Abs: exercises and how to train them
Abs work in two modes: they bend the torso — crunches and leg raises — and keep it from bending — planks and the ab wheel. You need both, with load, like any other muscle.
What these muscles do
The rectus abdominis bends your spine and pulls your pelvis toward your ribs, the obliques twist and side-bend the torso, and the deep core keeps it rigid under a bar. In squats and deadlifts your abs brace, but to grow they need their own load: weight on cable crunches, a slow ab wheel, hanging leg raises. A visible six-pack only shows at a low body-fat percentage — that's about food, not the number of crunches.
Exercises with technique breakdowns
30 more exercises in the catalog
- Decline Crunch
- Hanging Knee Raise
- Lying Leg Raise
- Bicycle Crunch
- Russian Twist
- Reverse Crunch
- Ab Crunch Machine
- Pallof Press
- Cable Wood Chop
- Dumbbell Side Bend
- Dead Bug
- Sit-Up
- Cable Seated Crunch
- Cross-Body Crunch
- Floor Oblique Crunch
- Decline Oblique Crunch
- Flat Bench Leg Pull-In
- Barbell Side Bend
- One-Arm Cable Side Bend
- Barbell Ab Rollout
- Decline Reverse Crunch
- Bent-Knee Hip Raise
- Crunch With Hands Overhead
- Cable Reverse Crunch
- Rope Crunch
- Standing Rope Crunch
- Jackknife Sit-Up
- Cable Russian Twist
- Oblique Crunches
- Seated Barbell Twist
They're all in the diary: find one by name in the bot or the app, and I'll remember the weight and reps.
How to train them
- Progress like any other lift: add weight on the cable or reps on the bar, not minutes to an endless plank.
- In crunches bend your spine — ribs to pelvis — instead of pulling on your head.
- In leg raises curl your pelvis up, otherwise the hip flexors do most of the work.
- The ab wheel is hard: start from your knees with a short range.
Programs and sets for this group
| Program | Sets per cycle | Days per cycle |
|---|---|---|
| Full Body — 3 Days | 9 | 3 |
| Full Body — 2 Days | 6 | 2 |
| Upper / Lower | 3 | 2 |
| Push / Pull / Legs | 3 | 3 |
| Glutes & Legs — 3 Days | 3 | 3 |
Sets for one pass through all of the program's days, by its own schemes. A deadlift set is split in half between back and hamstrings — the way the diary counts it.
Log your workouts — I'll show how many sets a week you give this group.