Combine these top ab workouts with a regular exercise regimen and a nutritious diet to build six-pack abs.
Before adding more resistance, bodyweight workouts and an exercise mat are truly all you need to shape your abs. Regardless of your level of experience, these top ab exercises will help you get the most out of your core workouts.
Men’s abs will rank highly on the list of body parts they want to get better. By eliminating extra body fat and gaining strong, lean muscle mass, a rock-hard six-pack not only looks nice but also demonstrates that you take training seriously and know what you’re doing.
The truth is that you need the best ab workouts to engage all of your abdominal muscles, including the rectus abdominis, which is the muscle that gives you the visible six-pack, the internal and external obliques, and the deep-lying transversus abdominis.
Naturally, you won’t be able to show off your six-pack if your body fat percentage is too high, therefore you must combine good ab exercises with a balanced diet and, in order to reduce body fat, a small calorie deficit.
Here are the top ab workouts to help you work your abdominal muscles without further ado.
These are the best abs exercises
- Walkout
- Barbell rollout
- Modified V-sit
- Reverse crunch
- Dumbbell crunch
- Star side plank
- Medicine ball crunch and throw
- Gym ball rollout
- Standing band fall-through
- Hanging leg raise
1. Walkout
| Recommended reps | 8 |
| Recommended sets | 4 |
Why the walkout appeals to us:
There are many more advantages to being able to walk on your hands than simply being able to work in a circus. This surprisingly difficult abs workout is a wonderful way to develop a strong, v-shaped upper body because it works your entire core area as well as your shoulders, lats, chest, and arms.
The secret to the technique is to take your time; the slower you can perform it, the longer you can put these target muscles under tension, giving them a good stimulus to increase in size and strength.
How the walkout is done:
Your hands and feet should be close together on the floor as you bend from the hips.
Slowly move your hands forward until your body forms a straight line from head to heels while keeping your feet planted firmly in place. Then, return to the starting position.
Tip: Hold a plank or perform press-ups at the bottom of the move to make it more difficult, then walk back up to the starting position.
2. Barbell rollout
| Recommended reps | 6 |
| Recommended sets | 4 |
Why the barbell rollout appeals to us:
But the rollout is one of the few ab workouts that both parties enjoy. This is because it requires strength to return to the starting position and stability at the conclusion of the range of motion, as well as engaging the entire kinetic chain (your muscles, bones, and nerves).
The barbell rollout technique:
- To begin, place your hands on the bar while kneeling on the floor, just wider than shoulder-width apart and beneath your shoulders.
- Throughout the movement, your spine should stay in a neutral position.
- Keep your hips from dropping and your back from hyperextending as you progressively roll the bar away from you while contracting your abs.
- Roll the bar back to the beginning when you can no longer go any farther without sacrificing proper form.
Advice: Throughout the exercise, maintain your core brace.
3. The altered V-sit
| Recommended reps | 12 |
| Recommended sets | 4 |
The reason we like the modified v-sit
Building muscle requires time under tension, and a controlled v-sit is the best technique to maintain your abs under pressure for a long time.
This simplified version can be performed by anybody and targets your obliques, hip extensors, balance, and abdominal muscles. The full version demands strong hip flexibility.
It’s difficult, but you will reap the rewards if you remain just a little bit off the ground in between reps.
The modified v-sit procedure:
- Place your feet together, just off the ground, and lie flat with your arms by your sides.
- While pulling your knees to your chest, sit up and extend your arms forward.
- Return to the starting position gradually.
Tip: hold for two seconds at the top of each repetition For best muscular activation
4. Reverse crunch
| Recommended reps | 12 |
| Recommended sets | 4 |
Why the reverse crunch appeals to us:
You’ve most likely already developed a two-pack if you’ve been doing crunches to strengthen your abs. But all you’re doing is making sure your two-pack never goes south and becomes a solid set of six if you don’t incorporate any lower ab movements into your training regimen.
In order to finish your rock-hard core, the reverse crunch focuses on your lower abs.
The reverse crunch: How to perform it
With your knees bent at a 90-degree angle, your feet flat on the floor, your head and shoulders flat on the floor, and your fingertips at your temples, begin.
To raise your hips, contract your core. Then, while maintaining a 90-degree bend, curl your knees toward your chest.
Squeeze your abs as you pause at the top, then slowly descend your legs back to the beginning.
Tip: To keep your time under tension, regulate the lowering of your legs.
5. Dumbbell crunch
Why the dumbbell crunch appeals to us:
It’s likely that you’re not doing enough ab exercises. They require progressively heavier weights to continue growing, just like any other muscular group.
The solution is straightforward: start increasing the weight for the crunch to push your abs beyond their comfort level and make them work harder.
The dumbbell crunch technique:
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand while bending your elbows while lying on your back with your knees bent.
- To raise your body and bring the weights to your feet, contract your abs and straighten your arms as your chest rises toward your knees.
- After pausing at the peak of the maneuver, slowly descend back to the beginning.
6. Star side plank
| Recommended reps | 15 secs each side |
| Recommended sets | 5 |
Why the star side plank appeals to us:
The value of having a strong core cannot be overstated. It will provide you the basis to grow an amazing six-pack in addition to enabling you to move more efficiently on the sports field and lift heavier in all the key exercises.
In addition to engaging muscles in your shoulders and quadriceps as you lift and straighten your arm and legs to form a star shape, this plank variation will truly engage your core and obliques, the muscles on either side of your abdomen.
It’s a fantastic (and underutilized) exercise to increase your body’s strength and stability.
The star side plank technique:
Place one leg on top of the other while lying on your side with your elbow beneath your shoulder. Lift your hips off the floor so that your head and heels make a straight line. Then, raise and straighten your arm and leg and hold
Tip: Try holding a light dumbbell in your raised hand once you can hold for 15 seconds.
7. Throw and crunch a medicine ball
| Recommended reps | 12 |
| Recommended sets | 4 |
Why we enjoy throwing and crunching medicine balls:
If you want to get a great six-pack, crunches are a terrific place to start. However, the medicine ball throw and crunch add weight and explosive strength to the exercise, making it a challenging yet very efficient way to improve abs.
With the additional resistance from the med ball, your abs must not only work harder to crunch your torso up and provide enough force to move the ball forward, but they must also maintain your torso up so you can catch the ball.
How to throw and crunch a medicine ball:
Hold a medicine ball with both hands on your chest while lying flat on your back with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle.
Crunch up and forcefully shove the medicine ball toward a partner and away from you.
As he passes the ball back, hold at the top of the move, then lower back down and repeat.
Tip: Toss the ball into the air at the start of each rep, catch it, and repeat if you don’t have a training partner.
8. Gym ball rollout
| Recommended reps | 10-12 |
| Recommended sets | 3 |
Why the gym ball rollout appeals to us:
By keeping your arms closer to your torso, using a gym ball restricts the range of motion your abs can experience.
The gym ball rollout technique:
Place your hands on the gym ball and begin on your knees.
Roll the ball slowly away from your body while maintaining a braced core.
To roll the ball back to the beginning, contract your abs once your torso is parallel to the floor.
Tip for your abs: Before moving on to more challenging exercises like the band fall-through, this is a fantastic way to strengthen your core.
9. Standing band fall-through
| Recommended reps | 10-12 |
| Recommended sets | 3 |
Why the standing band fall-through appeals to us:
Because your abs are tense even at the starting position, this is an incredibly efficient abs exercise. Starting each repetition with your abs tense guarantees that the muscles never have a chance to unwind and shut off; rather, they must exert more effort during each repetition and as the set goes on.
The standing band fall-through technique:
Hold a resistance band in each hand after attaching it to the pull-up handles.
Lean forward a little when standing to create tension in your abdominal muscles.
Maintaining stress on your abs throughout, bend forward as far as you can while keeping your body straight.
To get back to the starting position, contract your abs after holding the bottom position for a short while.
Tip for your abs: To recruit and train more fibers, concentrate on tensing your abs as well.
10. Hanging leg raise
| Recommended reps | 10-12 |
| Recommended sets | 3 |
Why the dangling leg raise appeals to us:
Any type of leg raise exercise improves hip flexor strength, flexibility, and agility. The rectus abdominis and frontal oblique are developed, and the lower back is stabilized, thanks to the hanging leg raise. In addition to burning belly fat, it won’t put undue strain on your spine or lower back if done properly and as part of a well-rounded routine.
The dangling leg raise technique:
- Maintain a straight posture while hanging from a bar.
- Use your lower abdominal muscles to lift your legs until they are parallel to the floor while maintaining a straight posture.
- Go back to the beginning
Tip for abs: Hold the contraction for about a second after exhaling during this movement.
Conclusion
A group of crucial postural muscles called the abdominals are in charge of stretching your spine forward during exercises like crunches. Additionally, the group protects your internal organs from impact, stabilizes your torso during activity, and aids in breathing.
Like all other muscle groups, the abs require direct attention from a range of angles in order to achieve optimal muscle growth. Because they put a lot of strain on your core and are very effective at burning fat, heavy compound movements like the overhead press, deadlift, and squat are among the finest exercises.
