3 best exercises for ab workouts at the gym you're not already doing

Sep 28, 2023

Hitting the gym? Give these a try

If you’re bored of sit-ups and reverse crunches and can’t stand the sight of another plank or Russian twist, we seriously feel you. So stash away the worn-out ab exercises for a rainy day, and try these three ab moves instead.

It can take a lot of mental energy to keep things creative in the gym while still ticking boxes on progressive overload (you know, that crucial muscle and strength-building method), tracking goals and staying motivated and consistent.

These ab exercises below don’t reinvent the wheel, but they certainly shake things up. We even provide a three-move ab workout you can do to bring them all together. Next time you head to the gym, these are the three exercises to include.

You’ve likely read articles promising to chisel more defined abs using “just this one workout.” Fake news. No standalone workout shreds fat.

“Abs” refer to your rectus abdominis or the “six-pack” muscles. But your core consists of a network of muscles, including superficial ones like the abs and deeper, stabilizing muscles that support your torso, like the transverse abdominis.

These intricate muscles work as a unit, wrap around your torso, hug the spine and extend to your glutes and hips, keeping your body robust. So, a core workout worth its salt will target more than just your abs. But most importantly, regularly training your core will help build lean muscle mass and strength in the area.

This helps create midsection definition, but you’ve essentially done the groundwork. How well you can see your abs heavily relies on a low body fat percentage, and you can’t spot-reduce fat. That’s where other factors like genetics, diet, stress, lifestyle and overall daily activity (also known as NEAT) have an impact.

Find out why you can’t see your abs yet, despite working out to learn more.

You only need a suspension trainer, one barbell and one of the best treadmills to try these moves. Here they are

The tuck engages your core muscles, lower back and hip flexor muscles, similar to plank tucks. The push-ups engage your triceps, anterior deltoids and pectoral muscles. This combo move engages the entire body using a high plank and knee drive.

How:

Like an ab wheel rollout, the move targets your arms, shoulders, chest, lats, core, lower back and hip flexor muscles. The barbell is heavier and harder to roll out, creating more tension to work against and, arguably, requires more control. Some ab wheels use coil spring resistance to help guide you back, but you don’t get that here.

But if you have unstable shoulders, you might find the wider surface area of the barbell easier to grip and navigate.

How:

For this exercise, turn the treadmill off and drive the belt with your body weight alone. It’s basically a mountain climber on steroids, increasing tension and demand on your body. The move targets the same muscles as mountain climbers, targeting your entire body and torching your legs and core muscles as they work far harder to drive movement.

How:

Work for 45 seconds, then rest for 15 seconds and repeat each exercise for five rounds. Try not to rest between rounds, but if you're a beginner, give yourself 30-60 seconds to recover.

If you're currently experiencing shoulder pain, ab rollouts might not be for you. Check with a personal trainer before starting these exercises, and stop if pain persists.

To progress the ab rollout, start in a standing position.

Instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.

Sam Hopes is a level III fitness trainer, level II reiki practitioner, and resident fitness writer at Future PLC, the publisher of Tom's Guide. Having trained to work with mind and body, Sam is a big advocate of using mindfulness techniques in sport and fitness, and their impact on performance. She’s also passionate about the fundamentals of training and building sustainable training methods. When she's writing up her experiences with the latest fitness tech, you’ll find her writing about nutrition, sleep, recovery, and workouts.

Windshield wipers: How to do them and the benefits for blasting your core

Exclusive: Here’s Kayla Itsines’ 5-move ab workout for firing up your core in 15 minutes

Best iPad keyboards in 2023

By John CarrollJuly 31, 2023

By Nick PinoJuly 31, 2023

By Lee BellJuly 30, 2023

By Malcolm McMillanJuly 30, 2023

By Jane McGuireJuly 29, 2023

By Lucy GornallJuly 28, 2023

By Ruth HamiltonJuly 27, 2023

By Jessica DowneyJuly 27, 2023

By Richard PridayJuly 27, 2023

By Jane McGuireJuly 26, 2023

By Sam HopesJuly 25, 2023