Best Abs Exercises Gym: A 4-Week Gym Workout Plan

Learn about the best Abs exercises gym, how to do them correctly, and how to create a workout plan that will help you achieve your goals. We also cover the best gym equipment for abs, so you can get the most out of your workout.

A strong core is necessary for general health and fitness. A strong core aids in the improvement of posture, balance, and stability. It also protects your back from injuries.

This 4-week ab exercises gym regimen will help you develop a strong core and obtain shredded abs. The program contains a number of workouts that target all of your core’s key muscle groups.

Because the workouts are progressive, the difficulty will steadily rise as you gain strength. Begin at the beginning level and work your way up to the intermediate or advanced level as you gain strength.

It is critical to listen to your body and relax when necessary. Pushing yourself too hard can result in harm.

Benefits Abs Exercises Gym

Forging a powerful set of abs is about more than just getting a six-pack – though it may be crucial for physique-oriented athletes. Adding abdominal strength to any strength training or functional fitness program is also a highly functional element.

Improve Spinal Stability

Squats, presses, pulls, and other weighted motions all necessitate spinal stability to avoid serious damage such as a slipped disc or muscle rupture. A strong core enables an athlete to remain rigid in the face of great pressure from heavy barbells. (1)

Of course, having powerful abs does not ensure a pain-free workout. However, the more spinal stability you have, the more resistant your body is to harm while training with large loads.

Improve Barbell Lifts

Yes, deadlifts and squats will enhance your core strength on their own. A core-specific exercise plan, on the other hand, is non-negotiable if you want to take your compound lifts to the next level and hit your next one-rep max.

Athletes who want to lift high weights must build powerful abs. They will assist you in maintaining a strong, effective core brace and transferring force from your body to the barbell as efficiently as possible. This equates to more powerful, heavier lifting. (2)

Enhance Functional Fitness

It will be more difficult to go about your regular tasks if you have a weak core. Even going for a walk necessitates strong abs to help you maintain proper posture and avoid needless and even painful wobbling.

Muscles Make Up the Abs

Your core contains multiple muscles, and understanding what they are and how they work is important in obtaining a stronger, better-looking midsection. Here’s a breakdown of the major core muscles. (3)

• Rectus Abdominis: This muscle runs vertically along the front of the torso and is in charge of spinal flexion. When people work out their core, this muscle group is frequently the most addressed.
• Obliques (Internal and External): These muscles run diagonally down the sides of the torso and are responsible for rotational force output as well as preventing rotational stress on the spine.
• Transverse abdominis: A deeper muscle group that aids in core and spinal structural stabilization. Planks holds, and other total-body motions that demand general postural control might target it. (4,5)

4-Week Gym Workout Plan

#1 Warm-up

5 minutes of light cardio, such as walking or jogging.

#2 workouts

Best Abs Exercises Gym

Hanging Knee Raise

Why this workout: Leg raises are popular for a variety of reasons, the most important of which is their scalability. Begin with bent-knee raises in a captain’s chair or with ab straps to target the lower core, then progress to straight-leg raises and finally to a hanging bar. By the time you’re completing full straight-leg toes-to-bar rises, you’ve developed unrivaled core strength.

Another advantage is that you can enhance the difficulty and resistance by holding a medicine ball between your knees or ankles, allowing you to train in a lower rep range. You can even incorporate a twist at the top or progress to full-fledged “windshield wipers” to work your deeper rotational muscles and obliques.

No matter the variation, just remember to use your abs, not momentum, to get your legs as high as possible on each rep.

Machine Crunch

Why this workout: Ab exercises with increased resistance don’t get nearly enough attention! Extra resistance stimulates growth in fast-twitch muscle fibers like nothing else and can help you construct the “bricks” of your six-pack.

You may also modify the load and train to failure at almost any rep target by utilizing a machine. When doing drop sets, a pin-loaded machine is extremely useful. If your gym does not offer an ab machine, you can obtain the same results by utilizing cables or bands.

Pallof Press

Why this workout: This increasingly popular exercise teaches your abs to do their job: stabilize your skeleton. The Pallof press is an anti-rotation exercise, which means that the body actively resists rotation during the motion. By performing exercises like this, you can improve core stability in all planes of motion and lower your risk of injury.

If you’ve never done these before, be prepared to be challenged more than you think!

Cable Crunch

Why this workout: This exercise’s strength is its adaptability. It works for anyone of any fitness level, on any cable machine, and you may add as much resistance as you need to train at your target rep range. If you don’t have a cable stack, you can substitute a resistance band.

Despite these benefits, many people still get them wrong! The following are the key points to remember from the article “4 Cable Crunch Blunders.”

Decline Crunch

Why this workout: This old-school favorite increases ab engagement by extending the range of motion beyond traditional crunches. You can also modify the angle of the bench to increase or decrease the degree of difficulty.

Holding a medicine ball, dumbbell, or plate against your chest adds another level of adaptability. If you desire the ab-chiseling benefits of cables or gym machines but don’t have access to one, this is the workout for you.

Because your feet are connected, it’s all too simple to use your hip flexors instead of your abs to come up. Maintain a flat lower back on the bench and abs engaged. If you’re not feeling a strong burn, drop all of your weight, place your hands on your tummy, and concentrate on the contraction at a slower tempo.

Russian Twist

Why this workout: To recruit the obliques, you need to do one of three motions: 

• Bend to the side  
• Rotate your trunk  
• Suck in your belly

By including a medicine ball into the twist, you’re delivering a double whammy to your obliques by requiring the upper abs to contract isometrically to stabilize against the weight as you move. To boost the ante, try to obtain a little crunch on either side following the rotation.

Ab Roll-Out

Why this workout: For good reason, this inexpensive piece of equipment has developed a cult following over the years. According to EMG studies, using an ab wheel is just as effective as hanging leg lifts, sit-ups, and reverse crunches at engaging the abs.

What makes the ab wheel so effective? It wonderfully capitalizes on the principle of eccentric strength-building. To maintain a neutral spine without collapsing under your body weight and gravity as you roll out, your trunk must actively activate while your abs extend.

Exercise Ball Pike

Why this workout: The workout ball is useful for more than just sitting and waiting for your companion to complete their set! A study found that the pike movement is one of the most efficient total-ab activators available. It ranked first on the EMG list for upper abs, lower abs, and obliques. The study’s version was done on a ball, however, pikes can also be done on a suspension strap system.

Plank

Why this workout: According to muscle activation studies, the plank is a mid-level exercise. But in this situation, that’s not the whole story. It’s mostly a great transverse Abdominis move, but because that muscle is deep, it can’t be quantified with EMG.

Planks entered the list mostly because of how easily different versions may be used to modify the level of difficulty. If an elbow plank is too tough, try it with straight arms or simply drop to your knees. Is it too simple? Raise one arm or one leg—or both. Place your feet in the suspension straps or on the stability ball. Each of these progressions increases the training stimulus to the abs.

Toes-to-Bar

Why this workout: Toes-to-bar is by far one of the most advanced, explosive motions you can do to strengthen your core. Instead of getting your knees to chest level, this exercise requires you to touch your toes to the bar, as the name implies.

This necessitates tremendous grip strength, core control, and core strength.CrossFit competitors may skip this exercise to build momentum in order to get their toes up and over. Aside from core strength, toes-to-bar can increase grip and lat strength because the lifter must anchor oneself to the bar for long periods of time.

#3 Dieting and Lifestyle Tips

The workout above is excellent, but it will not help you achieve your V cut ab goals on its own.

The first thing we need to consider when it comes to having a fantastic and sculpted midsection is body fat. You won’t be able to see your abs or V cuts unless you have a low body fat percentage. This percentage will vary from person to person and is determined by genetics and overall muscle size. (6)

Proper eating and exercise are the simplest and most natural ways to reduce body fat. We’ve got the exercise planned, so let’s talk about nutrition briefly.

A calorie deficit is required to lose body fat. To be in a calorie deficit, you must consume more calories than you burn. Begin by calculating your calorie requirements to maintain your current weight using a calorie calculator. To establish a deficit, reduce your calories by 250-500 calories. (7)

Because this program is so brief, I recommend a 500-calorie deficit. After you’ve determined your calorie requirements, you’ll want to keep your protein intake quite high.

When it comes to protein intake, there are numerous ranges available on the internet. 0.7-1g of protein per pound of body weight per day is advised during this regimen. After you’ve determined your protein intake, you can divide the rest of your macronutrients as you see fit. (Most people prefer a greater carb intake to fuel performance).

Another factor to consider when attempting to lose body fat and reveal your V-cut abs is sleep. Sleep is essential for maintaining normal hormone balance, and lack of sleep might actually reduce your hunger.

During your fat reduction phase, make sure you’re receiving 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night, and you’ll notice that shedding body fat will get easier naturally.

Ab Sets and Reps

In general, you’ll work in greater rep ranges when training your abs. When an exercise is more difficult for you or you’re employing a big load, performing 10 reps of an ab exercise is on the low-rep end of the spectrum. Choose greater rep ranges, perhaps surpassing 20 or 30 reps, for bodyweight workouts that feel more manageable to you.

Use your body’s sensations to determine how many reps to perform. If you’re not “feeling” it after 20 reps, consider adding weight to the action.

Many stomach exercises stress time rather than repetitions. In those instances, you can frequently conduct actions to or near failure. Begin with shorter periods (about 15 to 30 seconds) and work your way up. Depending on how your body feels, add roughly five seconds per training session.

Tips

• Make sure to prioritize form over weight. Lifting high weights is less crucial than doing the workouts correctly.
• Throughout the workout, take deep breaths.
• Before, during, and after your workout, drink lots of water.
• Listen to your body and rest as necessary.

FAQs

References

1. Pack, H. T. G. A. S. 3 Ab Exercises Every Man Must Know.

2. Anholt, A. (2013). Abdominal Exercises Bible: Ab Exercises For Core Strength And A Flat Belly. Martin Knowles.

3. Lee, S. Y., Hahn, J. O., Beom, J., Park, J. H., Cho, H. E., Kang, S. W., & Cho, K. J. (2022). Exo-Abs: A Wearable Robotic System Inspired by Human Abdominal Muscles for Noninvasive and Effort-Synchronized Respiratory Assistance. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 38(5), 2994-3014.

4. Anders, M. (2001). A new study puts the crunch on ineffective ab exercises. ACE Fitness Matters, 7(3), 9-11.

5. Clark, K. M., Holt, L. E., & Sinyard, J. (2003). Electromyographic comparison of the upper and lower rectus abdominis during abdominal exercises. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 17(3), 475-483.

6. Rogers, A., Wilkinson, S., Downie, O., & Truby, H. (2022). Communication of nutrition information by influencers on social media: A scoping review. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 33(3), 657-676.

7. Nseir, W., Hellou, E., & Assy, N. (2014). Role of diet and lifestyle changes in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. World journal of gastroenterology: WJG, 20(28), 9338.