Having a strong and toned abdomen is one of the main goals of most people who start weight training. On the one hand, it is probably the most showy muscle that exists and the one we like to show off the most on the beach. However, we must not forget that the core’s function is to stabilize the body during the execution of our exercises. The forces that we use in our training have their origin in our midsection and are later transmitted to our extremities. Our body performs a coordinated action in which the core is essential.

On the other hand, we must not forget that the core is not only the abdominals, in our table of exercises to do at home we have to include both abdominal and lower back exercises. It is also important that, as we mentioned, the core aims to stabilize the body, so by performing compound exercises such as squats or deadlifts we are indirectly working our core. Finally, as they say “abdominals are achieved in the kitchen”, that is to say that for a showy six pack, we need to have a fairly low percentage of fat with a well-executed diet and then complement it with a table of exercises at home selecting from the 40 core exercises that we are going to present.

In this list of core exercises we will divide the exercises according to different factors: without equipment, with TRX, with a partner, with dumbbells.

Core exercises without equipment: to perform any of these exercises we will not need anything more than the floor and in some cases objects that we have at home such as a chair or a rag.

1. Trunk lifts on the floor: also known as “crunches” or simply sit-ups, this exercise is the most classic of all. However, we do not recommend overdoing this exercise as it is not particularly effective and has some potential for injury, so we do not believe it is a central part of our core training.
2. Extended leg lifts on the floor: similar to the previous exercise, in this case we raise the legs off the floor either at the same time or one by one while keeping the abdomen contracted. Another basic abs exercise, which targets the lower abs.
3. Lumbar extension on the floor: This is an exercise for the core that focuses on the lumbar in which we raise the trunk and legs, but lying face down.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7EmdZl3OUM
4. Flexiones delfín: es una variación de las flexiones que además de trabajar el core, también trabajará brazos y hombros.
5. Floor Pelvic Raise: One of the best known back core exercises, working both the rectus abdominis and lower back.
6. Leg Flapping – This core exercise is quite useful as it combines an isometric contraction and leg movement.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoHnFoltddg
7. Straight Arm Plank: The classic version of the plank is one of the most popular core exercises today.
8. Plank on elbows: a slightly more complicated version of the previous one, basic in any core exercise table.
9. Plank with arm and leg raised: similar to the traditional plank, but adding more difficulty by removing two points of support.
10. Lateral plank: supported on one elbow and one leg, with this core exercise at home you will focus on the abdominal oblique.
11. Reverse plank: with this exercise you can strengthen your lower back at home, in addition to working your glutes and hamstrings, which is why it is part of our list of core exercises.
12. reverse boat with leg elevation: combines isometric exercise with the movement of our legs to create a core exercise at home more complicated than the previous one.
13. Side plank with push-up – We combine a standard side plank with a push-up or push-up.
14. Hip Swing Side Plank: This core exercise lowers your hips to the floor from a side plank position.
15. Plank to squat: We go from the plank position with arms extended to the deep squat and return to the starting position. By working the lower back it is a great exercise to strengthen the back at home.
16. Climber: from the plank position we bring the knee to the chest, it can be done without material so it is a good core exercise at home.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa6VbKOxPDY
17. Elbow climber: similar to the previous exercise, but this time bringing the knee to the elbow. Esta versión es un gran ejercicio para fortalecer lumbares en casa.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J4hRICVjRo
18. Elevated Feet Stair Climber: This exercise with your feet on a raised surface like a chair hits your upper body more and is a great choice for a back strengthening exercise at home.
19. Gliding Climber: For this core exercise, use a cloth to execute the rock climber by sliding your feet across the floor.
20. Spider climber: it is executed like the elbow climber, but resting the sole of the foot on the ground, it is less physically demanding, but works more on mobility.
21. Semi-circular climber: while we execute a normal climber, we rotate the torso until we create a semi-circle, helping to strengthen the abdominals at home.
22. Jumping climber: In this exercise to strengthen the abdomen at home, the feet are brought up to the height of the navel in a jump.
23. Low Jump Climber: A more complicated version but a great addition to your table of abdominal exercises to do at home, we do a low jump climber, but with support on the elbows.
24. Side-by-side climber: Same as the spider climber, but with both feet at the same time, it targets the lower back so it’s a great addition to your back-strengthening workout chart.
25. One-Handed Stepper: We continue to complicate our at-home sit-up chart with a version of the stepper, but with the addition of supporting the weight with one hand making it a core exercise for advanced athletes.
26. One-foot climber: Our last climber in our sit-up chart to do at home, it is probably the most difficult as it combines the execution of the sliding climber, but keeping one of the legs in the air.
27. Burpees: Combining cardio and plank, this core exercise is a calorie-burning machine for which you don’t need any equipment.
28. Hypopressive: controlling the breath we can work the entire core without the need for any material

Core exercises with equipment: in this case we will need simple and cheap equipment such as bands or combined with typical elements of any house to do these exercises to strengthen the abdominals at home.

29. Lateral rotation of the trunk with a band: with the band secured at a medium height, we grab the band with both hands and rotate, always maintaining the tension of the band.
30. Rotation of the trunk with a band from below to above: within our table of exercises to strengthen the back, here we will do a rotation similar to that of the previous exercise, but starting from a low point and raising our hands above our head.
31. Shrugs with a band: the shrug or “crunch”, a basic bodybuilding exercise, can be made more difficult by using an elastic band.
32. Band Reverse Shrug: Similar to the above, but raising your feet, will help strengthen your abs at home.
33. Kneeling shrugs with band: kneeling and the band held at a higher point, we bring the chest to the knees working everything with this core exercise.
34. Abdominal roller: this device can be purchased for less than ten euros and is the exercise with the greatest activation of the core. Both abdominals and lower back work, being one of the best exercises to do back at home. For other abdominal roller exercises check out this article:
    
35. Lateral abdominal roller: we perform a twist at the same time that we execute a repetition of the standard roller.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iof5KAgHwDM
36. Step of the bear with a roller: let’s add to our table to do abs at home the step of the bear while the roller destabilizes us.
37. Standing abdominal roller: if we are very advanced we will be able to with this core exercise, which is the one that most progressions reach.
38. Reverse abdominal roller: we bring the feet to the torso instead of the other way around.
39. Roller with one leg and one hand: the most extreme version of all if you are able to master it you have an iron core.
40. Dragon flags: if you have some support that is resistant and some space you can also do this exercise to do back at home.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs4PTHIeR8w

Conclusions: it is not necessary to leave the house to do core exercises that help us sculpt an aesthetic and functional abdomen, we have an almost unlimited number of core exercises to create a table of exercises to do at home that will help us reach our goals .

What is the abdominal wheel?

The abdominal wheel, also known as the ab wheel, is a very simple device, two handles connecting a wheel. But don’t let this simplicity fool you, this advanced training tool, used correctly, builds strong triceps, lats, and overall abs.

The rationale for this exercise with a wheel is that the function of the abdomen is not to flex the torso but to prevent it from going into extension. In this way we prevent our spine from being in any potentially harmful position while we train with our abdominal wheel. In addition, regarding the plank, which is another of the most common abdominal and lower back exercises, it creates greater instability when working with our abdominal wheel, so it is important to know what level we are at to do the abdominal wheel exercise that is adapt to our physical state.

There are opinions of all tastes about the abdominal wheel, but a study was carried out that cleared up many doubts about whether this exercise was the most effective for developing the abdomen. The American Physical Therapy Association examined different ab exercises such as the crunch, sit up, reverse crunch, knee-to-chest raise, double crunch, oblique crunch, and inverted crunch with a not-cheap ab machine, the pike knees. to the chest from plank and abdominal wheel.

Through an electromyography on the rectus abdominis, the internal and external oblique, latissimus dorsi and rectus femoris, it was established that in all cases with the ab wheel the exercises generated more muscle activation.

History of the Ab Wheel

The ab wheel was created in 1994 by Don Brown, a personal trainer from Pennsylvania who wanted to design the best ab machine since his clients were still working out lifelong crunches that are potentially harmful and end up with back pain doing crunches. , so he became obsessed with designing a device to keep the back straight and ended up arriving at his Ab Roller for abdominals, also known as the Ab Wheel, depending on what the device for doing abdominals is called.. After the success of his product, later designs and creates other ab products like the Ab Coaster or Ab Solo with his company “The Abs Company” which supplies gym products to more than 10,000 sports centers in more than forty countries. Once the abdominal wheel patent expired, virtually every sports company created its version and it became extremely popular due to its low price and high effectiveness. Today, when asked what is the best device to do sit-ups, it is practically unanimous that it is the abdominal wheel.

Today one of the most famous models is the domyos abdominal machine, sold at Decathlon. With this Domyos product, abdominal exercises, you can do all the roller exercises for abdominals that you want at a cost of less than ten euros.

How do you do abdominal roller exercises?

Before starting to work with the ab wheel, two things must be determined: if we have enough capacity to work with the ab wheel or if we should opt for other options before starting to use it and what is our range of motion. We will explain both concepts in this article about our favorite abdominal wheel.

The most important thing to do an abdominal wheel correctly is to have enough core strength to keep your back straight, if we are not able to perform a repetition of the abdominal wheel without falling into hyperlordosis, we are still not ready to train with our favorite toy . To have a stable abdomen, we recommend reducing the fat percentage in case it is high and practicing planks until we can stay in a plank on our elbows for about a minute.

It is also important to know our travel range. To do this, it is enough to lean on your back against a wall and grab a pike. Let’s raise our arms practically stretched until our back falls into hyperlordosis. The point immediately before said hyperlordosis is our range of motion when we use the roller to do crunches.

Once we are clear about this, we can add the abdominal wheel to the routine, the steps to work with the roller to do abdominals are the following:

1. Grab the ab wheel with both hands and kneel on the ground
2. Now place the abdominal roller on the floor in such a way that you are resting on your hands and knees. This will be your starting position
3. Slowly roll the abdominal wheel until you reach your maximum range of motion, try to lower yourself as far as you can without touching the ground with your body. During this process breathe in.
4. After a slight pause, return to the starting position slowly, keeping your abs tight while you let out the air you’ve inspired.

Once we know how to do the wheel, we can try to increase repetitions or make more difficult variations.

A typical progression with the abdominal wheel, the best ab machine on the market, would look something like this. The idea is that once you can do 20 repetitions with the ab wheel exercise, start practicing the next exercise and complete the previous one.

• Kneeling abdominal wheel.
• Multidirectional abdominal wheel
• Weighted kneeling abdominal wheel, using a barbell with plates.
• Abdominal wheel on a step.
• Abdominal wheel standing on a bench.
• Standing abdominal wheel with a ramp
• standing abdominal wheel
• Standing abdominal wheel with weight.

What Ab Wheel to buy?

There is no need to complicate much when purchasing an abdominal wheel, since it is a cheap abdominal device that does not require any special technology. In this way, as we previously discussed, the Domyos model can be found anywhere and it is an abdominal wheel with very positive opinions. In this way, we can acquire the best abdominal device on the market with a price of less than ten euros.

During pregnancy

The best way to tackle a problem is through prevention, and if we want to recover the abdominal tone prior to childbirth, the most important thing is to continue strengthening the core during the pregnancy, always with medical control and if it is not a risk pregnancy.

It is a fairly common question whether it is advisable to exercise during pregnancy as long as health allows it and with medical supervision it is always advisable to do light exercise. Also, if you are used to working the core, you can continue doing it with some precautions.

The dreaded diastasis, that is, the separation of the superficial abdominal muscles, is something that happens to a fairly high percentage of pregnant women and can be difficult to repair, so it is important to know how to activate your abdominal muscles through exercises to strengthen the abdominal girdle. .

Our recommendation is to go to pre-mum classes for which many doubts about pregnancy and childbirth are clarified and also gymnastics focused on learn to stretch, breathe and mobilize the body along with a table of exercises to strengthen the lower back and abdominal muscles as a complement to maintain our abdominal tone. We can create this table from our list of 30 exercises to strengthen the core after childbirth since they are equally applicable.

After pregnancy.

Once you’re a happy mom, you don’t have to wait too long to start your postpartum abs. As soon as you feel ready, there is no problem to start training, even 24 hours after finishing and always with medical monitoring.

Our list of postpartum abs exercises is going to be divided into X different types.

Planks: these postpartum exercises are the perfect base to strengthen the abdominal girdle. It is a very common isometric exercise in yoga and pilates, as well as being very popular in postpartum exercise tables for the abdomen, which is the muscular box that covers from the diaphragm of the body, through the rectus abdominis, the obliques and the transversus muscles, to the buttocks and the pelvic floor and hip muscles. The goal is to hold out for as long as possible, starting with 10 second blocks.

1. Plank with outstretched arms: it is the most common version of the plank, you must lie on your stomach and lean on your arms outstretched. The body should form a straight line from the shoulders to the feet and the abdominals should be contracted.
2. Plank with supported elbows: this exercise after childbirth is a variation of the previous one, in which we bend the arms at an angle of 90 degrees
3. Side Plank: This plank is done leaning on one arm at ninety degrees and with the body in a straight line to the feet. This variation apart from working the abdomen, involves the gluteus maximus and vastus lateralis muscle.
4. Reverse Plank: Included in this subset of our 30 Postpartum Core Strengthening Exercises, the reverse plank is performed on your back, with your hands under your shoulders and your fingertips facing your heels.
5. Plank “Dolphin”: starting in a plank position with the elbows supported, we must advance with our feet to form an inverse V maintaining a line from the shoulders to the hips.
6. Lateral plank with flexion: this plank is more advanced and consists of doing a flexion and later we transmit all the weight to one of the two sides forming a lateral plank.
7. Plank with squat: from a stretched plank position, by means of a jump we arrive at a squat position and again jumping we return to the plank position. It is an exercise to lose belly after childbirth since it implies a significant caloric expenditure.
8. Bend-Knee Plank: We continue to increase the difficulty in our 30 Postpartum Core Strengthening Exercises. In this version, while we maintain our stretched plank position, we bend the knee as far as we can, taking care of the hip and maintaining a single line and we maintain the position for a few seconds.
9. Plank with support on a fitness ball: it is a less stable version of the plank with supported elbows, in which we maintain our balance on top of a fitball.

• Plank with feet on a fitness ball: a less stable version of the plank with outstretched arms, in which the feet go on top of a fitball and challenge our balance.

Hypopressive abdominals: these abdominals are not recommended for pregnant women, although they are included in our list of 30 exercises to strengthen the core after childbirth since they are exercises to strengthen the core whose benefits are very important for the postpartum period. Birth. They consist of generating hypopressure in the abdominal cavity. To do this, a series of postures are combined with special breathing (respiratory apnea), to make the diaphragm rise and act causing a contraction of the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles.

• Standing hypopressive abdominals: exercise to lose belly after childbirth, it is executed standing with parallel feet. Bend your knees and place your hands on top of it. Bring your chin closer to the neck area and take a deep breath, opening your ribs and holding your breath for 10 seconds between inhalation and exhalation.
• Hypopressive abdominals on your back: lying on your back, support your heels, leaving the rest of your foot elevated. Bend your arms and place them at belly level looking up. Breathe and hold the apnea for 10 seconds. Feel the work of the core.
• Lead leg hypopressive abdominals: while standing, put one leg forward and lean the trunk slightly forward. Drop your foot weight onto your lead leg and straighten your back. Raise your arms extending the axis of the body and push upwards and in this position maintain apnea for 10 seconds.
• Hypopressive kneeling abdominals: this exercise after childbirth is key to strengthening the abdomen. Get on your knees and lean your body forward. Hands resting on knees with palms down. Rotate your shoulders forward so that you have an ideal position and perform the apnea.
• Double tailor hypopressive abdominals: to achieve this posture, we must center ourselves with our legs crossed and our backs straight. With the arms on the hips, we perform the exhalation apnea technique that we have mentioned, holding the apnea for about ten seconds.
• Supine abdominals: this is the last hypopressive exercise that we found in our list of 30 exercises to strengthen the core after childbirth. Lie on your back with your knees slightly bent. With the arms semi-flexed at shoulder height and the palms facing upwards, we breathe and apnea.

Kegel exercises: invented by Doctor Arnold Kegel in 1940, they are used to improve the tone of the pubococcygeus muscle. They also have their place in our table of postpartum exercises since, apart from improving muscle tone, they prevent problems such as urinary incontinence. It consists of contracting the aforementioned muscles as if we had to urinate and relax it.

• The Slow: Contract the muscle group and hold for 5 seconds. Relax again 5 seconds.
• The quick one: Contract and relax the muscle group as quickly as possible
• The elevator: Contract the group of muscles in times (depending on each person from 3 to 5). Relax the group of muscles in those same times. Completely relax the muscles.
• The Wave: Contract and relax the rings into a wave. First the ring that surrounds the urethra, then the one that surrounds the vagina, and finally the one that surrounds the anus.

Abdominals after caesarean section: when a caesarean section is performed, it must not be forgotten that it is a surgical intervention in which the muscles are affected, which requires a longer recovery time. For this reason we have decided to add a section to our list of 30 exercises to strengthen the core after childbirth.

• Bicycle: lying on your back and your hands behind your neck, lift your shoulder blades without pulling the cello. Straighten one leg at a 45º angle while bending your torso to that side and then do the same movement to the opposite side.
• Bridge: this abdominal exercise after caesarean section consists of lying on your back with your legs apart and your knees at a 45 angle. With your abdomen contracted, raise your hips until they are in line with your upper body and after holding the position for a few seconds, return to the starting position.
• The “shell” or clamshell: lie on your side with your knees at a 45 angle, rest your hand on the bottom hand. Keeping your abs tight, lift your top knee up keeping your feet in contact.
• Lateral Knee Abduction: Lie on your side with your legs straight. With the abdomen tight, raise the upper leg as high as possible, ideally to a 90º angle and slowly return to the origin.

Other exercises: to have a strong core we must also work it indirectly and not forget cardiovascular work in order to reduce the percentage of fat and thus work with less “extra baggage”. Many of these exercises at the bottom of our list of 30 Postpartum Core Strengthening Exercises are with weights, so keep in mind that for these postpartum crunches, we do have to wait a reasonable amount of time.

• Abdominal Wheel: once enough time has passed after childbirth, it may be that we are ready for these abdominals after childbirth, which are the ones that work the rectus abdominis the most according to the latest studies.
• Knee Raise: Hanging from a bar, raise your knees with your legs bent at a 90º angle. It places special emphasis on the lower abdomen.
• Lumberjack: this complete exercise is perfect for strengthening the core after a caesarean section and requires a pulley to be executed. After standing in profile next to the pulley at half height, we grab the pulley with the farthest hand and, with arms stretched out, rotate the trunk (not the arms), exerting force with the obliques and the rectus abdominis .
• Squat: This multi-joint lower body exercise works the abdomen indirectly to maintain balance while we execute it.
• Deadlift: similar to the squat, when performing this exercise after childbirth it will strengthen your lower back and your lower body. It is very important to deadlift with perfect technique to limit the risk of injury.
• Cardiovascular exercise: It is important to be heart healthy as well as to have a strong abdomen. In this way, we recommend doing the cardio that you like the most, such as running, walking, swimming… combined with exercises to strengthen the core.

conclusions

Ejercicio cardiovascular: es importante estar cardiosaludable tanto como tener un abdomen fuerte. If we use our list of 30 exercises to strengthen the core after childbirth, follow a hypocaloric diet with a caloric deficit, and do some cardio consistently, we will be able to improve our figure and, most importantly, our health.