12 of the Best Ab Exercises for a Stronger Core

You want abs. I want abs. We all want abs. But no abs are worth their weight in a 6-pack if you don’t have a strong core to back them up. Here are 12 of the best ab exercises to get a stronger, more supportive core.

Before we dive in, you might be thinking “aren’t abs and core the same thing?”.

While a lot of people use the words interchangeably, the truth is that your referring to your core as abs doesn’t tell the whole story.

Meet Your Abs

Abs, short for abdominal muscles, actually refer to 4 different muscle groups:

• Rectus Abdominis: essentially sheets of muscle that run from your rib cage to your pelvic bone. These are the muscles that give you that “6-pack” look.
• Transverse Abdominis: super deep muscles that run wrap around your waist and support your spine.
• Internals and External Obliques: the muscles that run diagonally up and down your sides.

Meet Your Core

Your core, though made up partially of your abdominal muscles, is a bigger animal. In fact, your core refers to nearly half of the muscles in your body. Name any movement that involves your spine and your core plays a role.

The key players:

• Erector Spinae: these are the muscles that run along your spine. Their main job is to support and move the spinal column but they also play a role in posture. When you do Superman holds and feel those muscles in your lower back tighten, you’re feeling your erector spinae.
• Pelvic Floor Muscles: these muscles play more than one roll, but for sure they are a key player in the core game. Consider these muscles the “floor” of your core.
• Diaphragm: the diaphragm is a thin, flat muscle under your lungs that, among other things, provides core and spinal stability.
• The Core Core: and of course the abs, including rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, internal and external obliques, do find their way safely and securely onto this list.

Supporting Roles:

• Trapezius: your traps connect your spine to your shoulder blades. They play a major role in any moving, rotating and stabilizing of your shoulder blades, and are a key factor in how good your posture is.
• Latissimus Dorsi: aka the lats, is a key player in stabilization. It links the shoulder blades, upper arms, spine, and pelvis.
• The Glutes: surprised that your butt is part of your core? Don’t be. The glutes are one of the body’s largest muscle groups and while they produce massive force, they also play a major role in stabilization and core power.

Meet Your Moves

While there’s nothing wrong with working on your 6-pack, you aren’t doing yourself any favors by neglecting the rest of your core. Building a strong, balanced core will help your move better, fix any imbalances and build overall body strength for a long time to come.

Active Plank

I love planks. They are simple and safe for beginners, and easily varied to progress as you get stronger.

How to do it:

Being with your forearms resting parallel to each other on the floor, shoulders directly over your elbows and palms facing down. Extend your legs out behind you with your toes on the floor. Squeeze your glutes, tighten your core and tuck your tailbone to lift your hips off the ground. Your body should be a straight line from your shoulders to your heels. You are now in plank position.

From this position, tilt your pelvic bone towards your rib cage by flexing your core and slightly rounding your back. Imagine a string pulling your belly button up towards the sky. Pause and return to your original plank position.

Stability Ball Dead Bug

With the right posture, dead bugs are really effective at hitting those deep core muscles. I like to use a stability ball to “force” good technique and posture.

How to do it:

Lie on your back with arms extended toward the ceiling, palms facing in. Legs should also be extended towards ceiling with knees bent at a 90 degree angle. Place a small-medium sized stability/exercise ball in between your knees and hands (keep palms facing in towards each other, not the ball).

Gently press your lower back into the floor to engage your core. Slowly extend your right leg while simultaneously dropping your left arm back behind your head until both are inches from the ground. Bring back to the start position and repeat on the opposite side.

Boat Hold Kick Out

This is one of those exercises that has you feeling the burn fast. I like to add heel taps, crunches and toe touches for an end-of-workout ab challenge.

How to do it:

Sit on the floor with your knees bent, feet on the floor. Slowly lean back, raise your arms in front of you for balance, engage your core and lift your heels 2-3 inches off of the ground. Your legs should form a 45-50 degree angle with your torso. This is your start position.

From this upright position, slowly straighten your legs to kick them out and lean back slightly to create a larger angle between torso and legs. Pause and return to the start position.

Bench Crunch

Bench crunches require as much balance as they do core strength. The key here is to move in a slow and controlled manner throughout the crunch, and keep your legs tilted at a slight angle down from the bench.

How to do it:

Sit on a bench with your feet on the floor and hands lightly grasping the edge by your thighs. Lean back slightly and lift your feet 2-3 inches off the floor. Draw your belly button towards your spine to brace your core and slowly draw your knees up towards your chest.

Cable Oblique Twist

If you don’t have access to a cable system, a band with a handle attachment will work just as well.

How to do it:

Move pulley with handle attachment so that it is in line with your belly button. Grasp handle with both hands and straighten your arms. Turn so that your right hip is facing the pulley and step away so that there is a small amount of tension. This is your start position.

Slowly twist your torso to the right, pause, and then slowly return to the start position. The key is to resist the pull of the cable as you return to the center.

Lying Leg Raise

This is my favorite lower abdomen exercise. Lower legs can be hard to target specifically, and lying leg raises do that well.

How to do it:

Lie with your back on the floor, legs extended in front of you and hands at your sides. Gently press your lower back to the floor and slowly raise your legs, keeping them as straight as possible, until your ankles are over your hips and the soles of your feet are facing the ceiling. Pause before slowly lowering your feet back to the start position.

Long Lever Kick

These are a fun way to engage your obliques in an off-balance way. I like to throw them in for time limits as opposed to reps.

How to do it:

Lie with your back on the floor, legs extended in front of you and hands at your sides. Gently press your lower back to the floor and raise your legs, keeping them as straight as possible, until your ankles are over your hips and the soles of your feet are facing the ceiling. Lower your left leg until your heel is inches from the floor then return to the start position. Alternate sides.

Hollow Body Rock

The hollow body rock is a great exercise to practice the technique of engaging your core to tilt your pelvic bone towards your rib cage. This is an ability that carries over not just to other core exercises but to exercises like push ups and pull ups as well.

How to do it:

Lie with your back on the floor, legs and arms extended straight out from your body. Contract your abs and gently press your lower back to the floor and lift your shoulders, arms and legs up off the floor. Point your toes, squeeze your legs together and keep your head in a neutral position. Gently rock back and forth.

Side Plank with Hip Dip

Side planks are tough not necessarily because they require core strength, but because they also require shoulder, back and arm strength. The good news is that by simply bending the leg closest to the floor and placing your knee on the ground, you can include side planks in a beginner workout.

How to do it:

Start in a side plank position, with your right forearm on the ground, shoulder positioned over your elbow. Stack your left foot on top of your right foot, brace your core and, keeping your back straight and shoulders facing forward, lift hips off the floor. This is your start position.

Slowly lower your hips so that your right hip dips toward the ground and then lift back up to your start position.

Table Top Shoulder Tap

Table tops, aka isometric bear crawl holds, are a great way to incorporate all of the major core muscles and stabilizers. Throwing in shoulder taps forces your core to balance as your weight shifts from one arm to the other.

How to do it:

Begin on all fours. Tighten your core, keep your back flat and lift your knees off the ground 2-3 inches. Tap your right hand to your left shoulder, and then your left hand to your right shoulder. Use your core to try to keep your torso as straight as possible.

Stability Ball Knee Tuck

The hardest step here might be getting into position. Once you are up on the stability ball, you could really just hang out in plank form and still get a great workout!

How to do it:

Start on all fours in front of the stability ball. Brace your core, keep your back straight and place one leg at a time up on the ball so that the lower part of your shins is resting on top of the ball. *The closer the ball is to your knees, the easier it will be.

Keeping your shoulders stacked over your wrists and your abs engaged, tuck your tailbone and draw your knees towards your chest. Pause, then extend your knees to straighten back out for 1 rep.

Stability Ball Pike

Ready to take your Knee Tuck to the next level?

How to do it:

Start on all fours in front of the stability ball. Brace your core, keep your back straight and place one leg at a time up on the ball so that the lower part of your shins is resting on top of the ball. *The closer the ball is to your knees, the easier it will be.

Brace your core, tuck your tailbone and without bending your knees or rocking forward on your arms, jack your hips up towards the ceiling by rolling forward towards your toes. Keep your chin tucked so that you don’t stress your neck.

Pause, and then slowly roll your feet back to the starting position.

p.s. If you’re looking for 6-pack abs, these exercises will definitely help you build that look. That being said, if you want to SEE those abs, that is a matter of fat loss. There is no set body fat percentage at which you’ll see ripped abs, but one thing is for sure: if you can’t see them, you can work to burn fat (using these workout routines), to get them in the future.