12 Best Standing Ab Exercises To Construct A Strong Core

The abdominals are essential for a functional body. Not only do they play a significant role in aesthetics, but they’re literally on the core of athletic movement. But does good ab training all the time should involve getting on the bottom, into the crunch position?

In fact not! You may stand and feel those abs burn too.

And, if you ought to expand your ab training or improve core strength without rolling out a mat, try the 12 standing ab exercises in this text. Plus, you will learn why constructing a robust core is crucial, and we’ll provide you with a guide on the right way to best incorporate these standing ab exercise variations into your routine.

Table of Contents:

• What Are Standing Ab Exercises?
• Abdominal Muscle Anatomy
• 12 Best Standing Core Exercises
• Sample Standing Core Workout
• Advantages Of Ab Exercises
• Best Weight-reduction plan Practices For Abs
• Programming Suggestions For Standing Abs Exercises
• FAQs

What Are Standing Ab Exercises?

Essentially the most common abdominal exercises are those done in a prone position (plank) or supine (hole body) on the bottom. When on the lookout for variations of abdominal exercises, the nice news is nearly every core exercise may be done standing. 

When you’re someone recovering from an injury, pregnant, has limited mobility, or is compromised with accessibility of getting down on the bottom, you’ll need access to the identical core advantages within the standing position. With proper alignment, activation, and extra resistance used, the choices really are broad.

But before we get into that, we want to know the anatomy of the core.

Abdominal Muscle Anatomy

The abdominal muscles are strong bands of muscle that line the partitions of your abdomen, running vertically and horizontally between the rib cage and the pelvis. 

The most important muscles of the abdomen are the rectus abdominis, external obliques, internal obliques and transversus abdominis. These muscles work together to assist the body function in several ways, like maintaining consistent internal pressure on the abdomen, maintaining posture, and supporting the spine during rest and movement. 

Let’s take an additional have a look at each abdominal muscle and its unique functions: 

• Rectus Abdominis: Running vertically, from the rib cage to the front of the hips, this muscle holds the interior organs in place and keeps your body stable throughout movement. This muscle is most known for its appearance because the “six-pack.” To focus on the rectus abdominis, incorporate movements that involve spinal flexion, like your classic abdominal “crunch.”
• External Obliques: Situated on the edges of the rectus abdominis, the external obliques run from the edges of the body and insert towards the midline. The external obliques allow the trunk to twist back and forth. To focus on this region, rotate from the trunk while stabilizing through the hips with woodchoppers and bicycle crunches.
• Internal Obliques: A pair of muscles that lay deeper than the external obliques contained in the hip bones, the interior obliques work with the external obliques to permit the trunk to twist and switch. Fatigue these muscles by exercises that include rotation and stabilization, (also targeting the external obliques) like slow and controlled rotating Pallof presses. You can even try our article on the Best Oblique Exercises for more ways to focus on these abdominal muscles!
• Transverse Abdominis: The deepest of the abdominal muscles, the transverse abdominis lays horizontally across the bottom portion of the trunk, just like a belt. Its primary function is to stabilize and maintain internal abdominal pressure. Work through planks, bird dogs, and any heavy lifting to especially goal this muscle. 

12 Best Standing Core Exercises

Explore the 12 best standing abdominal exercises to hit your entire core below.

1) Standing Bicycle Crunches:

To kick us off, this exercise targets the obliques and the rectus abdominis. Within the standing stance, you will find that the neck has less strain and tension in comparison with the supine variation. Concentrate on your balance and talent to rotate fully while keeping abdominal tension with each repetition. 

Methods to do the Standing Bicycle Crunch:

• Stand tall along with your feet about shoulder distance apart and your arms bent, hands behind your head.
• As you bring your left leg right into a high knee stance, rotate through your core and reach your right elbow to your knee. 
• Through your rotational reach, barely round your back and keep tension in your core. 
• Return to standing and switch sides, tucking your left elbow to your right knee.

2) Standing Crossover Toe Touch:

Just like the bicycle crunch, the crossover toe touch challenges the obliques, rectus abdominis, and transversus abdominis. This movement combines each a single leg lift, which recruits the transverse abdominis, and a rotational contraction, which engages the obliques. 

Methods to do the Standing Crossover Toe Touch:

• Stand tall along with your feet shoulder distance apart and your arms at your sides.
• Keep your left leg straight and lift it to 90 degrees in front of you while rotating and reaching to your toes along with your right arm. 
• Actively reach toward your opposite foot and feel the stretch. You don’t want to physically reach to the touch the toes to finish a repetition.
• Switch sides and proceed to rotate through the trunk while reaching for the toes. 

3) TRX Hip Drop:

This unilateral exercise effectively trains your posture and recognizes your imbalances, especially through the obliques. It could be intimidating to trust the TRX straps, so take your time adjusting your resistance. The closer your feet are to the anchor point, the tougher the movement will likely be.

Methods to do the TRX Hip Drop:

• Loop each hands through the TRX handles and step away from the anchor point until you’re feeling tension on the straps. 
• Send your arms overhead and rotate your body so your right side faces the anchor point. 
• Cross your left leg in front of your right. 
• Maintaining your arms overhead and your feet crossed, shift your hips to the left side (away from the anchor point).
• Once you’re feeling a deep stretch and activation through the left side of your body, pull against the straps to stack your body back to the beginning position.

4) Medicine Ball Slam:

An athletic solution to incorporate abdominal work, medicine ball exercises just like the slam are an efficient exercise to focus on speed and power. The rectus abdominis forcefully contracts because the med ball travels from overhead to the bottom. 

Methods to do the Medicine Ball Slam:

• Stand tall with a drugs ball in each hands, feet hip width apart.
• Press the medication ball up and overhead, keeping your elbows barely bent.
• Brace through your lower body and let your upper body barely round as you forcefully slam the ball right down to the bottom.
• Send the stress of the slam to your abdominals with a giant exhale. 
• Catch the ball, then reset for the following slam. 

5) Standing Stabilization:

Simply holding a weight out in front of you is a practical solution to train for on a regular basis life. Keep your standing structure stable, keep your shoulders packed, and permit your traps to calm down. Allow your transversus abdominis to take over the work.

Methods to do Standing Stabilization:

• Together with your feet hip distance apart, stand tall and hold a weight with each hands at your chest. 
• Extend your arms out in front of you and keep your posture neutral and your abdominals engaged. 
• Exhale through your belly as you pause for 2 counts.
• Pull the burden near your body and repeat. 

6) Woodchop:

Utilizing your entire body to pivot and move resistance is one solution to improve athleticism and your ability to keep up proper posture. In that way, the woodchopper targets balance, stability, and coordination. When doing this exercise, ensure that to consistently engage your core and deal with rotating through your obliques.

Methods to do the Woodchop:

• In your standing stance, place your feet barely wider than hip distance apart and hold one weight in each of your hands. 
• Hinge through the hips to rotate to lower the burden across your body, toward your left foot. 
• Bend through the knees and pivot your feet toward your left.
• Keep your arms barely bent on the elbows and send the burden across your body until you extend the burden overhead in your opposite side (right) in a single smooth chopping motion. 
• Be certain to change the pivot of your feet towards the best side, following the resistance. 
• As you grow more comfortable, complete each chop with a smooth rhythm.
• Complete your designated reps before switching over sides. 

7) Pallof Press:

This exercise may be incorporated into any exercise program and is functional for body awareness, activating the transversus abdominis and difficult the obliques as stabilizers. Challenge yourself by standing along with your feet closer together (narrow base of support) or loading heavier resistance.

Methods to do the Pallof Press:

• Using a cable or a band, adjust it to elbow height. 
• Interlace each hands within the handle and take a couple of steps away from the anchor point. 
• Turn away from the anchor point so the side of your body is at 90 degrees. 
• Press the band straight out in front of you while maintaining posture and fascinating through the core. 
• Return to the beginning position and repeat reps. Then repeat on the other side.

8) Standing Lateral Bend:

Goal your core stabilizers in addition to deep obliques with the standing side bend. A key to proper form is ensuring your hips stay under your rib cage in any respect times, allowing your abdominals to activate and performance properly.

Methods to do the Standing Lateral Bend:

• Stand along with your feet shoulder-width apart, hold a weight in a single hand, and place your other hand in your hip. 
• Bend out of your waist laterally and reach your weighted arm alongside your body toward the bottom. Keep your arms straight.
• Engage your abdominals to tug you back right into a stacked starting position. Repeat reps for one side, after which switch sides and repeat.

9) Kettlebell Around The World:

This exercise is dynamic, and your body is challenged to stabilize in a neutral stance. Transverse abdominis takes on many of the work of stabilizing through the hips. Be certain to barely bend through the elbows for a more comfortable swing.

Methods to do the KB Around The World:

• In a neutral standing stance, hold the handle of your kettlebell along with your right hand in front of your hips.
• Initiate your swing by moving the kettlebell toward your right side. 
• Reach and catch the kettlebell behind you along with your left hand, and because the kettlebell completes a revolution, catch it along with your right hand in front of your hips. 
• Repeat smooth, consistent repetitions moving on this direction while emphasizing your stable posture and lively core.
• Decelerate the kettlebell and switch sides. 

10) Weighted Uppercut:

Have you ever ever taken a boxing class? If you will have, you’ll be able to relate to how fatigued the core feels after throwing powerful punches! 

With a weighted uppercut, deal with emphasizing the rotation out of your torso, targeting the obliques, and keeping the burden controlled and shut to your body.

Methods to do the Weighted Uppercut:

• Have one weight (preferably a dumbbell) in your hands and send it to the best side of your body with the arms fully prolonged at your side. 
• Keep your feet and hips neutral and facing forward the entire time.
• Bend through the elbows and pull the burden across your body (like a seatbelt).
• Rotate your torso and uppercut the burden toward the upper left side of your body. 
• Keep your elbows bent within the uppercut and the burden at collarbone level. 
• Send the burden all of the back right down to the beginning position.

11) Lunge With Twist:

This movement connects the lower body, torso, and upper body to focus on the abs. You may definitely feel your obliques begin to burn. When you get comfortable with form, increase your speed, coming as much as the twist with a strong ab activation. 

Methods to do a Lunge With A Twist:

• Start in a reverse lunge position along with your left leg forward and right leg back, each bent at 90 degrees. 
• Barely lean your torso forward into your left leg and lift each arms overhead.
• Drive your right leg up right into a high knee position and rotate your torso towards your leg.
• Complete a twist by pressing your arms right down to reach across the skin of your right leg’s high knee.
• Step back into your lunge and reset your arms within the overhead position. 

12) Standing Bird Dog:

The bird dog targets your balance, stability, and coordination. Maintain a neutral posture as you shift your weight back and forth. This exercise primarily targets the rectus abdominis and the transverse abdominis. The obliques stabilize and fight any rotation through the hips and torso.  

Methods to do a Standing Bird Dog:

• Stand with feet hip distance apart and your arms at your sides, and drive your left knee toward a high knee stance while reaching your right arm overhead. 
• Feel the contraction of your core as you actively move into position. 
• Maintain your balance, brace through your core, and slowly lower your leg and arm to change sides.

Sample Standing Core Workout

Complete considered one of these at the tip of your strength or cardio workout.

Workout A: Rotational Goal (Rectus Abdominis, Internal and External Obliques)

Workout B: Stabilization Goal (Rectus Abdominis, Transversus Abdominis) 

Advantages Of Standing Ab Exercises

One major reason you’d want any muscle, especially the abdominal muscles, to achieve strength is to enhance your quality of life. Stronger abdominals let you live an lively life with a lesser probability of injury. You will have the support needed for stabilizing your spine through changing postures, stopping lower back injuries, and improving performance in each day activities. 

Remember, six-pack abs don’t equate to strong and functional abdominals. Learn more concerning the advantages of strong abs below.

1) Improve Balance and Stability:

The trunk is probably the most central a part of the body. It includes the pelvis, lower back, and the abdominals. Abdominal exercises train the muscles in your trunk to work and stabilize as a unit.

This results in a greater understanding of coordination, translating on to balance and stability throughout movement. Balance and stability are essential because they naturally decline with age if not trained repeatedly. On a regular basis movement relies on a balanced and stable body. 

2) Breathe Higher:

Constructing a robust core can improve your ability to breathe more efficiently. The diaphragm, the main muscle of respiration, relies on proper posture and position to operate optimally.

Improving your core strength can neutralize the hips and stack your body, allowing the diaphragm to operate rhythmically. Respiration efficiently improves all types of movement, running, yoga, HIIT, LISS, strength, and conditioning.

3) Overall Improvement of Strength:

Every day movement and regular exercise begin to feel easier when the core muscles are conditioned and powerful. You may find a way to acknowledge when the core is engaged and the right way to brace throughout the abdomen.

Alternatively, weak core muscles can result in fatigue, injuries, and a slow improvement in total body strength. With a weak base of support, the body will begin to compensate through poor posture, displacing body weight through the lower back, and an increased risk of muscle injuries. 

4) Reach Your Goals:

A fundamental element of any well-rounded fitness program is movements that either include or goal the core musculature. Whether that is squatting heavy, practicing rotational movements, and/or completing isolated core exercises, higher movement wouldn’t be possible with no strong core.

Your ability to maintain improving in your fitness program relies on a solid trunk, stabilizing heavier weights, and ensuring the correct musculature is lively. 

5) Protect Your Lower Back:

A powerful core is shown to stop lower back pain by aligning the hips and ribcage and strengthening the trunk as a complete.

With a stronger core, you will be more mindful of your day-to-day movements. As a substitute of compensating throughout the lower back, a robust core will be sure that your weight is displaced through the trunk in addition to the remainder of your body. 

6) Tone The Abdominal Muscles:

Just like every muscle, constructing substantial strength and muscle hypertrophy for that muscle will make it grow and be more distinguished on the body. A well-defined six-pack is a mix of growing the abdominals and shedding body fat with fat-burning aerobic activity. 

Best Weight-reduction plan Practices To Pair With Standing Ab Exercises

News flash! When you’ve been working hard for those six-pack abs without tracking or altering your nutrition to align with this goal, you won’t see significant results. 

A vital component of developing cut abs is maintaining a low percentage of body fat. You might have heard, “Abs are made within the kitchen,” and yes, there’s numerous truth in that! Essentially the most superficial layer of your abdomen, rectus abdominis, is the muscle that portrays the ridges and definition of a six-pack. This will likely be difficult to see unless your body fat is low. 

Most individuals begin to see the definition of the abs around 12-15%. Nevertheless, one and all is exclusive and might begin to see definition at higher or lower percentages. A useful statistic to share is that the common American has 28-40% body fat. Your genetics, environment, stress levels, nutrition, and movement routine all significantly affect your body fat percentage numbers. 

Every individual holds body fat in another way on their bodies, and the journey to six-pack abs will look very different. That does not imply that defined abs should not available and possible for everyone. With a correct caloric deficit, it is feasible to progressively drop in body fat over time while maintaining muscle. Lower your calories steadily while maintaining nutrient-dense foods in every meal: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. A food diary is useful when first making changes to your weight loss program. 

A very good fact to be mindful is that a low body fat percentage is more difficult to keep up. Living in a caloric deficit is not all the time probably the most optimal in keeping with your fitness goals. Work with a registered dietician to assist determine whether shedding body fat aligns along with your body’s needs in addition to your health and wellness goals.

In case your on the lookout for meal plans to aid you stay heading in the right direction, head to our 4 Week Meal Plan For Weight Loss or our High Protein Meal Plan.

Programming Suggestions For Standing Abs Exercises

The abdominals are only like every other muscle and require the identical rest as the remainder of your muscles. The abdominals are inclined to get well faster than other muscles, and it may generally take as much as 24-48 hours for full muscle recovery. In case your abs are sore, proceed to rest, stretch and hydrate.

Core exercises may be programmed 3-5 days per week with as much as 5 exercises per session. Depending on the goal of your workout and exercise routine, core exercises may be incorporated with any split: full body, upper only, lower only, cardio training, etc.

Each exercise may be repeated for higher repetition ranges like 10-30 reps or for time, 15 seconds-2 minutes. Because it takes so much to fatigue the core, higher volume is generally advisable. When you are only starting to include isolated ab exercises into your routine, start with lower-volume work and slowly work your way up. 

FAQs About Standing Ab Exercises

Let’s take a look at some more of your questions on standing ab exercises and constructing a toned core.

Does holding in your stomach help burn fat?

While holding in your stomach will help engage the core temporarily, it is not going to contribute to belly fat burn in the long run.

What burns belly fat at night?

Strength training throughout the day builds lean muscle, and the more lean muscle you will have, the more total body fat you’ll be able to burn at rest. Outside of a consistent strength training plan, a few of the most effective ways to burn belly fat at night include avoiding alcohol, getting a very good night’s rest, and including some pre-sleep supplements. For more on this, read 7 Easy Ways to Burn Fat While You Sleep.

Do you have to do cardio or weights first to lose belly fat?

Weight training is a must for burning belly fat. Combined with a well-structured weight loss program, strength training will placed on the lean muscle needed to burn fat and put you in a caloric deficit throughout the day. Cardio will help burn extra calories during your workout, but unless you are training 3+ hours every day, it’s unlikely to have as significant an effect as weight training.

What number of calories does a ten minute standing ab workout burn?

Total calories burned varies widely across gender, muscle mass, fitness level, and energy put into the workout. In case your goal is visible abs, you are higher off specializing in stepping into a calorie deficit through your weight loss program moderately than what number of calories you’ll be able to burn in an ab workout.

Standing Ab Workouts: Key Takeaways

Constructing a robust and functional body requires you to prioritize your abdominal muscles. Isolating your core in your fitness routine can improve your quality of life and aid you reach your fitness goals more efficiently.

Incorporating standing ab exercises can add to all the advantages that a robust core provides to your body. So what are you waiting for? Go construct a robust core!

For more ways to sculpt your stomach, try the 9 Best Upper Ab Exercises, the 11 Best Lower Ab Exercises, and the 17 Best Cable Ab & Oblique Exercises.