Lying, sitting, or kneeling during ab workouts isn’t for everyone — it might be injury, mobility, or health-related, or you might simply prefer exercising standing. Whatever the reason, this standing abs routine removes the fuss of getting onto the floor and just requires one of the best adjustable dumbbells. If you have a resistance band, bonus, but if you don’t, I guarantee you a fantastic core-torching routine regardless.
One reminder I always give to clients, as a personal trainer, is to engage your core properly, and to practice this a few times during the warm-up, either performing the same moves with your bodyweight or using a light weight first to engage the muscles and joints before adding load. Once you’re ready, follow along with these moves below, plus I include a five-move abs workout to try in your own time.
What are the 5 standing ab exercises?
Try these out.
1. Dumbbell "slams"
Medicine ball slams are well known, but did you know that you can substitute the ball with a dumbbell? Instead of throwing the weight down, tap it to the floor instead. I recommend a heavy weight for this one to help develop explosive core power.
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding one dumbbell in both hands
- Keep your chest lifted, slightly squat down, then tap the end of the dumbbell to the floor between your feet
- Keeping the weight close to your body, bend your elbows, then drive the dumbbell overhead
- Lock out your arms as you punch upwards
- Repeat, keeping your back straight and focusing on driving the weight with your legs and core.
2. Dumbbell Pallof press
The Pallof press is a popular anti-rotation exercise that works your stabilizer core muscles to prevent your torso from turning to one side. You could focus on just holding the dumbbell and performing the steps below without the resistance band, but use a resistance band if you have one.
- Tie a resistance band around something stable, like a squat rack or pole, then wrap it around the hande of your dumbbell
- Stand side-on to the anchor point of the resistance band and hold your weight with both hands close to your chest. Take a few steps away so that the band is taut
- Engage your core and stand tall with your shoulders relaxed away from your ears. Softly bend your knees
- Without twisting toward your anchor point, press the dumbbell away and extend both arms. Keep your hips square
- Pause and hold for five seconds while focusing on your breath
- Re-bend your elbows and control the weight back into your chest.
3. Dumbbell steering wheels
Steering wheels work your core while rinsing your shoulders and arms, engaging pretty much your whole upper body. Focus on control and a tall spine without arching your lower back, leaning back, or to one side.
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart with a dumbbell in both hands
- Extend your arms at shoulder height with a soft bend in your elbows
- Brace your stomach and pull your shoulders down away from your ears
- Begin rotating the weight clockwise and anti-clockwise without dropping your arms.
4. Dumbbell snatches
Snatches are a powerful exercise that involves driving a weight from the ground to the ceiling overhead. Focus on completeing one side, then moving to the other arm. When you feel more comfortable, try exchanging the weight every rep.
- Place a dumbbell between your feet
- Grip the weight overhand and hinge at the hips with your knees bent, chest lifted and back straight
- Engage your core
- Pull the dumbbell upward in a straight line close to your body, elbow bent
- Shrug your shoulders slightly and then punch the weight overhead as you stand fully
- Control the weight back down to the floor and go again.
5. Dumbbell twists
Standing dumbbell twists are a great alternative to Russian twists. Use a weight that you can control and ensure you're not experiencing back pain during the exercise, as this can signal a lack of core engagement.
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and brace your core muscles, holding a weight in both hands at stomach height. Avoid arching your back
- Either keep the weight close to your chest or extend your arms away from you
- Twist from side to side keeping your hips facing forward and knees softly bent.
Do standing ab workouts work?
Standing exercises are posture-improving and strengthening. Sometimes your legs can take away some of the momentum from your core, but you're unlikely to get that with the five moves above.
Each exercise targets multiple core muscles. For example, twisting movements engage your obliques, whereas the Pallof press focuses on whole core stability without moving your muscles through a range of motion.
To develop "tone,” this happens when you balance low body fat percentage with growing muscle, so while you can increase core muscle, stability, and strength, this doesn't guarantee a six-pack. Here are 5 reasons you can't see your abs yet (and how to change this).
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
More from Toms's Guide
- 5 best kettlebell exercises for beginners to build muscle and strength
- Less stretching, more mobility: 3 simple chair exercises for people over 60s (that don’t involve sitting)
- I built stronger legs in 10 minutes without squats or knee pain. Here's my chair workout everyone over 55 should be doing
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
