5 Easy Upper Abs Exercises for Beginners to Build Six-Pack Abs

Best upper ab exercises to build core strength. (Photo by Gabin Vallet on Unsplash)
Best upper ab exercises to build core strength (Photo via Unsplash/Gabin Vallet)

When you’re looking to develop a strong core, you must be aware of the upper abs exercises, which are basic movements that allow the muscles to build foundational strength.

The basic movements help you understand how to engage the core muscles when you’re doing upper abs exercises. Moreover, basic movements allow you to build a strong muscle-mind connection. This connection helps you to engage the core muscles correctly as you move to advanced ab exercises.


Best Upper Abs Exercises for Beginners

As a beginner, you want to do the exercises that allow you to understand your muscles. That means every exercise you do should help you feel the burn and stretch.

On that note, here's a look at the five best upper abs exercises for beginners:


1) Crunch

The most basic upper abs exercise is the crunch. The more crunches you do, the better it is for your core muscles. Ideally, the core muscles begin to tone themselves when you start doing crunches.

You can do rope crunches, assisted crunches, or standard crunches. However, you must pull with your core muscles.

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2) Bicycle

The bicycle is another variation of a crunch, where you work one side at a time, and it’s a continuous motion.

When you’re doing the bicycle, your hands should be behind your head. You must ensure that you’re using your core strength to hold the upper body and not your hands to push the neck and upper body up.

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3) Oblique Crunch

The oblique crunch is an upper abs exercise that works on the sides more than the middle. It’s an excellent way to add variation to your core workout routine and ensure that your sides are worked on as well.

Like the bicycle, you shouldn’t use your hand to push your upper body. You must use your core to pull your body towards the side.

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4) Russian Twist

If you want to specifically work on your side, a Russian twist is a good exercise to do that. You can do Russian twists with your feet on the ground. As your core becomes stronger, you can keep your feet slightly above the ground.

You can begin adding weight plates to Russian twists, but ensure that your core is engaged to hold the position and not the back or legs.

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5) Plank

Planks are one of the most effective upper abs exercises. In fact, planks work on every part of the abdominal muscles. You must ease yourself into planks by slowly increasing the time you hold the plank for.

An advanced version of planks is to add weight plates on your back as you hold the position. You should never sacrifice your posture for time. It’s important to engage the core muscles and hold proper form for as long as you can before relaxing.

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Bottom Line

Core exercises are important for the overall physique. As you lose weight and become toned, your abdominal muscles begin to show.

Therefore, instead of starting core exercises when you have lost weight, it’s best to start working on your core muscles from the start. As a result, your abs will start showing as soon as you begin to lose weight.

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Edited by Bhargav
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