Best Ab & Core Exercises

The best ab exercises are the ones you can actually load and progress: hanging leg raises, cable crunches, and ab wheel rollouts. Side planks cover the obliques, and dead bugs teach the bracing the other three depend on. Work them in the 8 to 15 rep range, two or three sessions a week.

The 5 best ab and core exercises

  1. Hanging Leg RaiseLoadable bodyweight

    Hip flexion plus a pelvic curl at the top, and you can pin a dumbbell between your feet.

  2. Cable CrunchLoadable isolation

    Easy to add a plate, and curling the ribs toward the hips keeps tension off the hip flexors.

  3. Ab Wheel RolloutAnti-extension work

    Loads the abs at long muscle length; roll out only as far as you can keep ribs down.

  4. Side PlankBodyweight obliques

    Covers the sideways brace crunch patterns miss, and needs nothing but floor space.

  5. Dead BugBeginner-friendly

    Teaches ribs-down bracing while the limbs move, so heavier lifts stop turning into back arches.

Every ab and core exercise (14)

Below is every ab and core movement in the FORMA library, with demos, cues and the muscles each one hits. Swap between them as equipment allows, or add any of them to a custom workout.

Plank demonstrationPlankAbs · BodyweightSide Plank demonstrationSide PlankObliques · BodyweightCrunch demonstrationCrunchAbs · BodyweightBicycle Crunch demonstrationBicycle CrunchObliques · BodyweightHanging Leg Raise demonstrationHanging Leg RaiseLower Abs · BodyweightRussian Twist demonstrationRussian TwistObliques · BodyweightAb Wheel Rollout demonstrationAb Wheel RolloutAbs · BodyweightMountain Climber demonstrationMountain ClimberAbs · BodyweightCable Crunch demonstrationCable CrunchAbs · CableHanging Knee Raise demonstrationHanging Knee RaiseAbs · BodyweightCable Woodchopper demonstrationCable WoodchopperObliques · CableDead Bug demonstrationDead BugAbs · BodyweightV-Up demonstrationV-UpAbs · BodyweightFlutter Kicks demonstrationFlutter KicksAbs · Bodyweight

Common questions

How often should you train abs?

Two or three sessions a week is enough for most people. Abs recover about as fast as any other muscle, so daily ab circuits mostly cost you time. Put two or three movements at the end of a lifting day, three to four sets each, and add reps or weight week to week.

Do ab exercises burn belly fat?

No. You cannot choose where fat comes off, so crunches do not strip fat from your waist specifically. Visible abs come from overall body fat dropping, which is a food and total-activity problem. Ab training builds the muscle underneath so there is something to see when the fat does come off.

Do you still need direct ab work if you squat and deadlift?

Yes, if you want the abs to grow. Heavy squats and deadlifts train the trunk to stay rigid under load, but they rarely take the abs through a full range or anywhere near failure. Direct work like hanging leg raises and cable crunches does that job in five extra minutes.

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