Posted on February 28, 2017 by Jenny Cromack

In my opinion having a strong and stable trunk aka core, abs, 6 pack, oblique’s or however you refer to your abdominal and spinal section of your body, is crucial. It is crucial not only for looking good and being able to plank for 10 minutes plus, but also crucial for increasing strength in an array of different exercise. Injury prevention is a hugely correlated with having a strong trunk, as well as being able to do complete functional ‘everyday’ activities pain-free. So here are my Top Exercises for Training Your Abs.

Although there are many names for abdominal exercises, I like to refer to it as ‘Trunk’ work. The reason behind this is I am not just talking about the stereotypically noticeable abs (or packs) people always strive to get as a result of training. I am talking about the full trunk of the body including pelvis, spine and muscles that surrounds this. My personal training clients are learning one of biggest ‘NO’s!’ during a training session is a curved back, again this comes from not having a strong trunk with the ability to tense or brace when under heavy load, resulting in the back and specifically the spine being put under excess stress – not good.

My strong views on back position during lifts such as the deadlift, squat and any exercise that directly requires a stable trunk, have resulted in myself developing some ‘go-to’ trunk exercises. The following list is not every single trunk exercise I would ever use, but is a definite selection of some of my favourite trunk exercises. I won’t attempt to explain how to complete each movement, that would get too wordy and complicated, but I will add some key information about each exercise. I will leave it to you to give it ago and try them out for yourselves.

Pallof Press – this can either be 6-8 reps each side or an isometric contraction. It is an anti-rotation exercise, great for practicing keeping the trunk steady.

Plank variations – everyone knows the basic plank variations, but get creative, try planking on a swiss ball to help build stability or a side plank with a cable row whilst maintaining good form.

Body Weight Home Workout

Kneeling cable press – this is an anti-extension exercise, as much as curvature of the back is bad, an extended spine is equally as dangerous, the spine should always be in a neutral position. This cable press will is good way of queuing the spine into a good neutral position.

Deadbug – When talking about keeping the trunk braced, but also moving other body parts, the deadbug is probably the go to exercise for learning to brace your trunk. Again get creative with this, add load, bands, MB etc.

Get-up – A safe way of flexing the trunk. A top tip is too keep your legs wide, this is so the pelvis can move freely.

Offset lunges and jumps – Adding load to one side of a barbell or in one hand whilst completing a box jump is another way of making a simple exercise into really good test for the whole trunk.

Waiter walks – pressing overhead needs to be done correctly, e.g. with back in a neutral position not over extended. A waiter walk is really useful for getting into that safe position.

If you are wondering how I would fit this into your training programme, fear not, below is an example power/strength training session with the trunk work added, as I would advise:

A1. Squat

A2. Pull-up

B1. Romanian Deadlift

B2. Chest Press

C1. SA Row

C2. Nordics

D1. Palof Cable Press 8 e/s × 3

D2. Stir the pot (swiss ball) 6 e/s × 3

So there you have it, my top exercises for training the abs without a crunch in sight!