Top 100 abdominal exercises

by Monica

My abs are still tight and sore from Saturday's aerial dance class. This got me thinking about the best abdominal exercises and ab workouts for flat sexy abs.

Below are 10 of my favorite abs exercises using just your bodyweight including a couple from my current workout plan. I'll be adding more of my favorites as the weeks go by. Please feel free to add your own ab exercises and ab workouts too.

My goal is to gather the top 100 ab exercises here. The only rule if you want to post is NO ab exercises that involve just laying on your back on the floor. (transitioning from laying to standing or any other position is o.k. though).

1. alternating forearm plank to forearm pike (I just call this the dolphin)

2. BER alternating lateral leg swoop

3. alternating forearm plank to pushup plank

4. side plank (supporting with forearm)

5. mountain climbers

6. bodyweight deck squat

7. alternating 3 point plank

8. side plank (supporting with hand)

9. dive bombers

10. quad hop burpee (video below)

Watch my plank exercises video featuring some of the planks listed here. My favorite stability ball ab exercises coming tomorrow.

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Top 100 abdominal exercises

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starstarstarstarstar 		best stability ball abdominal exercises
by: Monica

The stability ball has always been my favorite piece of fitness equipment for training the abs. I don't use it as much now that I have all kinds of other fitness gear at home but I still love stability ball ab workouts and used the ball for many of the exercises in the core workouts fatloss and fitness plan. Here are 10 of my favorite stability ball abdominal exercises for hot abs.

stability ball pike

stability ball knee tuck (some trainers call this a jacknife)

stability ball plank w/alternating knee-ins (forearms on ball feet on floor)

stability ball plank w/alternating straight leg lifts (prone, hands on floor feet on ball)

stability ball kneeling balance

stability ball oblique crunch

stability ball rollout (forearms on ball and knees or feet on floor)

stability ball torso twist (supine, upper back on ball feet on floor legs bent as shown in video below)

stability ball lower body twists (prone, hands on floor feet on ball)

stability ball reverse crunch (very difficult for int. to adv. watch video below for tips)





Resistance band ab exercises coming next.
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starstarstarstarstar 		fat blasting resistance band ab exercises
by: Monica

One of my favorite things about using resistance band ab exercises is how much fat they burn while also improving balance, core stability, and coordination.

Below are the best abdominal exercises using various types of resistance bands.

Resistance band rotations

Resistance band diagonal chop

Kneeling resistance band chop

Resistance band reverse diagonal chop

Mini band lateral hop (burns tons of fat and targets obliques)

Superband jumping jack (guaranteed to kick your butt)

Superband getups (killer move for bootcamps)

Superband mountain climbers

Superband overhead lateral shuffle

Superband trunk stabilization (featured in video below)



Valslide ab exercises coming next.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Intense valslide or gliding disc abdominal exercises
by: Monica

The valslide has to be one of the most evil pieces of fitness gear ever designed (designed by a woman and totally female friendly too).

Below are the best gliding disc or valslide ab exercises. Be sure to keep the abs engaged at all times to protect the low back and shoulders.

valslide pike

valslide forearm plank saw

valslide plank walk out with pike

valslide crossbody mountain climbers

valslide traveling pushup plank

valslide painful push away

valslide hand slides

valslide knee tucks

valslide spiderman pushups (pure evil, build up to this if you have a weak core)

valslide reverse lunge with chop (featured in leg toning workout tips)


Check out some of the best valslide bootcamp exercises below.



TRX ab exercises coming next.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Best TRX Abdominal Exercises
by: Monica

I have a big secret to share with you. Actually I have two. #1 I'm having a TRX giveaway to celebrate my 40th b-day. #2 I love working with the TRX but I have a love hate relationship with it when it involves ab exercises.

Why? Because TRX ab exercises are pure torture for my abs! Abdominal workouts on the TRX are probably harder than they are on any other piece of fitness gear simply because of the amount of instability that's created once the legs are fully suspended.

Here's a few of the best TRX ab exercises I love to hate. These are guaranteed to work your core hard.

TRX jacknife (also called knee-ins featured in best boot camp exercises planks)

TRX body saw (front to back)

TRX suspended pendulum (swinging side to side)

TRX pike from forearms or hands

TRX lateral knee tuck (featured in my cardio core workout)

TRX mountain climbers

TRX scorpion (featured in my sexy back and core workout)

TRX rollout from knees (like with an ab wheel but harder)

TRX single arm plank hold (in video below)

TRX crossbody plank (in video below)

Watch the video below for some killer plank variations you can do with the TRX.
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starstarstarstarstar 		best abdominal exercises with medicine ball
by: Monica

The medicine ball is a great piece of fitness gear for abdominal exercises. You can swing it, bounce it, throw it, slam it, press it and lift it which makes ab work so much more fun.

I've used all the different types of medicine balls (leather, rubber, with handle, compact, as well as tornado ball) and my favorite is the little yellow 6 lb ball you see in all my workout videos.

Here's 10 of the best medicine ball ab exercises that will help you sculpt flat sexy abs.

medicine ball diagonal chop

medicine ball squat with diagonal chop

medicine ball deck squat (laying to standing using ball)

medicine ball plank with alternating leg lifts (these are tough, don't try them if you have back issues)

medicine ball chest pass (need a partner or wall that can take a beating)

medicine ball saggital reach with chop (recently featured in my cardio butt lift workout

medicine ball slams (featured in my tabata fatloss workout video)

medicine ball jumping lunges with twisting chop

medicine ball washing machine

medicine ball pushup (ball under one hand or transfer ball to opposite hand every rep)

Below Aaron of Origin of Energy shows you some of the more advanced medicine ball exercises. You can also check out animated versions of these exercises, more videos, and medicine ball tips in my medicine ball ab exercises guide.
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starstarstarstarstar 		insane pullup bar ab exercises
by: Monica

I recently had the pleasure of being sore for 3 days straight after our aerial dance instructor Carrie encouraged us to practice hanging knee tucks while flying around on the trapeze in a big circle.

The hanging knee tuck is like doing knee raises hanging from a pull up bar except much harder because the momentum pulls your knees away from your core.

Below are 10 vicious pull up bar ab exercises that you can do at the park or at home.

These are definitely more advanced abdominal exercises so be very careful. If you have back issues or poor core stability, be sure to build up core stability and strength before attempting any of these ab exercises. If you've got facilitated hip flexors like I do be sure to do some hip flexor/quad stretches before getting started so your abs and not your hip flexors do the work.

pullup bar hanging knee tucks (featured in my pull up exercises workout)

pullup bar hanging leg raises (leg straight to waist)

pullup bar leg raise pike (featured in my pull up exercises workout)

pullup bar hip hang repeats (we do these in aerial a lot)

pullup bar hanging fast knees (like sprinting in place but you're hanging)

pullup bar alternating oblique knee-tucks

pullup bar hanging bicycle

pullup bar hanging climbing bicycle

pullup bar windshield wipers

pullup bar inverted situps (we do these in aerial too and they're so fun but so hard)

Most of these are featured in the cool video below by InciteFitness. What this guy can do on the pull up bar will blow you away or get you motivated for a crazy ab workout. You can also check out my pull up exercises guide for more ideas.

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starstarstarstarstar 		I LOVE your ab exercises
by: Jeri

Hi Monica,
I can always count on you for ideas on ab exercises as I'm always looking at new moves to change up my routine & challenge myself. Looking forward to see what the next 30 ab exercises are. Also, I'm entering to win the TRX Gymboss B-Day Giveaway. Mahalo!
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starstarstarstarstar 		Stability Ball
by: Deb

Hey Monica,

Any idea how to know the correct inflation for my stability ball? I noticed on your site the ball hardly notices the pressure of a man on the ball. Mine is all over the place and seems too mushy, as a result I hate using it, but I need to do something more for core strength. I work out at home and am in the process of getting a new gym area above the garage. Any ideas for core that doesn't include the dreaded stability ball? Thanks for your great site. Deb
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starstarstarstarstar 		excellent information
by: Shelley Flanagan

Thank you so much for putting together this list! What an awesome resource! My abs will be rockin' by summer!
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starstarstarstarstar 		Ab equipment tips
by: Monica

Hey Everybody, Thanks for all your great comments.

Deb, You ask a great question. A stability ball can be inflated until it's nice and firm or you can inflate it so it has some give. The more inflated the ball is the harder your ab exercises will be. If the ball can roll away from you easily then that's what creates more instability and causes your abs to have to work harder.

Play around with it. There is no right and wrong. You definitely don't want the ball to be so soft it offers no challenge but you can adjust it from workout to workout or person to person.

Also if you're tired of the stability ball and looking for some variety definitely check out the valslide exercises (above) or just go with bodyweight stuff. Valslide ab exercises feel about 20 times harder than ball ab exercises i.e. valslide pike kills your lower abs.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Love the Ab Exercises!
by: Anonymous

Hi Monica! I have tried a lot of your ab exercises from the compiled list of almost 100! Thanks so much, the abs are my focus right now! please enter me into the TRX giveaway!
Thanks,
Dawn
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Slammin Sandbell Ab Exercises
by: Monica

The sandbell is probably one of the weirdest but most practical pieces of fitness gear ever designed. It functions like a sandbag/medicine ball/kettlebell/valslide/dumbell (kinda sorta) and it's so much fun.

You can slam it, throw it, hoist it, drag it, press it, and it's guaranteed not to damage your floor, break your toes, smack your face, or bounce away from you.

Here's my 10 favorite sandbell ab exercises that are awesome for core stability and strength as well as ab fatloss.

BTW, my favorite thing about sandbells is the looks you get from other trainers and clients when my client slams the hell out of the sandbell and starts laughing out loud like a crazy person. Too funny!

Sandbell turkish getup (vicious because the sand shifts the entire time)

Sandbell deck squat (featured in sandbell video)

Sandbell rockit drill (featured in sandbell video)

Sandbell diagonal chop

Sandbell pile drivers (jump squat with overhead chop as you jump back to standing)

Sandbell drag races (toss it run to it pick it up toss it again and keep going the length of a soccer field, this is my son's favorite)

Sandbell 180 slams (featured in sandbell video)

Sandbell knee-ins (featured in sandbell video)

Sandbell single leg squat with slam (100% TVA activation if done correctly)

Sandbell renegade rows (featured in sandbell video)



Check out the sandbell showdown below. Great ideas for fatloss workouts, ab workouts, and more.
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starstarstarstarstar 		best powerlifting killer ab exercises
by: Monica

A list of the top 100 abdominal exercises would not be a good list without at least 10 traditional power-lifting exercises.

Mike Geary author of the best selling ebook Truth About Abs explains that traditional lifts are multi-joint exercises that use every muscle in your body, they burn loads of fat, banish cellulite, and boost endurance too.

There really is no faster way to get sexy abs than by incorporating at least 2-3 traditional lifts into your weekly workouts. Here's my top 10 picks.

dumbbell clean and press

overhead squats (featured in my primal vitality workout b video)

deadlifts

split jerk

split snatch (featured in my exercise progressions video)

power cleans

hang snatch to push press

snatch to overhead squat

1 arm hang clean

1 arm snatch (featured below)

Check out Jamie Kovacs (her name is Fury on American Gladiators) doing some of the moves listed here. If you are not experienced with this type of training be sure to get help from an expert. I learned the basics from my friend Zak who's been competing in powerlifting since he was a kid.



Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		best cardio abdominal exercises
by: Monica

The list of top 100 abdominal exercises would not be complete without 10 killer cardio exercises to help you burn off the extra layer of fat around the abdominals.

Working the abs directly is important but if you want to be able to see all that hard work then you know you need to get rid of that extra layer of fat so here's the top 10 cardio exercises and workouts to help you get the job done!

tabata bodyweight workouts

tabata cardio machine workouts (at very bottom of page)

gladiator bootcamp workouts

superset workout routines

primal cardio exercises

TRX cardio workouts

MacGyver style workouts

Insanity workouts

cardio core workouts

outdoor track and field workouts (featured below)

Say no to lame cardio and get yourself some sexy abs fast!
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starstarstarstar 		flat abs issue
by: SYRA

Good set of exercises. I just want to add some tips from me, very basic. I think that the biggest problem with getting flat stomach is that people often do not continue doing exercises or keeping diet. It is very much in our brain. We would like to have it flat but it is hard to sacrifice for it. And even if one get it then often do not maintain it so after couple of months everything is as before.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Ab exercise
by: Debbies21

Three of my favorite ab exercises. Stability ball roll out 2 counts out count in. Renegade rows I use 18 lbs. My final ab exercise is a cross crawl. Stand with feet shoulder width apart hands straight overhead, bring opposite knee and elbow together in front of you

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