The ONLY 2 Ab Exercises You Need (NO, SERIOUSLY!)

What would you say if I told you there were only 2 ab exercises you need to do in order to get a six pack? In this video, I am going to show you the two ab exercises that should make up the bare minimum of your ab workouts. Not only are these two abs exercises great for building a six pack, but they will also help you develop a strong core.

Some might tell you that you only need two exercises total in order to build a muscle group. I disagree. I don’t think anyone should be limited to picking just two exercises for a muscle group because each one often has multiple muscle heads as well as multiple functions that can be targeted individually through exercise selection.

In the case of the abdominal muscles with a wide variety of exercises, namely the rectus abdominis and the oblique muscles; you need to train them through not only their functions, but you also need to target the different areas of the core muscles themselves. Believe it or not, you can actually preferentially influence the upper and lower portion of the abdominal muscles based on where you initiate the movement from. And don't forget to include rotation to target the obliques.

Another thing to note is that instead of choosing just two exercises to build a six pack and strong core muscles, you will be choosing two movement patterns with 3 simple exercises (one for each ability level). Not every ab workout needs to include both of these movements, but a complete training plan for your back will at least build off them or include them at some point.

Keep in mind, any body fat that is covering your midsection will prevent the appearance of the 6 pack abs that you are looking to develop. All the most effective ab exercises in the world will never give you a six pack unless you have a solid nutrition plan to remove the belly fat covering your stomach.

That said, the first pattern is to initiate the movement of the abs from the bottom up, or moving the pelvis up towards the upper body. An example of this would be reverse crunches. However, in the pursuit of including the oblique muscles, you need to add rotation to this movement. We choose bottom-up rotation first as that is the more difficult of the two movements. This is because of the weight of your legs acting as extra resistance.

As a beginner, you will be performing a reverse corkscrew with your knees bent. To do this, you will perform the same movement as reverse crunches, but instead of bringing your knees straight to your chest, you will bring them up at an angle towards your side. An important note is that when you are bringing your knees towards your upper body, you want to clear your pelvis off the ground so that your butt no longer is contact with the ground. Return to the starting position and repeat the movement but target your knees to the other side.

For intermediates, you will be performing the same exact exercise as the beginners, but instead you will be increasing the range of motion by keeping your legs straight instead of bending your knees. Remember to get that pelvis off the ground when your legs come towards your upper body.

The advanced trainees out there have a different exercise to do which is a variation of the hanging leg raise called the hanging corkscrew. Hanging from a pullup bar, you will raise your legs towards your upper body and at an angle, just like the beginners and intermediates.

The second pattern is to initiate the movement from the top of the rectus abdominis down towards your pelvis with rotation included. That means the traditional crunch as an abdominal exercise won't cut it. As a beginner, lay on your back and put your hands behind your head with your elbows wide. Instead of crunching straight up, you want to crunch in a circular motion. Bring your weight to one shoulder blade, clear them off the ground, bring your weight to the opposite shoulder blade, then have both in contact with the ground before repeating.

The intermediate core exercise is the power over, similar to a traditional power up (a variation of the basic crunch) but instead of reaching straight up, you will reach with one arm over head to the opposite side, rotating your torso.

The advanced guys will perform a cable crunch pulldown. At a cable machine with a rope attached, kneel down facing away from it while holding the ends of the rope on either side of your head. Crunch down and at an angle to target the upper rectus abdominis muscles and the obliques.

Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

[athleanx]

*VIEWER GIVEAWAY* - I’m giving away my brand new complete 90 Day Beaxst PPL program to 40 lucky clickers within the first hour this video is published! Remember, this is NOT THE FIRST 40, but those randomly selected within the first hour the video is published. Click the link to see if you’ve won. No strings attached! Clicking twice does nothing. Only one entry per video. Remember to watch to the end for more workouts.

If you don’t win, no worries, you’re not going away empty handed. Just be sure you have your notifications turned on so you can get to my next video quickly and try again. Good luck and thanks for being a loyal subscriber…

[pedro_wangler]

Jeff takes rest days so the weights can recover

[MrRedfoxx]

2:20 Corkscrew series
3:58 Upper Circle crunch series

[studbunnyzeus]

The upper circle crunch is the first upper ab workout I’ve felt real engagement from my mid torso! Thank you 🙏

[SibirischBaer]

Best work out channel ever. No BS. Every explanation to the point. Plus demonstration. Even after years in the gym you gain so much here. Thank you.

[hypnotard]

I discovered Jeff during the 1st week of covid lockdown and 3 years later my life's so much different. at 52years old people mistake me for 35 every day except I look and feel better than I did at 35.
Thank you Jeff for helping me get my life back!

[apemenlu]

2:18 corkscrew
2:55 straight leg corkscrew
3:24 hanging corkscrew
3:56 upper circle crunch
4:35 power over
5:12 crunch pulldown

[timdrums]

Found Jeff’s videos sometime back and then drifted around on YouTube as it offered different approaches from different Instructors. When I re-discovered Jeff’s workouts it struck me how simple to follow and clear the information is - and most importantly he cuts through so much noise but offering us the the most EFFICIENT ways to hit goals. And that’s gold when there’s just so much information out there, with variations on variations. Jeff’s workouts gets me back to basics but in a really cool and inspiring way. 🙏

[tritom]

Being a former hs wrestling coach, I spent a lot of time on weight training and cardio as part of our overall strength and conditioning program. I now see that using bands might have been more efficient and practical. I truly enjoy and appreciate Jeff's approach and techniques. I'm now 68 and use bands 4 or 5 days a weeks in various routines. Thanks.

[ashtag]

Jeff plays rock paper scissors with both hands to avoid muscular imbalance.

[manikandanganesh]

by far the most comprehensive and authentic fitness channel on u tube, no other channel even comes a close second. good show jeff

[pmacmccann]

I agree with about 80-90% of what Jeff says. I respect the heck out of him because he's natural (truly natural), and gives sound scientific advice

[Leecraker]

Hello Jeff,
First and foremost I am writing to say thank you.
I'm a 72-year-old man retired and living in Thailand. As my only income is social security I can't afford to subscribe to many websites. The videos that you offer on YouTube are phenomenal and I totally appreciate the fact that they are free. In two years I've gone from 208 lb to 175. I totally agree with you that weight loss is through diet. I use a program and have for a few years called MyFitnessPal where I track my calories my protein and other nutrients. I work out three, sometimes four times a week. I was in the martial arts since junior high school so my workout consists of 12 to 15 minutes of speedball and heavy bag and the rest of the hour is spent on strength training. In the last year I've switched to bands as the bench press really started hurting my shoulder and since I'm so intensive on punching exercises for cardio I couldn't risk having constant shoulder injuries. When I want to train a certain part of my body with a band the first place I go is to look for one of your videos on the subject. So again I sincerely wish to thank you for all that you have done and are doing. My only small request is that many times I have heard you refer to older folks as people over 50. Hey, I'm 72 and I'm not old hahaha. So maybe sometime you could give a shout out to us later middle-aged folks over 70! Thank you.
Lee Craker

[mastrasport]

One of the very few Youtuber`s who knows what he`s doing... So many out there that are even showing exercises which are not safe. I LOVE Jeff`s approach to showing the injury free versions of the exercises. At the end of the day most of us are not professionals and staying healthy and injury free is paramount.

[greeneyedalphawolf]

I really like the beginner versions of the exercises in this vid. Right now I’m doing dead bugs and the Pallof press and that’s all I can handle. I’m in terrible shape and have degenerative disk issues, but I think I could rotate in these at the basic level. I'd really like to work up to that Power Over. Thanks Jeff!

[stxgfrr]

Found Jeff’s videos sometime back and then drifted around on YouTube as it offered different approaches from different Instructors. When I re-discovered Jeff’s workouts it struck me how simple to follow and clear the information is - and most importantly he cuts through so much noise but offering us the the most EFFICIENT ways to hit goals. And that’s gold when there’s just so much information out there, with variations on variations. Jeff’s workouts gets me back to basics but in a really cool and inspiring way.

[Aathol]

Jeff never ceases to amaze me with his knowledge and no bs approach! I am definitely gonna incorporate these 2 ab exercises in my routine but too bad I don’t see a way to include it as extra in my AthleanX burn fat routine which I’m currently doing.

[mo-]

True professor. Teaching concepts and principles, not merely exercises and tasks.

[louisflores]

I am 80 & I have lost 40 pounds & want to get a 6 pack at least. I would like to do a video with you so we can get more seniors in shape & better health. Could save $billions for Medicare. 😂😊

[AmroG.]

Finally got a breakdown of the advanced crunch pull-down. Never done it because I didn’t know what to focus on to do it right. Jeff is always the man!