The Best Standing Abs Exercises

Standing up to exercise your abs eliminates the chance of straining your neck or allowing your hip flexor muscles to do most of the work, which happens in many ab exercises, such as situps. Ab exercises that have you stand on one leg are best because your core has to work extra hard to keep you balanced and perform the motion of the exercise, says Heather Coleman-Ibrahim, certified personal fitness trainer, corrective exercise specialist and Pilates instructor, of Albany, New York.

Knee Cross Crunch

The knee cross crunch works your abs and obliques to stabilize your body as you stand on one leg, raise your knee to flex your lower spine and twist your upper body. To perform the knee cross crunch, stand with your right hand on your hip and your left arm straight toward the ceiling. Extend your right leg to the side and touch the floor with the ball of your foot. Bring your left elbow down and your right knee up, touching them together as you twist to the right. Complete 10 repetitions on one side and switch.

Side Imprint

The side imprint works your abs and obliques, but instead of twisting your upper body, you bend sideways. Bending sideways is known as lateral flexion. This action works your abs differently than twisting. Stand with your right hand on your hip and your left arm in the air to begin the exercise. Point your left toes at the floor, resting on the ball of your foot and pointing your foot to the left. Then, bring your left elbow down to your side and lift your left knee up, also to your side. Bend your upper torso to the left a short distance, but not far enough to try and touch your elbow and knee. Perform 10 reps per side.

Biceps, Butt and Abs Blaster

The biceps, butt and abs blaster not only challenges you to balance on one leg, but it challenges your balance as you perform hammer curls with weights and pulse your knee up and down. This also tones your arms and buttocks. To begin, hold 5- to 8-pound dumbbells in each hand and stand on your left leg. Bring your right leg up to waist level with the knee bent. Bend your arms at a 90-degree angle and hold them against your sides with your palms facing inward, facing each other. This is the starting position. Next, engage your abs and pulse your knee upward as you contract your biceps and lift the weights up to your shoulders. Pulse seven times and hold the end position for three counts. Switch sides.

Single-Leg Dumbbell Side Bend

The single-leg dumbbell side bend targets the obliques using a dumbbell in one hand. This exercise also involves lateral flexion but without the knee lift. Adding the dumbbell creates more work for your obliques, though. To begin, stand on your left leg with your left hand on your hip. Hold a dumbbell in your right hand with your arm straight at your side. Bend to the right and lower the dumbbell toward the floor. Stand back up, straight. Perform 10 reps per side. You may also do this exercise standing on two legs if one leg is too difficult.