The Best Standing Ab Exercises To Strengthen Your Core

Having a strong core is essential to overall health and fitness. In addition to providing a set of rock-hard abs, solid core muscles are also vital to your overall stability and posture, and given that they're involved in almost every major exercise, help to make your overall workout performance better (per the Mayo Clinic). And anyone familiar with core exercises will know that you're normally spending a lot of time on the floor, on your back, doing endless crunches and sit-ups, and counting down the seconds until they're over.

But let's mix it up a bit. What if we told you that you can work out your core ... while standing? We know, your minds are blown. But in fact, standing core exercises are not only a refreshing change from floor work, but also provide their own benefits. 

"With standing ab work, you can achieve a greater range of motion working the abdominal muscles through their entire length," says Board30 founder Floery Mahoney. Standing ab exercises are also not only based around more functional movements that you do in daily life, but they put less strain on your neck muscles, and stop you from having to get up and down endlessly in your workout, according to Mahoney. So far, so good — but which ones are right for you? Let's go explore!

The regular bird dog exercise, performed on your knees on a mat, is one of the best moves you can do to target your entire core (per SELF). But they can be problematic for people who have trouble kneeling or bearing weight on their knees or wrists, so doing it in a standing position could be the perfect adjustment. Not only does it hit your core hard, but it'll also test your stability and balance, especially if you're doing it in a slow, controlled motion (per Healthline).

Begin standing facing forward, with your feet at shoulder-width. Your arms should be hanging loosely by each side. Lift one of your arms, and the opposing leg at the same time, bedding your knee in front of you and inhaling as you do so. Make sure that your other limbs don't move. Keep lifting until the raised arm is pointing toward the ceiling, fully extended above your head, and your leg is bent at a 90-degree angle to your body. Hold the position there briefly, and then return your limbs to the starting position, on an exhale, before repeating with the other arm and leg.

We love an exercise move that has a catchy name. But the wood chop has more going for it than just invoking images of standing in your garden felling trees: It's also an excellent standing core move. The wood chop (named, as you can probably guess, because it mimics the movement of chopping wood) is also a fantastic way to fire up other parts of your body, with the exercise not only working out your abs and obliques, but also activating your lower back, lower body, and shoulders, explains Spotebi.

Grab a dumbbell, and stand up straight, holding the weight in front of you. Lift the dumbbell up and to the side while simultaneously rotating your body, until you're holding it above and away from you, extended out from your body. Next, bring the dumbbell back down and across your body — without bending your arms — squatting and rotating your core until you're holding it next to your other knee, in a wood-chopping movement. Keep your core engaged while you do the move, and don't twist your feet — they should remain pointing forward.

Core exercises frequently involve a crunching or contracting motion, bringing the upper and lower body together to work the abs. But an equally-brilliant result can be obtained from working with overhead resistance, notes Runner's World. Standing ab exercises are uniquely placed to work with overhead weight to target your core, and this can assist in working your obliques and deep core muscles, essential for providing balance and stability during other activities like running, advises strength and running coach Jess Movold.

Few exercises involve overhead resistance as well as the dumbbell pull-over. Grab a dumbbell, and hold it in front of you, with your arms extended (but not locked) and your back straight. Then, keeping your arms straight, lift the dumbbell up and over your head, activating your core as you do so. Once your arms are extended over your head, pause briefly, and then bring the weight back down, moving slowly and keeping your core engaged. If you feel tension or activation through your shoulders, the weight is likely too heavy, so switch it out for a lighter one. Complete around 12 reps of the exercise before resting.

While some standing ab exercises are pretty simple, others can be harder to perfect. But nothing worth having ever comes free, right? That's why we think it's worth your time to master the kettlebell windmill. While potentially tricky at first, the kettlebell windmill will fire up your abs and obliques while also challenging your balance — and the wide-ranging movement of the exercise helps to develop better mobility.

Begin by standing with your feet slightly wider than usual, and turn one of them out to the side, keeping the other pointing straight forward. Take a kettlebell, and hold it above your head, holding it on the side of the pointing-forward foot. Then, bend your body toward the pointed-out foot, allowing your glutes and hips to push back in the direction of the other leg as you do so. As you bend, bring your free hand down to meet your foot, keeping your body straight, and holding the kettlebell above you at all times. You should watch the weight as you do this movement to maintain form (and make sure, naturally, that you're not going to drop it). Then, return your body to its original position, maintaining form as you do so, before repeating.

It feels like there are thousands of workout moves that promise to give you a rock-hard six-pack — but what about your obliques? Those moves can be slightly harder to find, and those muscles harder to focus on. That's where the band core rotation comes in. Using a twisting motion, this move works deep into your obliques, while also activating the other muscles throughout your core, according to Cam Byrnes, personal trainer and training advisor to Men's Health Australia (via Men's Health).

To do this move, you'll need a resistance band and exercise rack, or something equally as sturdy. Tie the resistance band to the rack at about navel height, and stand next to it, holding it across your body with the hand furthest away. Pull the resistance band toward you, and as you do so, rotate your core, so that your body is turning away from the rack. You can use your other hand to stabilize your body, by placing it lightly on the band. Once your body has rotated as far as is comfortable, return to the starting position, and immediately rotate again, for 10 reps. Then, switch sides and repeat without resting, before flipping back to the other side, alternating for four sets in total.

Now and again, an exercise move comes along that just looks fun to do. And that's why we love overhead circles, which use a somewhat unconventional movement for ab exercises to help sculpt your core. Don't be fooled by how simple it looks, though: The movement for overhead circles may not be vast, but the effect certainly will be (per Healthline).

Grab a dumbbell, and stand upright on your mat, with length through your spine and your neck long and relaxed. Then, lift your dumbbell above your head, holding it with a hand on either end. Activate your core, and start to move the dumbbell above you in horizontal circles, as though you're drawing a hoop above your head. As you do this, your torso should move too, rotating slightly in line with the rotation of the dumbbell. Repeat the movement in the same direction for as many reps as you like (try aiming for 10-15 to begin, and see how you feel), and then repeat the movement in the opposite direction, before resting.

Now, we don't know about you, but when we do our workouts, we like to feel strong. And few movements will help you do that like the warrior balance — not just because it's got a pretty cool-sounding name. The warrior balance uses a slow, controlled movement to tone your core, while also providing a serious challenge to your balance and stability and activation through the lower body.

Stand up straight, and then shift your weight onto one leg, as SELF explains. Raise the knee of your other leg in front of you, until it's at a 90-degree angle, and hold your hands out in front of you too, bent at the elbow. Then at the same time, extend your upper body and arms forward while extending your bent leg backward, maintaining balance through the supporting leg as you do so. Keep going until you've got a long, straight line, from the tips of your fingers to the heel of your foot. Hold the position there, and then return your leg and body to the original position, with your knee in front of you — repeat the balance pose 10 times before switching to the other foot.