Standing Abdominal Exercises

There are actually a number of great core-intensive exercises you can do standing. And these Standing Core Exercises can be a great way to work your core in every plane of motion and get in a great full-body workout.

They are some of the best ways to work your core because they work your core in a compound movement instead of simply isolating your abs. That means you can burn more calories in less time and you also strengthen your core in a functional way that helps you lift more and move better in everyday life.

If you are looking to add some variety to your workouts and challenge your core in a new way, try these 20 Standing Core Exercises.

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These Standing Core Exercises use everything from your bodyweight to basic equipment like dumbbells and resistance bands and even unconventional tools like the landmine and kettlebell. They are all super core-intensive full-body movements that can be done without getting down on the ground!

This is a great move to work your entire core, including everything from your shoulders to your knees. The lunge portion works your legs as the reach low then high with rotation works your abs, back, shoulders and arms. It is a great functional rotational movement that mimics picking something up on one side of your body and putting it up on something on the other side of your body.

To do the Lunge and Reach, hold a dumbbell (if you use weight) in both hands. Then sink down into a lunge and extend your arms with the dumbbell down outside your front knee. Make sure that as you sink into the lunge you aren’t rounding forward to reach the dumbbell lower toward the ground. Keep your front heel on the ground and your foot slightly turned out.

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After lunging and reaching your arms straight down outside your knee, pull the dumbbell in toward your chest as you stand up and pivot toward the opposite side. As you pivot toward the other side, press the dumbbell out and up overhead. Make sure that as you pivot across and up with the weight, you pivot your back leg so that your hip, knee and ankle all extend.

Then lower back down, bringing the weight back down to your chest and then back down outside your knee as you pivot and sink back into a deep lunge. Make sure you pivot to lunge and press. Complete all reps to one side before switching.

Do not round over to reach the weight lower. And when you stand up, make sure to engage your glute and stand tall with the weight pressed up and out.

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The Squat to Oblique Knee Crunch is a great way to strengthen your legs as well as your obliques. And because it is a quick, full-body move, it will also get your blood pumping and heart rate up.

To do the Squat to Oblique Knee Crunch,  start standing with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Place your hands up by your head with your elbows out. You can even place your hands behind your head.

Then sit your butt back and squat down, keeping your hands up and your back flat. Do not round forward or let your heels come up. Sink as low as you can.

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Driving through your heels, come back up to standing. As you stand up, drive one knee up and out to the side as you crunch your elbow down to met your knee. Feel your obliques work to lift and crunch your knee and elbow together.

After crunching your knee and elbow together, place your foot back down and repeat the squat before performing an oblique knee crunch to the other side. Really focus on crunching your elbow down as you lift your knee up and out to the side. Feel your oblique working and even your quad as you crunch.

This slow paced squat with chest press will work your shoulders, upper back, abs, glutes and quads. And while it will be tempting to rush through the movement as you fatigue, you will get more out of it if you keep the pace slow.

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To do the Squat with Chest Press, stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and a dumbbell, plate weight, sandbag or even a kettlebell held in both hands up at your chest. Do not shrug your shoulders as you hold the weight.

Then squat down, sitting your butt back as you keep your chest up. Sit back in your heels as you squat to parallel or below. Holding this squat, press the weight straight out from your chest. Fully extend your arms without shrugging your shoulders or rounding forward. Stay low and balanced in the squat as you slowly extend then bring the weight back in.

Once the weight is back in at your chest, stand up. Squeeze your glutes at the top and then repeat, sinking back into the squat before pressing the weight back out.

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The Squat with Rotation is another great standing core exercise that will really work your legs. It will also work your entire middle, including your abs and the muscles even along your ribs.

Just like with the Squat with Chest Press, you do not want to rush this move as you fatigue.  Feel your middle really working as you rotate the weight while staying in the low squat.

To do the Squat with Rotation, hold a weight in both hands. If you keep your arms out straight at shoulder height, this move will work your upper back, shoulders and arms even more. You can also do this with your elbows bent in by your sides and the weight in right above your belly button if you want to focus more on the rotation and less on your upper body. Either way, hold the weight in front of you while standing with your feet between hip-width and shoulder-width apart.

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Then sink down into a deep squat, sitting your butt back. Keep your chest up at the bottom of the squat. Then rotate the weight toward one side. Stay low as you rotate. Bring the weight back center and then rotate to the other side.

The Lunge with Rotation is another great rotational exercise to work your core. It is also a great move to really work your glutes. However, you do want to be careful about adding weight slowly so that you make sure your abs are working to control the rotation and not your low back.

To do the Lunge with Rotation, you can use a dumbbell or even a sandbag. The sandbag will make the move even more challenging because it is an unbalanced, awkward weight. Either way, hold the weight in both hands with your arms hanging straight down in front of you while you stand tall with your feet close together.

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Then lunge back with one leg as you rotate the weight down outside your front knee. Bend your front knee as you sit your butt back and perform a straight leg reverse lunge. Hinge over slightly at the hips as you rotate the weight down outside your leg, but do not round forward.

Drive through your front heel to come back up to standing tall as you swing the weight back around front. Really stomp your back foot forward and engage your glutes before lunging back on the other side. As you lunge back, rotate the weight down outside the other leg.

Move quickly rotating the weight from side to side as you lunge. Make sure to really lunge back and sit your butt back and control the weight from swinging and jerking you around.

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 This is a great rotational exercise to work your core that will really get your blood pumping. This fast-paced side tap with rotation is a great move to include in your cardio workouts that will really work your core and legs!

To do Alternating Side Taps with Rotation, a dumbbell, med ball or sandbag works well. Hold the weight in both hands while standing tall. If using a dumbbell or med ball, you may want to bend your arms and bring the weight right in above your belly button.

Then reach one leg out to the side as you bend the other leg to slightly sit your butt back into a little lunge. Rotate the weight toward the side of the standing leg, but do not round forward. Keep your chest pressed out.

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From here, quickly sort of jump and switch into a little lunge on the other side, kicking your other leg out to the side as you bring the other leg in and rotate the weight that way.

Move quickly and keep alternating reaching each foot out to the side as you rotate the weight outside the bent standing leg. Keep your weight pretty centered over your slightly bent standing leg. Rotate quickly from side to side, but don’t let the weight pull you.

This is a great rotational core move that really gets your glutes working while also really teaching your core to decelerate rotation, which is key to preventing low back injury during rotational movements. Beginners should start with very light weight.

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