If you wince when you think of ab workouts, you’re not alone. Pilates enthusiasts aside, most of us don’t enjoy working our core muscles with exercises like planks and crunches, which is why standing ab exercises come in so handy.
Not only can you avoid sweaty gym floors or getting up close and personal with your living room carpet, but they are also the best core exercises to do at home, says Kate Rowe-Ham, a certified personal trainer, women’s fitness coach and strength specialist, who is also the founder of the fitness platform Owning Your Menopause.
“Standing ab exercises train your core in a way that mimics how you use it every day—upright, moving, twisting, rotating and stabilising, so they are more functional than planks,” she explains.
Want to give them a try? Here, Rowe-Ham reveals her favourite three standing ab exercises and how to do them.
What are standing ab exercises?
These are designed to target the core muscles, including the abdominals and obliques, from a standing position. Doing these not only boosts strength in the trunk, but also has benefits for the entire body. “They improve posture and balance while being easier on the wrists, shoulders and lower back,” says Rowe-Ham. “This makes them a brilliant alternative for anyone who struggles with a plank.”
You can do standing ab exercises as part of a dumbbell core workout or a bodyweight workout for beginners, depending on your current fitness levels.
How to do standing ab exercises
Standing wood chop
“[This is a fantastic, full-core move that mimics how we actually move in everyday life, reaching, twisting and lifting,” says Rowe-Ham.
“It builds rotational strength, targets the deep core muscles (like the transverse abdominis), and teaches your body to generate and control force, a skill we use for everything from putting on a seatbelt to carrying shopping bags. It’s powerful, functional, and satisfying.”
How to do it:
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and clasp your hands together.
If you’re doing it with a dumbbell or medicine ball, hold it securely.
Start with your arms raised diagonally above one shoulder.
Rotate through your torso and “chop” down across your body towards the opposite hip.
Return to the starting position with control and repeat.
Standing side bend
Don’t underestimate this one, Rowe-Ham warns. It may look easy, but it “directly targets the obliques, improves side-to-side movement and supports better posture and spinal alignment”.
“It’s brilliant for strengthening the muscles around your waist, which help protect your lower back,” she says.
How to do it:
Stand tall with feet hip-width apart.
You can do it with your hands behind your head (bodyweight version) or by holding a dumbbell in one hand down by your side.
From there, slowly bend your torso to one side, as if you’re trying to reach your rib towards your hip.
Squeeze through your obliques to come back up.
Keep your hips square and avoid leaning forward or backwards.
Standing side crunch
We promised no planks, but crunches are still on the menu, and standing side crunches are one of the best. “It’s a brilliant way to fire up both the obliques and the lower abs while also working your balance, coordination and hip mobility,” says Rowe-Ham. “Because you’re moving dynamically, your heart rate lifts, too, so it gives you a little cardio boost alongside core strengthening.”
Here’s how to do a standing side crunch:
Start standing tall with your hands lightly behind your head.
Drive your right knee up towards your right elbow, crunching through the side of your waist.
Lower back down and repeat on the same side before switching, or alternate sides throughout.
To make it harder, hold a light dumbbell or small ball overhead as you bring your elbow and knee together.
Not keen on crunches? You could always try shoulder taps or leg raises instead to fire up your obliques and lower core muscles.
Do standing ab exercises really work?
Yes, they are a great way to improve your core strength and boost full-body stability, mobility and balance, says Rowe-Ham. “They train your core in the way it’s actually designed to function. Unlike floor-based movement, where you’re braced against the ground, standing work forces your muscles to stabilise you against gravity while you move,” she explains.
But the benefits don’t stop there. “They also activate the deep stabilisers, like the transverse abdominis, obliques and muscles around your spine and hips,” she says. “These are the muscles that keep you upright, protect your lower back and help you resist unwanted twists or wobbles when you’re walking, lifting or even just carrying a shopping bag.”
How often should you do standing ab exercises?
Little and often is the key to building a stronger core with standing ab exercises, says Rowe-Ham. “Just 10 to 15 minutes, two to three times a week can make a real difference to your strength, posture and stability,” she says. “The trick is consistency. Try a set of side bend while the kettle’s boiling, a few standing side crunches after you’ve been sitting at your desk for a while, or some wood chops while you’re waiting for dinner to cook.”
It’s the little bursts like this that add up over time, she notes, so you can train your core muscles and reap the benefits without having to spend dedicated time on a dumbbell core workout, for instance.
Standing ab exercises versus plank
Comfort: As Rowe-Ham notes, standing ab exercises don’t put pressure on the lower back, wrists or shoulders like regular planks do, which can make them a great alternative for those with existing discomfort in these areas.
Functionality: Standing ab exercises are functional fitness exercises as they so closely mirror everyday movements, like picking things up off the floor. There’s very little in life that mirrors the classic plank. This makes standing ab exercises one of the best exercises for longevity, too.
Versatile: Both planks and these standing movements are versatile enough to add to a plethora of workouts, whether that’s sessions on the treadmill or traditional weight training. You can also do them anywhere, with no equipment.
Making them harder: It’s a lot easier to make standing ab exercises harder with equipment like cables, resistance bands, dumbbells or kettlebells. The easiest way to make a plank harder is by holding it for longer or balancing a weight plate on your back, but this can lead to injury, and most people will need to do it at the gym.