Fitness enthusiasts can choose from a variety of workout techniques to sculpt their waistline and strengthen their core. While many prefer to stick with traditional floor-based exercises, others may incorporate standing ab exercises for more engagement. These types of exercises tone your midsection while engaging multiple muscle groups and enhancing your results.
Along with engaging your abs, these techniques engage your obliques, glutes, and legs, and stabilise muscles. Research has shown that these dynamic movements burn more calories than isolated floor exercises. Today, we are exploring five standing ab exercises you can perform to slim your waist and boost core strength in just 30 days.
1. Standing Oblique Crunch
To create a more defined waistline, you can do the standing oblique crunch, which focuses on the oblique muscles along the sides of your torso. This technique is more challenging than traditional crunches, and it promotes balance and core stability. While this workout burns calories, it also encourages controlled movement.
How to Perform:
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and hands behind your head.
- Lift your right knee toward your right elbow while engaging your obliques.
- Return to the start and repeat on the opposite side.
- Alternate for 3 sets of 15–20 reps per side.
2. Standing Bicycle
Incorporating standing bicycle exercise into your workout routine can be twice as effective as a floor bicycle. While it mimics the movements of the traditional floor bicycle, it engages your legs. This exercise targets the abs, obliques, hip flexors, and lower body, improving functional strength.
How to Perform:
- Stand tall with feet hip-width apart and hands behind your head.
- Lift your right knee toward your chest and twist your torso to bring your left elbow to meet your knee.
- Alternate sides continuously for 3 sets of 20–30 reps (10–15 per side).
3. Dumbbell Side Bends
Side bends with dumbbells enhance resistance. Dumbbell side bends engage the obliques, promoting muscle growth. Another reason why this is a good addition to your fitness workout is because it encourages spinal flexibility. Additionally, as you consistently do this workout, you can increase the weight of the dumbbell for better results.
How to Perform:
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in one hand.
- Keeping your back straight, bend your torso to the side, lowering the dumbbell toward your knee.
- Return to the starting position, squeezing your obliques.
- Perform 12–15 reps per side for 3 sets total.
4. Woodchops
Another technique that is effective in defining your waistline is the woodchop. This standing ab exercise involves rotational movement that focuses on the transverse abdominis, obliques, and lower back. These, combined with the fact that it engage your shoulders and legs, result in a deep core muscle workout and enhanced coordination.
How to Perform:
- Hold a medicine ball, dumbbell, or resistance band with both hands.
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Begin with the weight over one shoulder, twisting your torso to bring it diagonally across to the opposite hip.
- Reverse the motion to return to start.
- Perform 3 sets of 12–15 reps per side.
5. High Knee with Twist
High knees with a twist are an effective way to burn calories and strengthen the oblique muscles, as it includes cardio. This workout blends heart-pumping cardio with targeted oblique engagement. As a result, it improves coordination, as well as sculpts your waist and burns fat.
How to Perform:
- Stand with feet hip-width apart, arms at your sides.
- Lift your left knee toward your chest, twisting your torso to bring your right elbow to meet the knee.
- Return to the start position and repeat on the opposite side.
- Perform 3 sets of 20–30 reps (10–15 per side).
