7 Standing Workouts For People Who Dislike Crunches

Hate doing crunches squirming down the floor? No problem, get up and work your abs with these seven standing workouts, which target the core muscles and get a well-toned envious flat abs without wriggling on the ground. These are as effective as the horizontal workouts in terms of improving core strength and toning the muscles. Try including them in your workout routine to see the changes in just a month’s time.

Standing Workouts For Flat Abs

1. Toe Touch:

Stand upright with arms on your sides and gaze forward. Swing your left leg behind your hip. At the same time raise your right arm straight above your head with palms facing forward. As you swing your left leg forward, perpendicular to your hips, bring your right arm down to reach the left toe. Bend your right leg slightly and swing your left hand behind your back to maintain balance. Switch sides and repeat the movement for 10 counts on each side.

Toe Touch

2. Knees To Elbow:

Stand straight with feet together and fingers interlocked behind your head. Lift your left heel, tuck your abdomen, lift your left knee upward towards your upper body and lower your right elbow downward by rotating your shoulder and twisting your upper body so that you touch your left knee with your right elbow. Return to original position and switch sides. Do 10 reps on each side.

Knees To Elbow

3. Cross Chop:

Stand erect with feet wide apart and arms clasped in the front or grasp a medicine ball in your hands. Bring your arms high over your left shoulder by twisting your torso towards your left and raise your arms straight high upward and gaze at your clasped arms. Quickly, sweep your arms down towards the ground moving your arms across your body. Try to finish by positioning your arms almost above your right foot. Move to original position and repeat the same on your other side. Do 10 counts on both sides.

Cross Chop

4. Standing Russian Twist:

Stand upright with feet hip distance apart and hold a medicine ball in your hands. Keep your legs straight with abs engaged and arms extended straight in front of you at the chest level. Twist your torso and arms toward your left without bending your elbow. Twist as much as possible by rotating your hips, knees and shoulders, return to initial position and do the same on the other side. Take this as one count and continue doing 20 such counts.

Standing Russian Twist

5. High Knees:

Stand straight with feet slightly apart and arms on your sides. Draw your right knee high upward towards your chest and firm your left feet on the ground. As you lower your right knee, bring your left knee towards your chest. Simultaneously swing your arms to match the leg movement and maintain balance. Continue doing this movement without break for at least 30 seconds.

High Knees:

6. Frankenstein Kick:

Stand tall keeping your feet together, back straight and arm held straight at chest height in front of your body. Engage your core muscles and kick your right leg upward until the toes touch your finger tips or as high as you can lift. Make sure not to bend your hips. Bring your leg down with control. Repeat this on the other leg.

Frankenstein Kick

7. Tuck Jump:

Stand tall with your feet placed hip-width apart. Extend your arms in front of you. Bend your knees and jump up, engage your abs and try bringing both the knees close to the chest. Land on the ground by slightly bending your knees to reduce the impact and straighten your legs. Repeat the exercise.

Tuck Jump