Stand Up for Abdominal Work

If you’re like most people, you perform most of your abdominal work lying on the floor or a bench or an exercise ball. But there might be a more functional way to build a strong core.

Abdominal work that you do on your back may offer a sufficient base conditioning start-up strength, but most athletic endeavors require the body to be well conditioned in three-dimensional movement patterns. When you perform abs exercises like cable wood chops, standing cable pushes and standing cable pulls, you’re performing movements that provide better carry-over to the way our bodies actually work for us. The emphasis is on movement, not muscle. We don’t move with isolated muscles, we move with twist patterns of stored kinetic energy.

So while lying down to perform abdominal exercises makes sense – you’re putting your muscles in direct opposition to gravity – it’s only adding resistance in one direction. From a functional training standpoint, getting vertical to work the abdominal muscles means we’re building strong muscles not just for when we’re lying on the floor, but for all the demands we make on our core throughout the day.

With standing abs exercises, you can add a new dimension to your workouts by hitting different muscle groups instead of isolating something specific. You’ll also work on your balance and stability. And another bonus: you’re less likely to experience strain in your back or neck.

Wondering how to get started? We can help.