If you wish to construct a robust, purposeful core, primary crunches aren’t going to chop it. This strength-focused exercise for abs consists of 9, non-traditional core workout routines to hit your abs from each angle. Construct energy, stability, and definition in each muscle between your shoulders and your hips with this purposeful full physique ab exercise.
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When individuals ask me what my favourite ab workout routines are, they’re usually stunned to listen to me say squats and deadlifts.
Day 5 of our 2-Week Perform 20 Dumbbell Workout Plan is a strategic mixture of full physique strength training exercises for women that double as functional core exercises.
Heavy compound lifts require spinal stabilization and core engagement to energy the motion. Which means your abs are continually engaged throughout workout routines like uneven squats, single leg deadlifts and push ups.
Your abs, like another muscle group, profit from energy coaching. As a private coach, that’s why I like to recommend purposeful ab exercises like this standing core with weights or this kettlebell ab workout over conventional abs workout routines.
Strengthening your core with purposeful workout routines like this lets you raise heavier throughout your exercises, enhance posture, scale back decrease again ache, and stop damage.

Full Physique Exercise for Abs
Construct a purposeful, robust core at dwelling with this full physique abs exercise.
Every efficient ab train engages a number of muscle teams directly. This purposeful model of core coaching prepares you in your actual life actions, like pivots and twists.
I counsel doing this full physique exercise as soon as per week as a part of a well-rounded workout routine.
Exercise Tools:
Medium-to-heavy set of dumbbells. We’re utilizing 15-25 lbs.
Exercise Directions:
Comply with together with the guided Full Body and Abs Workout on YouTube, led by licensed private coach and health teacher, Lindsey Bomgren.
Your Exercise Appears to be like Like This:
- 9 Full Physique Ab Workout routines
- Timed Intervals (40 seconds of labor, 15 seconds relaxation; full as many repetitions as you possibly can within the timed interval)
- Repeat All 9 Workout routines x2 Units
Exercise Define
- Uneven Squat and Alternating Bicep Curl
- Cut up Lunge and Cut up Deadlift
- Push Up, Plank Stroll and Single Arm Again Row
- Half Kneeling Clear and Single Arm Press
- Ranger Burpee
- Lateral Lunge and Knee Drive
- Overhead Triceps
- Weighted Single Leg Sit Up and Toe Attain
- Indirect V-Up
9 Workout routines for Outlined Abs
1. Uneven Squat and Alternating Bicep Curl
Targets: Glutes, quads, hamstrings, again, biceps and core.

How To Do Uneven Squats and Alternating Bicep Curls
- Begin standing, ft shoulder-width aside and knees barely bent.
- Maintain one dumbbell in your left hand between your legs. Maintain one other dumbbell in your proper hand in a entrance rack place at your proper shoulder.
- Together with your weight in your heels, sit your hips again as you decrease right into a squat, striving for a 90-degree angle between your hips and knees.
- Then, drive by means of your heels, squeezing your glutes to face tall.
- Curl the dumbbell in your left hand up in direction of your left shoulder as you concurrently decrease the dumbbell at your proper shoulder between your legs.
- Repeat, alternating one uneven squat with one bicep curl.
2. Push Up, Plank Stroll and Single Arm Again Row
Targets: Chest, shoulders, triceps, latissimus dorsi (or lats), abs and core muscle tissue.

How To Do Push Ups, Plank Walks and Single Arm Again Rows
- Begin in a excessive plank place, shoulders stacked over your wrists. Pull your kneecaps up in direction of your stomach, ft hip-width aside. Place a dumbbell on the bottom outdoors your proper hand.
- Slowly decrease your chest down in direction of the bottom, elbows falling again in direction of your hips earlier than exhaling as you push again up into excessive plank place (finishing a push up).
- Then, carry out a plank stroll by “strolling” your left hand in direction of the middle, then “strolling” your proper hand over to understand the dumbbell.
- Sustaining a robust core, pull your proper elbow to proper hip, performing a single arm plank row.
- Slowly and with management, decrease the dumbbell to the bottom and stroll your palms over to the left, returning to the beginning place.
3. Cut up Lunge and Cut up Deadlift
Targets: Quads, glutes, hamstrings, core and calf muscle tissue.

How To Do Cut up Lunges and Cut up Deadlifts
- Stand with ft hip width aside. Maintain a dumbbell in every hand at your sides.
- Step your proper leg again right into a reverse lunge, dropping your proper knee down in direction of the bottom as you decrease your hips till each knees attain a 90-degree angle. Entrance thigh is parallel to the ground.
- Then squeeze your left glute, conserving the load in your entrance (left) heel as you straighten your left knee, pushing again as much as a standing place.
- Then, hold your ft in place as you hinge on the hips. Pushing your hips again in direction of the wall behind you as you glide the dumbbells down the entrance of your legs, conserving your core tight, slight bends in each knees. Vary of movement will look totally different for everybody.
- Drive by means of your entrance heel to push your hips ahead, pulling the dumbbells again up in direction of your hip as you stand tall, returning to beginning place.
4. Half Kneeling Clear and Single Arm Press
Targets: The rear deltoids and entrance deltoids (shoulders) and core.

How To Do Half Kneeling Cleans and Single Arm Shoulder Presses
- Begin in a kneeling place — each knees on the bottom, shoulders stacked over hips. Maintain one dumbbell in your proper hand outdoors your proper hip.
- Hinge on the hips to shift your hips again, tilting your torso ahead and in direction of the bottom.
- Then, explosively drive your hips ahead, swinging the dumbbell to your proper shoulder and stepping your left foot in entrance of you as you carry your torso upright. Left knee is bent at 90 levels.
- From right here, carry out a single arm dumbbell shoulder press. Press the dumbbell straight overhead, locking out the elbow, proper bicep close to proper ear.
- Slowly decrease the dumbbell again down in direction of the suitable shoulder, then decrease it to your proper hip, returning to the beginning place.
5. Ranger Burpee
Targets: Whole physique — legs, hip flexors, calves, arms, shoulders, again, abs and core.

How To Do Ranger Burpees
- Stand with ft hip-distance aside, or a bit of wider. Maintain two dumbbells at your hips.
- Have interaction your core and decrease your hips all the way down to the underside of a squat as you place the dumbbells on the bottom between your ft.
- Step or soar each ft again to a excessive plank place. Make a straight line along with your physique from head to ft.
- Decrease your chest down in direction of the bottom, elbows falling again in direction of your hips earlier than exhaling as you push again up into excessive plank place (finishing a push up).
- Bounce each ft ahead, touchdown softly outdoors your dumbbells in a low squat.
- Barely hike the dumbbells between your legs as you stand tall, hinging your hips to explosively swing the dumbbells overhead, wrists stacked over shoulders.
- With management, decrease the dumbbells, returning to the beginning place.
6. Lateral Lunge and Knee Drive
Targets: Legs, quads, outer glutes (gluteus medius), interior thighs (adductors), hips, and core.

How To Do Lateral Lunges and Knee Drives
- Begin standing, ft hip-width aside, knees barely bent. Maintain one dumbbell vertically between each palms at your chest, elbows tucked in slim (goblet maintain).
- Step your proper leg out to the aspect as you push your hips again, bending your proper knee whereas leaving your left leg straight. Consider performing a single leg squat along with your proper leg.
- Then, drive off your proper foot to reverse the motion, pushing again to middle. As you come back to middle, stability in your left foot and carry out a knee drive on the suitable leg, proper thigh parallel to the bottom.
- Maintain this stability place for a second, then repeat.
7. Overhead Tricep Extensions
Targets: The lengthy head of the triceps and all of the stabilizing muscle tissue within the shoulders, core, glutes and decrease again muscle tissue.

How To Do Overhead Tricep Extensions
- Stand with ft hip-distance aside, core engaged and comfortable bend in your knees. Choice to stagger your ft to cut back stress on the decrease again.
- Maintain one dumbbell vertically overhead and activate your core by squeezing your glutes and abs to guard your decrease again.
- Bend your elbows to a 90-degree angle, bringing the dumbbell behind your head. Suppose ‘disguise the dumbbell, present the dumbbell’ for those who had been watching your self in a mirror. Maintain your elbows near your ears all through your entire motion (don’t let your elbows flare out as you fatigue).
8. Weighted Single Leg Sit Up and Toe Attain
Targets: The entire ab muscle tissue, together with the decrease abs, higher abs, obliques, hips, shoulders and chest.

How To Do Single Leg Sit Ups and Toe Reaches
- Begin mendacity flat in your again, knees bent and ft planted on the ground. Straighten your left knee so your left toes are floating off the ground. Maintain one dumbbell between each palms straight above your chest, wrists stacked over shoulders.
- Pull your stomach button in direction of your backbone to interact your stomach muscle tissue.
- Exhale as you raise your higher physique off the bottom, sitting as much as carry your torso in direction of your knees. On the identical time, pull your left toes in direction of your midline, aiming to faucet your left toes with the dumbbell.
- Inhale as you decrease down, returning to the beginning place.
9. Indirect V-Up
Targets: Exterior indirect, inside indirect, decrease abs, rectus abdominis and shoulder muscle tissue.

How To Do Indirect V-Ups
- Lie in your proper aspect on the mat. Maintain your physique in a straight line, along with your left leg stacked on prime of the suitable, slight bend within the knees. Maintain a dumbbell in your left hand overhead, left wrist stacked over left shoulder.
- Place your proper forearm on the mat, proper shoulder stacked over proper elbow. Take into consideration lifting up and out of your proper aspect to keep away from collapsing all the way down to the mat.
- Have interaction your core, particularly the obliques, and raise each legs up in direction of your left hand. Purpose to maintain your legs as straight as doable.
- Briefly maintain, then decrease the legs, hovering them off the mat.
FAQs
Feeling ab workout routines in your thighs, decrease again and hips or hip flexors generally is a signal the train is just too superior in your core, inflicting the stronger muscle tissue in your decrease physique to take over. Strive decreasing vary of movement or scaling again to the newbie model of every train to construct core energy.
When your core is engaged, it’s best to really feel a steady, even stress “cinching in” all through your midsection. Take into consideration pulling your stomach button in direction of your backbone and reducing the space between the underside of your ribs and your hip bones. It’s best to attempt participating your abs whereas mendacity in your again after which making an attempt to ‘sit up’.
Your ‘core’ truly consists of the 29 muscle tissue between your shoulders and pelvis. Together with: rectus abdominis (or your six pack ab muscle tissue), transverses abdominis, erector spinal, diaphragm, pelvic flooring, and glute muscle tissue.

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Pin This Exercise: Finest Exercise for Abs (Purposeful Energy)
