It’s not just about making your abs appear better. These workouts are great for both aesthetics and functional training.
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You will feel better and look better once you begin to train them. Don’t let the simplicity of these workouts fool you. Simple does not equal easy. Prepare to have a midsection you can use for any workout, and if necessary, anyone.
Best Dumbbell Abs Workouts
- For Strength
- For Muscle
- For Fat Loss
The Best Ab Workout with Dumbbells
Training your abs to become stronger is underrated. Your focus might be on heavy deadlifts and squats. These types of large movements require abdominal engagement but you are limited in the amount of exposure that can be given to these muscles to train them with progressive overload over longer ranges. (1)
If you want to build core strength and overall body strength, expose your abs to different challenges and stimuli while creating movement and when resisting it . When you resist flexion and extensions (abdominal straightening and bending) with isometric contractions, this occurs in the sagittal plan.
The Core Strength Workout
This workout will expose your abdominal muscles and ovaries to unique stressors that you haven’t addressed before in your training. This workout will force your abs resist and redirect forces, as well overcome direct resistance. This workout should be performed two to three sessions per week, at the end of other sessions.
Dumbbell Planks Pull-Through
- How To Do It: Position yourself with your arms at arm’s distance to the side. Start with your hands and knees on the ground. Set your shoulders over your wrists, and your knees under your hips. While keeping your arms straight, actively push your hands down into the ground and reach your shoulders downward to engage your serratus posterior. Drag the dumbbell under you with the hand that is furthest away from the weight. You should feel your abdominal muscles contracting after three to four seconds. Continue to drag the weight until you reach your full arm extension. Do not allow your body’s rotation or tilt. Return the weight back to its starting position by switching hands.
- Sets & Reps:3×16 total reps, with each side alternating for 8 reps.
- Rest time: 60 seconds between sets.
Dumbbell Sit Up
- How To Do It: Lay on the floor and place one dumbbell horizontally under your chin, resting on your chest. It is important to keep the dumbbells touching your body. This will make the first part of a sit-up more difficult (in a good way). This ensures your abdominals are doing the work, and not your hip flexors. 2) Dig your heels in the floor, and then pull them back to engage your Hamstrings. Curl your torso toward your knees. Slowly lower yourself back to your starting position after you reach the top. You should keep your shoulders and head off the floor to avoid relaxing completely between reps.
- Sets & Reps:3×10
- Rest time: 60 seconds between sets.
Dumbbell Side Bend
- How To Do It: Stand straight up with a dumbbell at hip level in one hand. Leaning your upper body towards the weight without rotating or bending will cause a stretch on the opposite side. Keep a steady base, and do not shift your weight to one side. The range of motion you can achieve will vary depending on your overall strength and mobility. Once you have reached your maximum stretch, use the stretch of your obliques to pull yourself up. Avoid leaning to one side too much or “over-correcting”. Switch hands only after you have completed all reps.
- Sets & Reps:3 sets of 10 reps each side.
- Rest Time: No rest between sets. 60 seconds between sets.
The Best Ab Exercises with Dumbbells for Muscle Gain
Most people believe that abs and fat loss are related. This is a reasonable assumption. abdominal muscle is a muscle , just like any other. You can train them to grow, which can make them look more prominent, just as you can do with your biceps or calves.
How to build more muscle in your abs
With these three moves, your abs will look and feel as if they were carved from rich mahogany. For real muscle growth, you should challenge your abdominals by increasing both the load and volume. This workout should be performed three to four days per week.
Double Crunch Dumbbell
- How To Do It: Lie down on the floor with your feet elevated and legs bent. Holding a dumbbell with both your hands, straighten your arms and raise them above your chest. While reaching straight up to the ceiling with the dumbbell, do not reach forwards towards your feet. Instead, crunch your upper back. As you reach up, push your heels into the bench while simultaneously lifting your hips a few inches off the floor. Hold this position for one second, and then slowly return to your starting position. Get ready for a lot of pain as this exercise is intense.
- Sets & Reps:4×8-10
- Rest Time:No time for rest before the next exercise.
Leg Raise
- How To Do It: Lie down on a bench with your body facing one end and place the dumbbell between your legs. Hold the bench in front of your head, and then extend your legs parallel to the floor. As you controllably pull your knees toward you, bend your legs. To control weight, squeeze your legs tightly. Instead of trying to reach your elbows with your knees, focus on covering your abdomen with your thighs.
- Sets & Reps: 8 x 10
- Rest Time: No time for resting before the next exercise.
Dumbbell Side Bend
- How To Do It: Stand straight up with one dumbbell at hip level in the suitcase position. Leaning your upper body towards the weight without rotating or bending will cause a stretch on the opposite side. Keep a steady base, and do not shift your weight to one side. The range of motion you can achieve will vary depending on your overall strength and mobility. Once you have reached your maximum stretch, use the stretch of your obliques to pull yourself up. Avoid leaning to one side too much or “over-correcting”. Switch hands only after you have completed all reps.
- Sets & Reps:4×10 per side.
- Rest Time: No break between sides. Rest for 45 seconds before returning to your first exercise.
The Best Ab Workout with Dumbbells for Fat Loss
There are no specificab exercises or ab workouts which will accelerate the rate of weight loss or fat loss. You can improve your body composition by increasing or maintaining overall activity during the week, while also adjusting nutrition to support a caloric deficit.
Reveal Abs
This simple abs routine will help you increase your weekly workout load, burn more calories, and maintain muscle and strength as you lose body fat. This workout should be performed two to three days per week after your strength training session.
Dumbbell Renegade Row
- How To Do It: Begin in the plank position with your legs straight, and toes firmly on the ground. Start with both arms straight. One hand should be on the floor and the other should hold a dumbbell under your shoulder. While pressing your other arm into the floor, row the dumbbell toward your ribs. Avoid twisting your hips and shoulders. Switch arms after completing all reps on one side.
- Sets & Reps:3×8 reps on each side.
- Rest Time: No time for resting between sides or before the next exercise.
Chest Press with Hollow Hold
- How To Do It: Lie down on the floor in a “hollow-rock” position, with your legs extended and heels and shoulders raised off the ground. Raising your feet slightly above your hips and pressing your lower back against the floor will engage your core to stabilize your body. This static position should be maintained throughout the entire exercise. Hold a dumbbell horizontally at chest level, grasping it on each end. Press the dumbbell towards the ceiling to perform a repetition. To engage the serratus anterior, oblique and other muscles fully, reach as far as you can.
- Sets & Reps:3×8-10
- Rest Time: No time for resting before the next exercise.
Half-Kneeling Wood Chop
- How To Do It: Begin in a semi-kneeling posture, holding the dumbbell with your hands at the hip of “down” leg. Rotate your waist while straightening both arms and bringing the dumbbell up to the opposite shoulder. Return to your starting position. All reps must be performed on the same side.
- Sets & Reps:3×16 reps each side.
- Rest Time: No rest between sides. Rest 30 seconds between sets and then return to the first set.
Ab Muscles
Some people are surprised to learn that “the abs”, as they call them, is not a single muscle. The muscles that control your torso, offer stability and strength, and provide postural support are a group of muscles, some visible and others deeper, but equally important.
Rectus Abdominis
The main ab muscle. The rectus abdominalis can be divided into different “sections” based on your genetic structure and arrangement of the tendon. It is genetics that determines whether some people can build an 8-pack or a 4-pack.
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The rectus abdominalis controls torsoflexion (bending the upper body). It also plays a part in resisting extension, (bending forwards), and lateral flexion.
Transverse Abdominis
Transverse abdominis, a powerful and deep core muscle is crucial for core strength. The transverse abdominis is a major player in the creation of intraabdominal press which stabilizes your lower back. Transverse abs also help to stabilize your upper body by creating a stable pillar.
Obliques, both internal and external
Rotational Power is the most notable feature of the obliques. Well-developed oblique muscle is required for any movement that involves twisting the hips or preventing the waist from rotating. These muscles are responsible for lateral bends as well as resisting sideways movement.
Warm up your core muscles and abs
Warming up is important for any part of the body. It will help you perform better and reduce your risk of injury. Warming up for weighted abdominal exercises is as simple as performing the exercise without the dumbbells.
You don’t necessarily need to warm up your entire body, especially since abs are usually performed at the end. You can simply perform your exercises without adding weight for a few reps in order to prime the movement pattern. This will directly prepare the muscles.
You can prepare for a strength workout by performing a few sit-ups and unweighted side bends. Then, begin the weight-bearing versions.
It is essential to have a good training program.
Despite the fact that your abs are important in many activities and exercises, it is not given enough importance to include specific exercises which will really challenge them. Standard bodyweight ab training can only get you so far. Like any muscle, your abs will need to be loaded and advanced over time with more reps or more weight. Watch your physique and performance improve when you make intense ab training the priority.
