Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
Having highly defined and toned abs is great, but having a strong core is even better. Thankfully, if you do core specific exercises, aesthetics and strength come as a package. One area of the core that you need to focus on for strength and building an impressive "six pack" is the upper abs.
This is what we are focusing on here. We’re going to hone in on the best upper ab exercises, also covering how the upper abs function, how to target them, and the best upper ab workouts to start doing today!
Table of Contents:
- 9 Best Upper Ab Exercises
- Programming Upper Abs Exercises
- Sample Ab Workouts
- What Are The Upper Abs? Anatomy & Function
- Benefits of Upper Ab Exercises
- FAQs
9 BEST UPPER AB EXERCISES FOR YOUR CORE WORKOUTS
As we go through the exercises, we will make note of progression (harder) and regression (easier) movement options where applicable, in addition to how your upper ab muscles are worked and other key information.
The 9 best upper ab exercises to include in your core workouts are:
- Barbell Rollout
- Stability Ball Crunch
- Cable Crunch
- Hip Lift
- Hallow Body Hold
- Tuck Crunch
- Front Plank Walkout
- Weighted Decline Sit Up
- Half V-Up
1. Barbell Rollout:
According to most serious lifters, the barbell rollout is the ultimate ab exercise, and it's one of my favorite barbell exercises, period. If you want stronger, more defined abs, you’ll want to include this exercise into your routine.
To be quite frank, it's not just an "upper ab" exercise, it's an all around core exercise. But, because it is so effective for the upper abs, it deserves to be at the top of this list.
The barbell works many muscles, but in regards to the abs, which are the main focus of the exercise, it works them in two ways :
- When rolling the bar out, you are resisting hip and spinal extension (anti-extension)
- When rolling the bar in, you are performing spinal flexion.
That's a double whammy of rectus abdominis activation!
Note: This is an advanced exercise as you must engage the ab muscles to prevent the pelvis from going into anterior tilt and hyperextending the lumbar spine.
Here’s how to perform the barbell rollout:
- Load a barbell with 5-10kg plates.
- Get on your knees with the barbell in front of you.
- Grab the bar with an overhand grip, shoulder-width apart.
- Now slowly roll the bar forward.
- Roll the bar as far foward as you can. Ideally, your shoulders will be near your ears with your body almost parallel with the floor.
- Pause in the extended position, then roll the barbell inward by flexing your abs and bringing your hips back. When the barbell is about in line with your head/shoulders, that is one rep.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Best Rep Range: 6-12 reps
Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Progression: To make the exercise more difficult, you can do it from a standing position rather than a kneeling position. You can also use a band for additional resistance.
Regression: Some beginner alternatives include arm walkouts, arm slideouts, plank saws, and pikes.
2. Stability Ball Crunch:
The stability ball crunch is really great for honing in on the upper abs and even made the top 3 best ab exercises in a study conducted by ACE1. It may look easy, but the activation is serious. You are going to feel some SERIOUS contraction in the upper abs.
The great thing about the stability ball is it allows for a greater range of motion (both contraction and stretching). Plus, it enhances balance and stability, improving your overall physical function by recruiting more muscle fibers and increasing muscle activation in the rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, and the obliques by 24% to 38%.
When performing this move, make sure that your abs remain tight throughout this abdominal exercise, and choose a focal point on the ceiling to maintain proper form.
Here’s how to perform the stability ball crunch:
- Grab a firm exercise ball (stability ball) that is close to the height of your knees.
- Sit down on the ball. Make sure your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle.
- With your arms crossed over your chest or behind your head, lean as far back as you can comfortably, allowing your back to wrap over the ball.
- Then, flex at the spine by contracting your abs, brining your shoulders up and toward your legs but in the direction of the ceiling. Be sure to keep your hips, hip flexors, and legs stable as you do this. You should really feel this in your upper abs.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Best Rep Range: Failure
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Progression: Hold a weighted plate or dumbbell at your chest.
3. Cable Crunch:
The cable crunch is based on trunk flexion, as you are bringing your upper body toward your legs. As such, it is an upper ab dominant exercise.
As a beginner, you’ll use lighter weight, and as you become stronger, you can adjust the weight level while maintaining proper form. This is great as it allows for easy progression. You can really control the difficulty of this exercise easily.
A few tips to keep in mind: Keep your back straight to avoid rounding your back, and your hips and arms still throughout the exercise. Be sure to engage your glutes and hamstrings. This will prevent you from sitting on your heels or relaxing your lower body.
Here’s how to perform the cable crunch:
- Using the rope attachment, attach the pulley at the highest height setting.
- You’ll face the cable machine and grab the rope with an overhand grip.
- Take a few steps backward and then kneel. Be sure to keep your toes flexed and in contact with the floor.
- Pull the rope handles towards the sides of your face/shoulders and hold this position; this is the starting position.
- Hinge at the hips to move slightly forward to ensure that your shoulders are slightly ahead of your hips.
- With your chin tucked, squeeze your abs and begin bringing your shoulders toward your pelvis until your elbows are close to your legs. As you do this, keep your chest "up/proud". Really focus on using your abs to make this movement happen.
- Hold at the bottom of this movement, continuing to squeeze your abs.
- Slowly begin to return to the starting position. This is one rep.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Best Rep Range: 8-15 reps
Difficulty: Can be adjusted to suit different levels of fitness. However, good posture throughout this exercise is essential. If you’re having trouble maintaining proper form, you can begin with the bodyweight version of the cable crunch until you get stronger.
For more great cable core exercises, check out the 17 Best Cable Machine Ab & Oblique Exercises.
4. Hip Lift:
This is essentially a reverse crunch, so it's going to work your upper abs very well too. Each time you lift your hips off the ground with your legs straight in the air, your upper abs are going to be powering the movement.
A few key tips: Don’t allow leg motion to control the motion when coming back down. Your abdominals need to be in control when lowering down to prevent lower back strain. Also, engage your abs by drawing the pelvis into your rib cage, and do not lift your neck or head.
Here’s how to perform the hip lift:
- Lay down with your back on the floor and hands facing palm down at your sides.
- Your legs will be in the air parallel to the floor. However, your legs can be straight or bent, just as long as your knees are lined up over your hips in the starting position.
- Tighten your abdomen by pulling your navel in toward your spine as you inhale.
- Then as you lift from your hips, exhale. Be sure that your hips are a few inches off the floor, and your legs stay pointed straight up as you push your legs up toward the ceiling.
- With control, lower your hips back to the floor, inhaling as you go down. This is one rep.
- Repeat for the desired number of reps.
Best Rep Range: 10-20 reps
Difficulty: Easy
5. Hallow Body Hold:
Hollow holds are an isometric compound bodyweight exercise. There might not be movement, but it requires a lot of muscle activation, especially from the rectus abdominis.
The exercise uses all of the abdominal muscles and your low back to hold the position. However, it specifically targets the upper abs muscles by creating tension when contracting inward and creating intra-abdominal pressure, or IAP. It also works the lower abs well because you need to hold your legs up in position.
A few key tips:
- Be sure that you are not arching your back.
- Engage the anterior core.
- Focus on a spot on the ceiling to avoid tucking your chin into your neck.
Here’s how to perform the hallow hold:
- Begin by laying on your back and extending your arms overhead, making sure your biceps are next to your ears.
- Place your knees together and straighten your legs, then point your toes.
- Engage the core by drawing your ribs toward your pelvis and flexing your abs. By inhaling, you’ll get a tighter squeeze on the abdomen and improve the effectiveness of this exercise.
- Lift your feet, legs, shoulders, and arms off the floor and press your lower back into the ground. Only your lumbar spine region will be in contact with the ground. (This includes the lower third of your spine, from the tailbone to the mid-back area.) Look down at your body all the way to your feet without tucking your chin into your chest.
- Hold this position for a few seconds and then relax by going back into the starting position. This is one rep.
- Repeat for desired reps.
Best Rep Range: Failure (or 30-60 seconds) Really squeeze as you hold to increase difficulty and effectiveness.
Difficulty: Easy. The longer you hold the position, the more difficult this exercise will become, and the stronger you will become. Once you are able to hold this for one minute, you’ll progress into a hallow rock.
Progression: You can hold a light weight and something between your feet to increase the difficulty.
6. Tuck Crunch:
A variation of the crunch will always have a spot in our upper ab workout, as research shows that curl up activities do a better job of activating the upper abs, compared to posterior pelvic tilt exercises2.
This bodyweight exercise primarily targets the abs, and specifically, the upper abs. This is a great exercise if you’re looking to improve abdominal strength and build muscles in your midsection.
Different tuck crunch variations might be easier to perform, such as the chair ab tuck, stability ball tuck, or simply keeping your feet planted on the floor instead of lifted off the ground. However, lifting the feet off the ground will allow for better targeting of the upper abs.
For best form, keep your movements controlled and slow. Be sure that your neck and shoulders are relaxed throughout the movements. And, if you have back or shoulder issues, you may want to choose an alternative or discuss this exercise with your doctor.
Here’s how to perform the tuck crunch:
- Using an exercise mat, lay on your back.
- Start by crossing your arms over your chest and grabbing your shoulders with opposing hands.
- Then raise your legs and bend your knees, keeping your calves parallel with the floor. This is the starting position.
- Exhale as you begin to roll forward, raising your torso off the floor. Do not take your back off of the mat.
- In reverse motion, slowly return to the starting position. This is one rep.
- Repeat for desired reps.
Best Rep Range: 10-20 reps
Difficulty: Easy
Crunch - Wrong vs Right:
Most people do the crunch incorrectly, and it affects the neck and the back.
Here are some of the wrong things to do when performing a crunch,
- Tucking the chin too far into your chest.
- Jerking up into a crunch.
- Not keeping your abs contracted throughout the exercise.
- Raising yourself too high off the floor.
Here are some of the right things to do when performing a crunch,
- Use your core to raise your upper body.
- Lift in a slow, controlled manner.
- Place your hands behind your head, not on the neck.
- Keep your lower back in constant contact with the floor.
- Keep your feet flat on the floor.
7. Front Plank Walkout:
While this exercise will have your abs burning, you’ll also feel it in your shoulders, chest, back, and legs. It's a total body bodyweight exercise.
If you want a strong core (and abs) this is the one. It's basically the bodyweight version of the barbell rollout as it works the core in the same manner. So, if you can't do ab rollouts or you just want to switch it up, do the front plank walkout. And, if you're interested in more great variations of the plank, make sure to check out our article: 29 Best Plank Variations.
A few tips to help you with the front plank walkout are:
- Stop the extension before you begin feeling your lower back muscles doing the work instead of your ab muscles.
- Do not allow the hips to sag to the floor.
Here’s how to perform the front plank walkout crunch:
- Begin in a plank position with your hands flat on the floor in front of you. A rounded back and slightly bent knees are okay.
- Keeping your feet planted in the same place, start slowly walking your hands away from your feet. Your heels will begin to come off of the floor, and you’ll be on your tiptoes.
- You’ll move past a pushup position with your hands, and continue to reach into an extension as far as you can, keeping your glutes squeezed and the abs engaged to maintain a neutral spine.
- Hold this position for 3 seconds before reversing the movements of walking your hands back to your feet and stand back up. This is one rep.
- Repeat for the desired number of reps.
Best Rep Range: Failure (30-60 seconds)
Difficulty: Medium. Consider starting with a plank, and once you're able to hold a plank for a minute, you can progress into this exercise.
Plank - Wrong vs Right:
Here are some of the wrong things to do when performing a plank,
- Not engaging your core enough and arching your back.
- Lowering your hips as you become fatigued.
- Looking forward, this places a strain on your neck.
Here are some of the right things to do when performing a plank,
- Keep your eyes looking down at the floor.
- Squeeze your glutes and raise your butt to keep your hips raised.
- Maintain a tight core.
8. Weighted Decline Sit Up:
Weighted decline situps are one of the most effective core exercises to improve your core strength and stabilize the body to prevent injury. The weights give you control over your progressions, allowing you to obtain your fitness goals.
Of course, as a beginner, you should start without any weight at all. You can cross your arms or hold them behind your head or straight out.
Because you are adding the extra resistance to the traditional sit up and placed in a declined position, you’re increasing the intensity of the workout for your rectus abdominus (as well as your transverse abdominis and obliques), especially the upper abs due to the movement being based on flexing your torso toward your legs.
When performing this exercise, be sure to maintain proper form throughout every movement. If you are unable to do this, then you’ll need to reduce the amount of weight.
Here’s how to perform the weighted decline sit up:
- Lay with your back on a decline bench and your legs hooked to maintain stability.
- You’ll begin by holding a weight with your arms extended overhead, above your chest.
- Then curl your chest towards your hips while raising your torso off the bench until sitting up.
- Maintaining control, you’ll begin to go back down towards the bench until just before your shoulder blades touch the bench. This is one rep.
- Repeat for the desired number of reps.
Best Rep Range: 8-15 reps
Difficulty: Hard
Regression: No weight
9. Half V-Up:
This intense exercise does not only engage your entire core, it also recruits your hamstrings and your calves by keeping your legs extended in the air during the whole exercise.
In terms of the rectus abdominis, while it is an upper ab focused exercise due to the movement being trunk flexion, it is also great for your lower abs as they will be activated in an isometric manner to keep your legs up.
All in all, there's no doubt that v-up exercises will get your breath going as it builds a strong core, improving stamina and coordination. Stability and control are essential to the exercise.
To help you perform it correctly, aim for stability first, and progress through this exercise by holding at the top for longer.
Here’s how to perform Half V-Ups:
- Start by laying on your back, positioning your legs in the air at a 45-to-90 degree angle, and knees bent.
- Extending your arms reach above your head so that your biceps are positioned at your ears.
- Lengthen the back of your neck, exhale and contract the abdominals.
- While keeping your arms straight, start moving the arms towards your feet until your upper back is lifted off of the mat.
- Hold this position before going back down to the starting position. This is one rep.
- Repeat for the desired number of reps.
Best Rep Range: 10-20 reps
Difficulty: Medium (Increase difficulty by increasing range of motion: bring your feet down as you bring your arms down each rep, slowly!)
Programming Upper Ab Exercises: HOW MANY SETS PER WEEK?
How many sets you can do per week will depend on your fitness level. You can do a wide range of weekly sets of upper ab exercises, ranging from 2 to 10 sets but up to 20 sets per week. Choosing the best number of sets for your fitness level will require your best judgment coupled with progression.
You can train your abs every day as long as you are training different core muscles, and this will train your muscles evenly and avoid overtraining any single muscle group.
If your core is sore, take a rest. Overtraining is never a good idea. Like other muscles, your abs need to recover. And if eventually you are finding that your abs are not getting sore ever, then you need to take progression up a notch (do more reps or add an external load or do harder variations). If your core workouts are getting easier, you are not progressive overloading.
HOW MANY REPS SHOULD I DO FOR UPPER AB EXERCISES?
Because the abdominals are made up of both slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibers, it’s important to use a combination of low weight and high reps and heavy weight and low reps. Moreover, you need to give them time to rest and recover after training (you can't train your abs every day! at least not if you are training them properly).
If you want to maximize your results, here are a few things that you can do,
- Adapt to the principle of progressive overload. Gradually increasing the stress that you place on the muscles prevents them from adapting, which ultimately leads to a plateau. This can be achieved by increasing the weight used. The goal is to fatigue the muscles by bringing them to failure.
- Use a combination of bodyweight exercises and weight exercises. Bodyweight upper ab exercises enhance fat burning during the workout and are equally as challenging as weighted exercises. When you use your own body weight you activate most of your muscles when performing the exercise.
- Doing timed sets of 30-60 seconds will help you to reach failure or near failure. You’ll generally use light weights for these types of sets.
- Generally, 5-20 reps is good, and should bring you to near failure.
- A good rule of thumb with low weights and high reps is if you’re not reaching failure with 20 reps, you need to increase the weight. And the same goes for heavyweight and low reps, if you’re not reaching failure with 8 reps, you’ll want to increase the weight.
HOW TO PROGRAM UPPER AB EXERCISES INTO YOUR CORE WORKOUTS
A good, well-rounded ab workout will consist of lower and upper ab hypertrophy exercises as well as lower and upper ab strength exercises. This means spreading out sets that will target the different functions of the abs that we’ve previously discussed in this article.
To achieve this, you will do ab-specific workouts throughout your week. For example, one day, you’ll do an upper ab workout the next session, you’ll focus on the obliques or do erector spinae exercises. The goal is to focus on the entire abs over different sessions or do a couple of sets for each in one workout, 2-3 times a week.
You can add an upper abs workout (and core exercises, in general) to the end of your normal workout routines throughout the week.
SAMPLE UPPER AB WORKOUT (5 minutes)
- Barbell Rollout: 30 seconds
- Tuck Crunch: 30 seconds
- Front Plank Walkout: 30 seconds
- Barbell Rollout: 30 seconds
- Tuck Crunch: 30 seconds
- Front Plank Walkout: 30 seconds
SAMPLE CORE WORKOUT (entire core, 10 minutes)
- Plank Shoulder Tap: 20 reps
- Bicycle Crunch: 20 reps
- Hollow Hold: 20 reps
- Cross-Body Mountain Climber: 20 reps
Perform each exercise for 20 reps in the order listed, and then continue to the next exercise. Repeat this sequence as many times as possible, following a 10-minute AMRAP time frame.
WHAT ARE THE UPPER ABS?
Keep in mind there are no upper and lower abs, technically. The rectus abdominis (which are your "abs") is not divided into top and bottom halves, just left and right sides. Nevertheless, when discussing core workouts, there are exercises that better target the top portion of the rectus abdominis, or in other words, your "upper abs".
We can't say how many packs are the upper part and how many are the lower, as not everyone has the same number of abs. In fact, you could have 4-pack abs vs. 6 pack vs. 8 pack, with abdominals ranging from 2-10 individual abs that make up your rectus abdominis.
Of course, 6 is the most common, which is why everyone calls their abs a "sick pack". If you're interested in this topic, make sure you check out our article on Abs (2, 4, 6, 8, 10) Explained as we dig into it in even more detail!
For the sake of keeping things simple, when referring to upper abs, it is the top portion of the rectus abdominis from about the belly button up. Now, while the rectus abdominis is not split into bottom and top halves, anatomically speaking, it is good to differentiate the top and bottom part of your abs in workouts as certain exercises will better target the upper abs and certain exercises better target the lower abs.
Basically, the type of movements you perform (spinal flexion and hip flexion) will increase activation in one over the other, BUT both the upper and lower parts of your abs will be activated no matter what. It's just the degree of activation that makes some exercises better for the upper abs and some better for the lower abs.
ANATOMY & FUNCTION OF THE CORE
Your core muscles and six-pack abs aren’t just meant to look good, they have some major responsibilities in movement, support, and stability of your spine.
There are six main muscles in the core, and each muscle serves a primary function in how the body moves:
-
Erector Spinae (Back Extensors): Trunk extension, lateral trunk flexion, anti-flexion - responsible for standing up straight when bent over and for bending backward and bending side to side. i.e. back extensions
-
Internal and External Obliques: Trunk rotation, lateral trunk flexion, anti-rotation - responsible for twisting to the left and right and bending side to side. i.e. cable side bends, woodchoppers
-
Rectus Abdominis (Trunk Flexors): Trunk flexion, lateral trunk flexion, anti-extension - responsible for bending forward or curling up and bending side to side. i.e. leg raises, crunches
-
Transversus Abdominis: Compression of the abdomen - draw your belly button into your spine. i.e. front planks
- Multifidi: Spinal stability - holds your spine stable during movement.
BENEFITS OF TARGETING THE UPPER ABS & AB STRENGTH
If you’re not including ab workouts into your routine, it’s affecting your overall strength, endurance, and performance. People say big compound movements are enough for core strength, but the truth is, it's really not. If you aren't doing core specific exercises, you will have a weak link that is your core.
Your abdominal muscles are also an anchor for your back. Weak abdominal muscles place unnecessary strain on your back. Not only does this increase your risk of injury, but it also prevents you from achieving many fitness goals.
Besides having less strength and resilience if you don't train them, your abs are crucial for:
- Balance
- Coordination
- Posture
- Stamina
FAQs
Let's answer some frequently asked questions on upper ab exercises.
Do planks work upper abs?
Yes, when you properly perform a plank, it engages your abs, including your upper abs, and helps to develop a strong core.
What happens if I train abs everyday?
Your abs are broken up into different muscles, and because of this, you are able to work out different ab muscles every day while giving the others a break. You should not target the same muscles consecutively.
How do you tone your upper stomach?
Toning your upper stomach requires doing ab-specific workouts that target your top abs while also reducing the fat layer covering your abs.
How to get rid of upper belly fat?
Your diet is the critical component to getting rid of upper belly fat. No amount of cardio or exercises by itself is going to be enough to burn fat.
CAN YOU ISOLATE THE UPPER ABS?
You cannot strictly isolate the upper abs but you can target them more. Whenever you work the upper abs, you’ll be working the lower abs to a certain degree. The same holds true when you’re working the lower abs. However, with certain core exercises, there is a higher activation in either the upper or lower part of the rectus abdominis, allowing you to, in essence, isolate the upper abs or lower abs.
HOW DO YOU TARGET THE UPPER ABS?
Your abs act on spinal flexion and hip flexion (as well as anti-extension). So, when discussing exercises for the rectus abdominis specifically, it will be one of these actions.
Your upper abs will be the most activated during movements that bring your upper body toward your hips/legs (spinal flexion). Your lower abs will be most activated during movements that bring your legs/hip toward your upper body (hip flexion).
The following exercises will target your upper abs:
- Sit-ups
- Crunches
The following ab exercises will target your lower abs:
- Hanging Leg Raises
- Flutter Kicks
Of course, there are exercises that combine both hip and spinal flexion so you can work both the upper and lower portions of your rectus abdominis - for example, V-Ups.
Moreover, with exercises like the plank, you are working your entire rectus abdominis to a high degree (as well as many other muscles) as you must resist both spinal and hip movement. The plank is an anti-extension movement, which, again, is one of the rectus abdominis jobs.
WHAT ARE THE BEST EXERCISES FOR UPPER ABS?
The best upper ab exercises are based on spinal flexion and anti-extension and include the barbell rollout, stability ball crunch, cable crunch, hip lift, hallow body hold, tuck crunch, front plank walkout, weighted decline sit up, and half V-up.
HOW DO YOU GET DEFINED TOP ABS?
The secret to having well-defined abs is actually no secret at all...your diet is the key to revealing the hidden muscles. If you do not have a low enough body fat percentage, your abs muscles cannot be seen - no matter how strong or defined they are.
While various factors play a part in this, such as body types and fitness goals, a male will need to have around 13–16% body fat to see their abs, and a female will need around 22–25% body fat. For more defined abs, you will need to have an even lower percentage of body fat.
You can have strong, tight abs, but if you have even the smallest amount of body fat covering, nobody will know.
However, with that being said, it’s likely that you can see the definition in the upper abdominals way before your lower abs. This is because lower belly fat is one of the most stubborn fats to lose and the most common area for fat to accumulate. Most people who workout regularly won't have much fat covering their upper abs, but many will still have that "pouch" covering the lower abs.
To get visible abs, check out our Best Cutting Workout & Diet Plan and our 4 Week Meal Plan For Weight Loss!
The Best Upper Ab Exercises: Final Takeaways
Your abs are involved in pretty much every single movement you make. So, of course, it's going to be important to have them in tip-top shape.
The bonus is, working out your abs will make them more defined in time. You'll notice some nice, bigger, sharper looking abs when you achieve a lower body fat percentage. Sure, they don't have serious growth potential like other muscles (thankfully as that could get weird), and some people are naturally born with thicker abs, but anyone can develop their abs to make them standout more.
You just need to put in the work.
Looking for more great ab content? Check out our articles on the Best Lower Ab Exercises, Best Bodyweight Core Exercises, and the Best Resistance Band Core Exercises!
References:
- ACE-Commissioned Study; 2001. https://www.acefitness.org/getfit/studies/bestworstabexercises.pdf
- Sarti MA, Monfort M, Fuster MA, Villaplana LA. Muscle activity in upper and lower rectus abdominus during abdominal exercises. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 1996;77(12). doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/s0003-9993(96)90195-1
Garett Reid
Author