You need to lose body fat and build up your abs if you want them to stand out. Even though crunches and sit-ups work your abs, they don’t work as many core muscles, like your obliques, as useful core movements do. Boys’ Life asked Travis Brown, M.S., C.S.C.S., how to work out the whole core to get really ripped.
“The core needs to be trained in different planes of motion, and the problem with a typical crunch or sit-up is that it’s working in one plane of motion,” Brown says.
“The body is basically a cylinder or a spiral, and therefore, muscles attach not just north and south—but they attach and function by twisting, rotating, pushing, and pulling,” he adds.
You can add these eight useful core exercises to any workout to get stronger, better at what you do, and ripped.
8 Functional Core Exercises
To finish a strength and fitness workout, do one of these exercises. Do three to five sets of six to twelve reps each. If your core is weak, do one of these routines first when you work out.
1. Pushup With Renegade Row
Put two dumbbells on the floor, shoulder-width apart, so they are straight up. Hold the bars in your hands and do a push-up. First do a push-up, and then use your right arm to row while your left arm is down. Lay your right arm back on the floor and use your left arm to row. Lay your left arm back on the ground. Say it again.
2. Pushup on Suspension Trainer
How to do it: Facing the ground, put your left arm out in front of you inside a suspension sleeve or handle. Pull your right arm back and put your hand in the other sleeve or handle at shoulder height. As you raise your left arm, push down on your right arm to make it longer. Say it again.
3. Dumbbell Lunge With Rotational Press
Hold two dumbbells at shoulder height to do it. To do a lunge, step forward with your left leg and press the dumbbell across your face with your right hand. As you press the object, turn your head to the left. While you press the right barbell, the left one stays at your shoulder.
Pro tip: When you first start, stretch first and then press. Do the move all at once for a more difficult move. Put your feet together and stand up. Step out with your right foot every so often.
4. Medicine Ball Lunge With Rotation
Holding a medicine ball out in front of you, stretch your arms straight out. Lunge forward and backward, then turn your body left and right. Put your feet back together, switch which leg is leading, and do it again.
5. Dumbbell Lunge to Overhead Press
The right leg should be out in front of you while you hold both dumbbells at your shoulders. Put your feet together and lift the dumbbells above your head. Start over, put your right foot out, and do it again.
6. Medicine Ball Lunge to Overhead Raise
To do it, hold a medicine ball in your hands and extend your arms high. Drop your left leg and lunge forward. Reach the medicine ball down to your toe and then raise it back up over your head. Don’t bend your arms. Put your feet back together. Say it again.
7. Single-Arm Barbell Lateral Pull
To do it, stand with your back straight and your legs bent at a 45-degree angle. Your right foot should be back and your right arm should be on the bar if your left foot is out front. Bring the dumbbell up to your shoulder from the ground. While you’re pulling, turn your hips toward the bar. Change the arms. Say it again.
8. Medicine Ball Lunge With Overhead Tilt
To do it, hold a medicine ball in your hands and extend your arms high. Stand with your left leg bent and lean forward. Tilt your body to the left and right. Change the legs of the lead. Say it again.
