Welcome back to The Core of It All, our one-stop shop for all things abs. This summer, we want you to focus on centering yourself—not only in the name of looking good and getting toned, but for better overall wellness and relaxation. In our last post, we talked about sit ups and offered alternatives to the popular move. Now, we’ll dive into the misconception of floor work versus standing ab exercises. Read on to see some of our favorite standing workout moves. 

Abs, abs, abs… 

Most ab exercises for women involve getting down onto a mat on the floor and crunching until you’ve lost count. This not only takes a lot of effort, but it can lead to neck and back straining if not done properly. Plus, floor work isn't necessarily the most effective way for targeting the stomach muscles. First, lying down to work the core limits your range of motion. Think of your positioning when doing a crunch or a sit up—here, the only possible movement is up and down, starting at the floor and ending at your knees. This allows you to target one area of the stomach at a time rather them all at once, and limits the ability to get those long, lean muscles P.volve loves to see. 

Standing ab exercise benefits

Standing, on the other hand, gives you more freedom to use the space around you for your core work. Think of how much more range you have for each repetition when on your feet. Standing allows you to hinge further at the hips, improve your posture through each move, and have better control with each repetition. Even better, a standing ab workout can very easily become a full-body workout with just a few small tweaks.

Do standing ab exercises really work?

Standing ab exercises by themselves are effective in toning and strengthening your core and improving posture, but should be utilized as part of a varied approach along other floor-based ab workouts. To improve the impact of your workouts, work at a slow and steady pace.

Beginner standing ab workouts

The following workouts require no equipment whatsoever—just your strength and soon-to-be even stronger core! For a full standing ab workout, scroll down for a complimentary workout video with one of our trainers.

Front Leg Lift 

Stand with arms behind head, fingers interlaced. Slightly tilt the upper body back as you tap right foot in front of you, keeping a soft bend in the standing left leg. All at once, lift your right knee up to hip height, forming a 90-degree bend at the knee, and bring your torso back upright (without crunching or rounding). Return to start by tapping your right toes back to the floor while softly leaning back, lifting the chest toward the ceiling and lengthening the abs. Repeat 8 reps, then switch legs.

Front Leg Press 

Stand with right knee bent at 90-degrees in front of you, and a soft bend in the standing leg with arms in front of chest. Flex your lifted foot, and slowly extend the knee, pressing your right foot out at an angle in front of you. Keeping the foot hovered, slowly rebend the knee, returning to a 90-degree angle at hip height. Repeat 8 reps, then switch legs.

Standing Gate Swing 

Stand with right knee bent at 90-degrees in front of you, and a soft bend in the standing leg with arms in front of chest. Slowly start squeeze from the glute to bring your lifted knee out to the right, keeping a 90-degree bend, and engaging the core to keep balance as you draw the knee back to center. Repeat 8 reps, then switch legs. 

Full Standing Ab Workout

While they say abs are made in the kitchen, this express ab workout will help you achieve that deep, defined line that runs down the center of the stomach. Rather than doing repetitive crunches, this workout offers something new by focusing on stretching, rotation and extension to tone the abs.

Stream more ab-focused and full-body workouts on our YouTube channel or get started today with P.volve with a 14-day free streaming trial.

For more advice on toned abs, read tips for greater portion control and moves to flatten your stomach. Get started today with a 14-day free streaming trial.