Core concern

Three standing ab exercises as alternatives to planks

- Grace Walsh

If you wince when you think of ab workouts, you're not alone. Pilates enthusiasts aside, most of us don't enjoy working our core muscles with exercises like planks and crunches, which is why standing ab exercises come in so handy.

Not only can you avoid sweaty gym floors or getting up close and personal with your living room carpet, but they are also the best core exercises to do at home, says Kate Rowe-Ham, a certified personal trainer, women's fitness coach and strength specialist, who is also the founder of the fitness platform Owning Your Menopause.

“Standing ab exercises train your core in a way that mimics how you use it every day—upright, moving, twisting, rotating and stabilising, so they are more functional than planks,” she explains.

Want to give them a try? Here, Rowe-Ham reveals her favourite three standing ab exercises and how to do them.

What are standing ab exercises?

These are designed to target the core muscles, including the abdominals and obliques, from a standing position. Doing these not only boosts strength in the trunk, but also has benefits for the entire body. “They improve posture and balance while being easier on the wrists, shoulders and lower back,” says Rowe-Ham. “This makes them a brilliant alternative for anyone who struggles with a plank.”

You can do standing ab exercises as part of a dumbbell core workout or a bodyweight workout for beginners, depending on your current fitness levels.

How to do standing ab exercises

Standing wood chop

“[This is a fantastic, full-core move that mimics how we actually move in everyday life, reaching, twisting and lifting,” says Rowe-Ham.