kept in a neutral position and your head, torso, and legs are aligned. The plank is more of a strength-building exercise than a cardio exercise, but by engaging a range of muscles it can also help to boost your calorie burn.
Plank Instructions:
- Begin in the plank position, face down with your forearms and toes on the floor. Your elbows are directly under your shoulders and forearms are facing forward. Your head is relaxed and looking at the floor.
- Engage your abdominal muscles, drawing your navel toward your spine. Keep your torso straight and your body in a straight line with no bending. Ensure your shoulders are down and your heels over the balls of your feet.
- Hold this position for as long as possible. Repeat.
(If you are doing a side plank, follow the same instructions, but perform the exercise on your side).
Hanging Leg Raise Core Exercise
Hanging leg raises are an ab exercise characterized by grabbing hold of a pull bar and lifting your lower body carefully off the ground in a controlled movement. With proper form, hanging leg raises can increase core strength by engaging your abdominal muscles, including the lower abs, which can be difficult to activate with other core exercises.
Hanging Leg Raise Instructions:
- Grab a pull-up bar with an overhand grip slightly wider than your shoulders. Lightly bend your elbows.
- Focus on bending the pelvis and curling it upward with spinal flexion.
- This is more than just leg lifts. You want to flex the spine and bring your legs up, but not too high. Curl your pelvis up so that your legs are still being pulled down by gravity, focusing the core muscles to do the job. Repeat.
- When you’ve got this down, you can eventually work up to adding ankle weights!
Dumbbell Russian Twist Ab Workout
Did you know, the exercise got its name because it was used in the Cold War by Russian soldiers? The Russian twist is among some of the greatest core exercises! This works your obliques, while also targeting your shoulders and hips. To do a Russian twist, you’ll rotate your torso from side to side while sitting in an upright position with your feet lifted off the ground. This movement brings great rotation into your core and is widely used by athletes.
Dumbbell Russian Twist Instructions:
- Sit on the ground with your knees bent, pull your abs to your spine, and lean back a few inches while keeping your back straight.
- Hold a dumbbell with both hands at your chest and lift your feet a few inches off the ground.
- Twist your torso to the right, touching the dumbbell to the ground. Remember to keep your lower body still, as the movement should come from your abs and your shoulders should stay straight.
- Repeat the twisting motion on the other side without dropping your feet, making sure to engage your abs and not your neck or shoulders.
- Keep going at a fast but accurate pace, aiming to complete as many reps as you can in a given time.
Kneeling Cable Crunch Core Exercise
The kneeling cable crunch is a popular core strengthening exercise using a rope attached to a cable stack while kneeling on the floor. It primarily targets the “six-pack” muscles, but also strengthens the deep core muscles. Cable crunches can enhance your core strength and stability while improving your posture.
Kneeling Cable Crunch Instructions:
- Kneel below a high pulley that contains a rope attachment.
- Grasp the cable rope attachment and lower the rope until your hands are placed next to your face.
- Flex your hips slightly and allow the weight to hyperextend the lower back. This will be your starting position.
- With the hips stationary, flex the waist as you contract the abs so that your elbows move towards the middle of the thighs. Hold the contraction for a second and exhale.
- Slowly return to the starting position as you inhale. Repeat.
Stability Ball Crunch Ab Workout
The stability ball crunch targets the abdominals and works the entire core. Unlike crunches on the floor or a bench, the ball allows for an increase in motion and stretches the abs on every rep. The ball crunch can be performed for low reps with a slower tempo focusing on a heard contraction, or for higher reps. There are two key benefits to this exercise. Firstly, it improves the range of motion on the lower part of the crunch or extension, which builds abdominal strength. Secondly, the position of the body during gym ball workouts tends to place less stress on the upper and lower back.
Stability Ball Crunch Instructions:
- With stationary hips, exhale and slowly flex the spine at your waist.
- Contract your abs and curl your trunk and shoulders upward until you can feel the contraction in your abdominals.
- Hold the position for a second or two before inhaling while slowly returning to the starting position.
- Avoid sitting all the way up in a vertical position. This would change the exercise into the stability ball sit-up, which focuses more on the hip flexors and less on the core.
- If you want to increase the range of motion, extend an additional one or two inches when you lie down to achieve a pre-stretch at the bottom of each repetition. Repeat.
The Dead Bug Core Exercise
The dead bug is a type of core strengthening exercise that targets the abdominal muscles. It involves lying on your back, raising and lowering opposite legs while keeping your abdominal muscles engaged. As the position resembles a bug on its back, the exercise is called the “dead bug”. One of the biggest benefits of adding dead bugs to your strength routine is that it works a wide range of muscle groups both in the core and throughout the body.
Dead Bug Instructions:
- Start by laying flat on your back, head down, with knees in tabletop position.
- Inhale and extend your left leg straight away from your midline towards the floor in front of you without touching the floor.
- Exhale while bringing your leg back to the starting position. Do the same movement on the other side and repeat.
Hollow Body Barbell Bench Press Core Exercise
A hollow body barbell bench press is a core and upper body exercise that combines a hollow body hold with a bench press. This exercise is a step up from a traditional bench press. Instead of keeping your feet flat on the floor, you have to work extra hard to keep your legs elevated in the air. There are great benefits to the hollow body barbell bench press as it is one of the most effective abdominal-builder workouts!
Hollow Body Barbell Bench Press Instructions:
- To start, lie on your back on a flat bench. Grip a barbell with hands slightly wider than shoulder width. The bar should be directly over the shoulders.
- Raise your legs off the floor to go into the hollow body position.
- Slowly lift the barbell off the rack, if using. Lower the bar to the chest, allowing elbows to bend out to the side, about 45 degrees away from the body. Stop lowering when your elbows are just below the bench.
- All while performing this movement, keep your legs raised in the air, trying to bend them as little as possible. Repeat.
Easily Track your Client’s Core Exercises with RhinoFit
Whether your client’s goal is to build muscle, lose weight, or to advance their skill set, you need to create a training program and a timeline to achieve those goals. Workout tracking software is the ultimate solution. A tracking system saves you time, elevates your coaching skills, and enhances your client’s performance!
RhinoFit’s workout tracking system is designed for every type of gym under the sun! There’s no limit to what type of exercises you can create – it’s totally up to you! Build one set of core exercises and another for a pre-class warm-up.
After completing an exercise, the results are entered into the athlete’s client portal. Athletes can compare their results and trainers can use this data to determine where they need improvement. The workout tracking software is the perfect tool to engage and motivate members. Athletes love to see their performance levels rise!
10 Ultimate Barbell Leg Workouts
Whether you’re new to the gym or a casual gym-goer, you’ve probably heard the term “don’t skip leg day.” There is great truth to this
10 Explosive Bicep Exercises
Are you looking for the best bicep exercises when training at your gym? If you’re like most fitness junkies, you probably love the feeling of
10 Fitness Challenge Ideas
Are you looking for new ideas to challenge your members? Need to break the status quo? Uplift your members by adding exciting fitness challenges to
