3 Best Ab Exercises and Workouts for a Defined Six Pack | Legion

When people refer to the “abs,” they’re typically talking about all the muscles that wrap around your midsection, including:

• Rectus abdominis
• Transverse abdominis
• Obliques (internal and external)

Here’s how they look:

Grasping the anatomy of your abs helps you understand which areas you need to train to ensure you develop a balanced, defined midsection.

The abs have two primary functions: Stabilizing and flexing the spine. In other words, they keep your torso upright and stable, and they bring your chest toward your hips (or vice versa).

To train them properly, you should focus on ab exercises that strengthen both of these movements. Here’s what works best:

To build a strong, shredded core, your ab workouts shouldn’t only include the three types of exercises mentioned earlier—they should incorporate weighted ab exercises whenever possible, too. 

Each exercise on this short list allows you to progressively overload your core, making them perfect for sculpting a six-pack: 

1. Cable crunch
2. Oblique cable crunch
3. Weighted hanging leg raise
4. Weighted captain’s chair leg raise
5. Weighted sit-up
6. Decline weighted sit-up

These ab workouts for men and women contain all the best ab-shredding exercises. Give them a try and watch your core transform.

1. Adjust the pulley on a cable machine to the highest setting and attach the rope attachment. 
2. Facing the cable machine, grab one end of the rope in each hand and step back to support the weight.
3. Kneel on the floor, pulling the rope down until both ends are in front of your forehead.
4. Adjust your body so that your thighs are perpendicular to the floor and your shoulders are ahead of your hips.
5. Without moving your arms or hips, pull your elbows to your thighs by rounding your spine.
6. Reverse the movement and return to the starting position. 

How to Progress: Use a weight that allows you to do at least 10 reps per set but not more than 20. Once you can do 20 reps with that weight, add 5 pounds and work up to 20 reps with that weight. Keep increasing the weight and reps in this manner.

1. Place your back against the back pad on a captain’s chair station, grab the handles, and rest your forearms on the arm pads. 
2. Support your body weight on your arms and let your feet hang straight down. 
3. With a slight bend in your knees, flex your abs and lift your legs up in an arc until your thighs are parallel to the ground. 
4. Reverse the movement and return to the starting position.

How to Progress: Start by aiming for 10 reps per set with no added weight. Once you can do 20 reps per set, hold a 5-pound dumbbell between your feet. When you reach 20 reps with that weight, increase the load by 5 pounds, and keep progressing in this way until the dumbbell becomes unwieldy—usually around 20-to-30 pounds. At that point, switch to a more challenging ab exercise, like the weighted hanging leg raise.

1. Lie on your back with your fingers touching your temples or the back of your head. 
2. Lift your legs off the ground and bend your knees to 90 degrees, so your shins are parallel with the ground. 
3. Flex your abs and lift your torso a few inches off the ground.
4. Straighten your right leg, keeping your foot a couple of inches off the floor, while twisting your torso so your right elbow touches your left knee. 
5. Bring your right leg back to the starting position and straighten your left leg, twisting your torso so your left elbow touches your right knee. 

How to Progress: Once you can do 30 reps (total) in all 3 sets, switch to the oblique cable crunch or ab wheel rollout.

1. Lie on a sit-up bench with your feet wedged under the foot pads. 
2. Using both hands, hold a weight plate directly above your chest with your arms straight (or hold the weight against your chest with your arms crossed). 
3. Keeping your arms perpendicular to the floor and your back flat, use your ab muscles to lift your chest toward the ceiling until your lower back comes off the bench.
4. Reverse the movement and return to the starting position.

How to Progres: You may not need added weight at first, but once you’re strong enough, start by aiming for 10 reps per set while holding a 5-pound plate or dumbbell. When you can comfortably do 20 reps with the added weight, increase it by 5 pounds and continue progressing in this manner.

1. Lie on a flat bench with your butt at the bottom of the bench, your arms at your sides, and your hands gripping the sides of the pad for support.
2. Lift your legs so that they’re parallel with the floor and bring your feet together. 
3. Using your lower abs, lift your legs in an arc toward the ceiling until they are vertical or slightly past vertical, and your lower back lifts off the bench.
4. Reverse the movement and return to the starting position.

How to Progress: Once you can do 20 reps in all 3 sets, switch to the captain’s chair leg raise. 

1. Kneel on the floor with an ab wheel in front of you. 
2. With your arms fully extended, core braced, and back flat, grab the handles of the ab wheel and slowly roll the wheel away from you. 
3. Roll the wheel until your body is as close to parallel with the floor as possible.
4. Roll yourself back to the starting position by flexing your abs.

How to Progress: Start by performing the exercise with your knees and feet on the floor. As you build strength, cross your feet and lift them a few inches to increase the difficulty. Once that becomes manageable, focus on slowing down each rep. When you’re able to do 3 sets of 20 slow rollouts with your feet elevated, it’s time to move on to a more advanced exercise.

1. Adjust the pulley on a cable machine to the highest setting and attach the rope attachment. 
2. Facing the cable machine, grab one end of the rope in each hand and take a step back to support the weight.
3. Kneel on the floor, pulling the rope down until both ends are in front of your forehead.
4. Adjust your body so that your thighs are perpendicular to the floor and your shoulders are ahead of your hips.
5. Without moving your arms or hips, pull your right elbow to your left knee by turning your torso and rounding your spine.
6. Reverse the movement, then repeat the process, pulling your left elbow to your right knee.

How to Progress: Use a weight that allows you to do at least 10 reps per set but not more than 20. Once you can do 20 reps with that weight, add 5 pounds and work up to 20 reps with that weight. Keep increasing the weight and reps in this manner.

1. Grip a pull-up bar with your palms facing away from you and slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, then lift your feet so that you’re hanging with your arms straight. 
2. While keeping your legs as straight as possible and without swinging your feet or knees, lift your feet toward the ceiling until your thighs are parallel with the floor.
3. Reverse the movement and return to the starting position.

How to Progress: If you’re not yet strong enough to perform the exercise with straight legs, start by bending your knees and lifting them until your thighs are parallel to the floor. As you get stronger, gradually work toward straightening your legs. 

Once you can do 20 reps per set with straight legs, add resistance by holding a 5-pound dumbbell between your feet. When you can do 3 sets of 20 reps with that weight, increase the load by 5 pounds. Continue progressing in this manner until the weight becomes too difficult to hold—typically around 20-to-30 pounds—and then switch to the cable crunch.

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent. 
2. Plant your feet flat on the floor and wedge your toes underneath something heavy or have a training partner pin them down. 
3. Cross your arms over your chest or rest your hands against the back of your head (don’t pull on your neck, though). 
4. Curl your torso toward your knees until your back is perpendicular to the floor.
5. Reverse the motion and return to the starting position.

How to Progress: If you’re new to sit-ups, aim for 20 reps per set with just your body weight. Once you can do 30 reps per set, perform the exercise holding a 5-pound plate or dumbbell against your chest. When you can do 30 reps per set with the added weight, increase it by 5 pounds and continue progressing in this manner.

You have three options for structuring your ab workouts:

If you’re already doing a lot of heavy, compound weightlifting, one good ab workout per week is plenty. You can do this as a stand-alone session or tack it onto the end of one of your regular workouts (my preferred method).

If your training is isolation-exercise heavy, or if you want to prioritize ab development, do two ab workouts weekly on non-consecutive days.

If you’re doing one ab workout per week, switch to a new workout every 8-to-10 weeks. For example, after 8-to-10 weeks of Ab Workout #1, move on to Ab Workout #2, stick with it for another 8-to-10 weeks, then switch to Ab Workout #3, and so on.

If you’re doing two ab workouts per week, you have two options:

1. Stick with the same workout twice a week for 8-to-10 weeks. After that, switch to the next workout.
2. Do Ab Workout #1 for your first workout of the week and Ab Workout #2 for your second. After 8-to-10 weeks, rotate Ab Workout #2 to your first workout and Ab Workout #3 to your second. Continue this pattern every 8-to-10 weeks.

Ab Workouts: Key Takeaways

Building a strong, defined six-pack doesn’t require endless hours of training or complicated routines.

What matters most is that you do ab exercises that train both key functions of the abs—flexing and stabilizing the spine—and allow you to employ progressive overload (weighted ab exercises are best for this).

You can easily integrate these exercises into your regular training, too. While there are a few ways to do it, incorporating ab supersets into 1-to-2 of your weekly workouts is the most time-efficient. 

If you’re already doing a lot of heavy, compound weightlifting, one focused ab workout per week is enough to sculpt your core. However, if your routine includes fewer compound movements or you want to prioritize ab development, two ab workouts per week will yield better results. 

No, ab workouts aren’t typically considered cardio. They primarily focus on strengthening and building muscle in your core. That said, some ab exercises can elevate your heart rate, especially if you perform them back to back or in ab supersets. Still, they won’t give you the same metabolic or cardiovascular benefits of traditional cardio.

No, coughing won’t build your abs. It involves your core muscles, but not enough to stimulate growth. For that, follow the workouts in this article.