Best Ab Workout At Home

Exercise Notes: The W-Raise is a great addition to your lower abs workouts. It is made up of three parts in which we’re basically drawing an upside down ‘W’ with our legs. Start position is lying face up flat on the floor with legs extended at the low point of the outer leg of the ‘W’. Keeping a strong core and legs straight, go up and then slowly lower your legs down halfway. Then, lifting your legs back up to the top maintaining that straight line, use your core strength to finally come back all the way down to the other outer leg of the W.  Then you reverse the ‘W’ to return to the start. Do 5 reps, rest 10 seconds and repeat until you can’t get the 5 reps.  Then move on to the next core exercise. Can’t even get the first 5? Just move immediately to the next.

Exercise Notes: In this bottom up rotation exercise you’ll cross your knee over and drive it into that opposite elbow. Start in high plank position with hands directly beneath your shoulders. Lift the left knee toward the right arm and slide it up the forearm to get more of that posterior pelvic tilt and engagement of the abdominal muscles. Then do the opposite side, bringing your right knee toward your left hand. Do this for 45 seconds then rest 10 seconds and start again.  Once you can’t make it through 45 seconds, just move on to the next exercise. It’s going to be difficult for even the most advanced to do very many sets at 45 seconds apiece with just a 10 second rest!

Exercise Notes: In this midrange exercise your arms provide you with a little bit of momentum to help to get you off the ground. You also open them up which engages the upper back. Start lying with feet flat on the ground, arms crossed in towards your chest. Using your ab muscles, bring your upper body off the ground as you open your arms into goal post position, then slowly lower yourself back down to return to starting position. You’ll do 10 reps followed by 10 seconds of rest until you get to extinction.  Then move on to the next exercise.

Exercise Notes: To do this abs and obliques exercise, start with your hands back behind your body and bring your knees in and across, really trying to contract the obliques. Then extend your legs back out to starting position and repeat toward the opposite side of the abs. Engage your core as you move upper and lower body at the same time. See if you can go for the entire 45 seconds and then take 10 seconds of rest.  Repeat as many times as possible before moving on to the next exercise. Beginners might find that they can’t even get through the first 45 seconds.  That’s ok because it gives you a place to start and something to improve upon.

Exercise Notes: For this top down movement, we’re trying to move the upper torso without moving the lower torso. Start lying on the ground with feet flat on the floor and crossed arms above your head. Lift upper body up and clear your shoulder blades off the ground and then hold and pause at the top for a one or two count. Try to make the upper abs work and hold that contraction for 10 good quality reps. Take 10 seconds of rest and repeat until you can’t complete the entire 10 reps.  Then move on to the last exercise.

Exercise Notes: This is our top down rotation movement, and you can see that it’s a bit more explosive, too.  Lying with knees bent and feet on the floor, sit up and drive your left elbow across your body toward the right, then come back to center and then finally lower yourself down. Then hit the other side. The goal is to get all 5 reps to each side, rest 10 seconds and repeat.  Had we programmed this exercise in the beginning it might not have felt so difficult, but because you’re doing it in a fatigued state, it’s going to catch up to you!