Core & trunk
Core exercises
The abs, obliques and deep trunk muscles hold your spine steady and pass force between your legs and your arms.
The core’s main job in training is to stop movement rather than to create it. It holds your spine steady while your arms and legs do the work. That is why the most valuable core exercises are holds and slow controlled movements rather than fast sit-ups. Planks, dead bugs, hollow holds, carries and Pallof presses all ask you to keep a position while something tries to pull you out of it.
It helps to think in three categories. Resisting a backward arch covers planks and dead bugs. Resisting twist covers the Pallof press and the side plank. Controlled bending covers hollow holds and leg raises. A couple of good sets from two of those categories per session is enough, and every heavy squat, deadlift and overhead press trains the core as well.
One honest limit is worth stating. Core training builds muscle you may not be able to see. Whether your abs are visible is mostly about overall body composition, not about how many crunches you do.
Where the core sits
Exercises that target the core
Build a core workoutBand Pallof press
Core
IntermediateResistance bandBear crawl
Core · Shoulders
IntermediateBodyweightBicycle crunch
Core
BeginnerBodyweightDead bug
Core
BeginnerBodyweightFarmer's carry
Core
BeginnerDumbbellHanging knee raise
Core
IntermediatePull-up barHanging leg raise
Core
AdvancedPull-up barHollow hold
Core
IntermediateBodyweightKettlebell windmill
Core · Shoulders
IntermediateKettlebellLying leg raise
Core
BeginnerBodyweightMountain climber
Core
BeginnerBodyweightPlank
Core
BeginnerBodyweightRenegade row
Upper back · Core
AdvancedDumbbellSide plank
Core
BeginnerBodyweightSuspension fallout
Core
AdvancedSuspension trainerTurkish get-up
Core · Shoulders
AdvancedKettlebellV-up
Core
IntermediateBodyweight
Also works the core
These exercises train the core as a secondary muscle. It is useful work that adds up across a program.
- Band chest press
- Band overhead press
- Band-assisted pull-up
- Barbell back squat
- Barbell deadlift
- Barbell overhead press
- Barbell row
- Bodyweight squat
- Bulgarian split squat
- Burpee
- Chin-up
- Cossack squat
- Dead hang
- Decline push-up
- Diamond push-up
- Dumbbell Arnold press
- Dumbbell deadlift
- Dumbbell front raise
- Dumbbell front squat
- Dumbbell push press
- Dumbbell Romanian deadlift
- Dumbbell row
- Dumbbell shoulder press
- Dumbbell thruster
- Glute bridge
- Goblet squat
- Hip thrust
- Incline push-up
- Jump squat
- Jumping jack
- Kettlebell clean
- Kettlebell single-arm press
- Kettlebell snatch
- Kettlebell swing
- Lateral lunge
- Negative pull-up
- Nordic curl negative
- Pike push-up
- Pistol squat
- Pull-up
- Push-up
- Reverse lunge
- Single-leg glute bridge
- Single-leg Romanian deadlift
- Skater hop
- Split squat
- Step-up
- Suspension biceps curl
- Suspension row
- Suspension triceps extension
- Walking lunge