3 Ab Exercises That Aren't Worth Your Time — And 4 to Try Instead

If your usual ab routine involves dozens of crunches, we've got good news: You can leave them in the past. Many of the traditional ab exercises you may be doing (and dreading) are probably ineffective — and could even hurt you.

Here, fitness experts share which ab moves are a waste of your time, plus what to do instead for a rock-solid core.

These old-school ab movements aren't too dynamic and, more importantly, they place stress on the spine, which can cause injury, says certified personal trainer James Laurita, CPT.

Here's why: During a sit-up or crunch, your spine compresses, which can put pressure on the discs between your vertebrae and lead to lower back pain and neck strain. Plus, you're probably already in this position in everyday life, such us while driving or sitting at work — a movement pattern you don't need to reinforce.

Sit-ups and crunches also aren't very functional, according to Joanie Johnson, CPT, certified personal trainer and postnatal corrective exercise specialist: "At no time in our lives does a singular abdominal muscle fire without demanding the recruitment of the rest of the system, so why would we approach training it in that way?"

The most effective ab exercises address your entire core from the diaphragm to the pelvic floor, according to Johnson.

"Everyone's body proportions and movement patterns are different, so when you place yourself within the parameters of a machine, you're forcing your body into a repetitive pattern that may not be ideal for your shape, size or strength," Johnson says. The result? You run the risk of injury.

To make matters worse, people tend to overload machines with heavy weights, Laurita says. But your core is unlike other muscles in that it doesn't respond well to a combination of high weight with low reps for strength training. In other words, when you heap on the weight, you're likely to hurt yourself.

If you insist on adding machines to your ab workouts, Laurita recommends using very light weights in an AMRAP (or as many reps as possible) format for a quick burnout at the end of your sweat session. (Just make sure you're always moving with control and maintaining proper form.)

When it comes to targeting your obliques, side bends can be effective. The thing is, just like with ab machines, zealous gym-goers hoping for washboard abs often overload with heavy weights and increase their risk of injury, Laurita says.

And as with any exercise, when it comes to side leans, you must consider whether the movement works for your body. "You should factor in muscular imbalances, injuries, the physical demands of your job, your everyday life and contraindications specific to your body in order to perform them correctly," Johnson says.

For example, a pregnant person may not want to do side bends because they can place extra strain on the linea alba (a fibrous structure that runs down the middle of your abdomen which keeps your ab muscles close to each other).

Rather than concentrating on ab-specific movements, doing multi-joint, free-weight exercises like squats and deadlifts is a more effective way to train your abs, according to June 2020 ‌International Journal of Environmental and Public Health‌ research‌.‌

Unlike traditional ab isolation exercises, free-weight exercises offer the added health benefits of improved strength, bone density and heart health — plus, these compound movements save you time in your workouts, according to a June 2021 ‌Sports Medicine‌ review.

This approach is also more practical when it comes to preparing your muscles for the physical demands of everyday life. "Traditional ab exercises aren't going to be useful when you need your entire body to work in balance as you run for the bus, carry four bags of groceries or pick up a toddler 50 times a day," Johnson says.

"Compound movements will address those whole-body movement patterns in order to strengthen your core in a way that's going to be specific to the activity in your lifestyle."

If you want to keep some ab exercises in your workout routine, prioritize moves that will engage your core properly. Try these four exercises, courtesy of Samuel Chan, physical therapist at Bespoke Treatments in New York City.