Standing Ab Exercises

July 22, 2010

By Kristen

Flickr Photo by eyesplash Mikul

Whether you’re pregnant, have a back injury, or just want to add a little variety into your ab routine, standing ab exercises can be a great way to go. I’ve been doing them exclusively since my 2nd trimester of this pregnancy, particularly in my 30 Day Shred for Pregnancy workout, but you can even find them incorporated in some of our favorite workouts like Jillian Michaels’ Banish Fat Boost Metabolism.

My midwife keeps telling me that it’s actually hard to feel the baby’s position due to my tight abs. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anything like that in my life, but it’s motivation to keep up my ab routine throughout my pregnancy.

The other great benefit to doing standing ab exercises is that you actually get a bit of cardio while you’re doing them. It’s debatable as to whether they’re as effective (or more effective) than doing abs on your back, however, I think doing them is better than doing nothing, and they can’t hurt.

Also, if you add a little weight, you can add some resistance and get an even better burn.

Here are some ways to do standing ab exercises:

1. Pike kicks: Stand with your feet together and hands over your head. Alternate kicking each leg up to your waist and touching your toes.

2. Overhead knee lifts: Stand with your feet together and hands over your head. Alternative bringing your knee up and pulling (crunching) your arms down so that your elbows meet each knee.

3. Side crunches: Stand with one leg out to the side and the same hand behind your head. Lift your knee up to the side and bring your elbow down to attempt to meet it – basically doing a side bend and crunching yourself over in a 45 degree angle.

You can also find some great standing ab exercises on Livestrong, as well as doing a quick search on YouTube.com.