Four Killer Ab Exercises You Can Do Without Equipment

Up for an ab workout challenge but don’t have the equipment? Here are four exercises that will exhaust your abs fully without sparing a single muscle in the area.

Regular Crunches

This is the one you have probably seen a thousand times already, and for good reason. Because regular crunches train the “rectus abdominis” muscle – the top most ab muscle that gives your belly the six-pack look:

Twisted Crunches

While the regular crunch isolates the main ab muscle pretty well, there is another one that we shouldn’t forget: the oblique ab muscles (or side abs):

Planks

These guys are static, which sounds a bit boring. But if you have never done planks before, you’ll be surprised what muscles they get to work. Because their main targets are the “main” abs (for regular planks) and the obliques (for side planks), but along work a lot of smaller muscles that you hardly ever engage in most other exercises, especially the deep abdominal muscles:

How To Use These

If all you are looking for is training your abs, then doing each of these for three sets in 2 – 3 workouts per week should do the job. But don’t forget to keep the body fat in check if you want them abs, otherwise it won’t work.

You can of course also make this part of (the end of) your regular workout routine, which will give it a more ab-centric orientation.