Weightlifting exercises to tighten the stomach contract your abdominal muscles against resistance. Weightlifting exercises that exhaust your abdominals within 12 to 15 repetitions will tighten your stomach, according to the National Federation of Personal Trainers. Exhausting your muscles within this repetition range tightens up your abdomen by helping you burn more fat while stimulating abdominal muscle growth.
Barbell Push Crunch
Lie face up on an incline bench with your knees elevated above your head. Use a bench with a foot pad to hold your body in place. Grab a barbell with a shoulder-width overhand grip. Position the barbell over your chest, and press the bar up at a 90-degree angle to the floor. Flex your waist to raise your upper torso off the bench while keeping your lower back on the bench. Complete each repetition by returning until the back of your shoulders contacts the surface of the bench bench.
Hanging Leg Raises
Grasp a high chin-up bar with your hands shoulder-width apart, and hang with your arms fully extended above you. Straighten your legs downward, and slightly roll your pelvis back. Grasp a dumbbell between your feet or use ankle weights for resistance. Raise your legs until they form a 90 degree angle with your torso. Exhale and keep your legs straight throughout the movement. Hold the contraction for one count, and slowly lower your legs back to the starting position to complete each repetition.
Double Kettlebell Windmill
Stand with one kettlebell in front of each foot. Reach for one kettblebell, and press it straight up above your head. Lock your elbow out, and turn your feet out at 45 degree angles. Keep your eyes on the overhead kettle bell as you reach for the other kettlebell by bending your hip to one side, and sticking your butt out. Grasp the second kettlebell, then return to your hips to up upright position and hold for one count. Complete each repetition by bending your hip, and sticking your butt out, to return the second kettlebell to the floor. Complete one set, then perform the exercise by lifting the opposite kettlebell overhead. You can also perform this exercise with dumbbells.
Zercher Squat
The Zercher squat is a compound weightlifting exercise tightens your stomach by targeting the superficial and deep abdominal muscles. Rest a loaded barbell on the crook of your bent elbows in front of your body, and just below your pectorals. Lift the bar out slightly away from your body, and stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Brace the core muscles in your abs and hips, then flex your knees to sit back into each repetition.
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