Six Pack Abs Workout For Upper and Lower Abs

Many people want six pack abs, but they think it is challenging to achieve these. However, effective workout plan and diet regime help you achieve the same. Here we will focus on the best ab exercises for training the upper abs, lower abs, and obliques.

The three options target different areas of your abs to ensure you hit them from every angle. The first workout concentrates on your upper abs, the second focuses on the lower abs, and the final routine works the often neglected side abs – or obliques – along with your deeper core muscles.

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I will provide you complete six-pack abs workout plan that includes the best exercises for six-pack abs, sample workout plans, and tips for success.

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Best Upper Abs Exercises For A Stronger Core

There are plenty of upper abs exercises for beginners and advanced. Additionally, there are upper abs exercises without equipment for people who train at home or aren’t ready to lead the movement.

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.

Now, one area of the core that you need to focus on for strength and building an impressive “six-pack” upper abs

How Do You Target The Upper Abs?

Your abs act on spinal flexion and hip flexion (as well as anti-extension). So, they will be involved in one of these actions while doing exercises for the rectus abdominis. 

• 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). 

3 Best Upper Abs Exercises To Build 6-Pack Abs

• Sit-ups
• Crunches
• V-Up

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1. Sit Ups

Sit-ups are the classic best upper abs exercises. They involve lying on your back and lifting your torso.

Sit-ups may be an old-school exercise, but make no mistake; it’s also one of the most effective core exercises that target the rectus abdominis (particularly the upper abs) and obliques.

It requires a greater range of motion, which stretches the abs and creates more tension for the exerciser. These are essential elements for building muscle and strength.

How To Do

1. Lie on your back with bent knees and your feet anchored.
2. Don’t lean forward with your head. Keep a natural head position. Keep your chest up and shoulders back.
3. Place your hands behind your head and contract through your abs to lift your shoulders and upper back off the decline bench.
4. For a second, hold this position before slowly lowering back to the starting position.
5. Make the negative portion of the rep as slow and deliberate as the positive portion.

2. Crunch

Crunches are another excellent exercise for your upper abs workout. The crunch motion occurs in the upper spine, and your shoulders rise a few inches off the floor.

During a crunch, your shoulders lift off the floor, but your lower back stays on the ground. This movement is all about contracting your upper abs. Sit-ups, on the other hand, require bending at the hips and waist.

How To Do

1. Lie on the floor with your knees bent, feet flat, and lower back flat.
2. Place your hands behind your head. Don’t pull on your neck with your hands; this will strain the neck.
3. Contract through your ab muscles to lift your shoulders and upper back off the floor.
4. Hold this position for a second and then slowly return to the starting position. Do the negative part of the rep as slowly and carefully as the positive part.

3. V-Up

Unlike many core exercises, which focus primarily on the upper or lower abs, the V-Up engages the entire rectus abdominis and obliques. By lifting both your upper and lower body simultaneously, you create an intense contraction throughout your entire core.

The V-Up, also known as a jackknife, is a full-body move that works your core, legs, back, and shoulders. The exercise works the upper and lower abs muscles simultaneously to build an impressive six-pack abs.

How To

1. Lie down on the floor on your back with your arms extended straight back behind your head.
2. Your legs should also be extended.
3. Exhale and bend at your waist while raising your legs and arms to meet in a jackknife movement.
4. Try to hold the contracted position.
5. Lower your arms and legs back to the starting position, inhaling as you do so.
6. Keep your back as straight as possible during the V-sit-up.

Best Lower Abs Exercises

There are plenty of lower abs exercises for beginners and advanced to get six-pack abs.

In addition, there are lower abs exercises without equipment for people who train at home or aren’t ready to load the movement.

Technically, no. When you are performing ab exercises, your entire core will be engaged. However, you can certainly emphasize the lower abs.

So, while it’s not actually “isolation,” it is as good as it sounds. We can say “lower ab exercises” and “upper ab exercises” because they essentially isolate the areas through specific movements, which we will now discuss.

How Do You Target The Lower Abs?

The rectus abdominals’ primary jobs are flexion of the torso, which means forward bending (bringing your chest toward your hips), and flexion of the hips, which essentially means bringing your pelvic bone/hips upward.

So, to target your lower abs, think of movements that bring your thighs toward your core.

Now that we know, we need to target the flexion of the hips to work those lower abs.

What sort of exercises would this cover? Bicycles, reverse crunches, planks with a knee drive, and hanging leg raises are all wonderful for activating the lower abdominal area.

1. Reverse Crunch

The reverse crunch is a challenging core exercise that primarily targets the rectus abdominis (lower abs), the muscle in your abdomen that makes up your “six-pack.”

A reverse crunch offers many of the same benefits as the traditional crunch.

Also, say goodbye to neck tension. Since your upper body remains on the ground throughout the movement, there’s minimal stress on your neck and upper spine.

How To Do

1. Lie face up on the floor with your hands extended at your sides.
2. The feet are up, and the thighs are perpendicular to the floor (your hips and knees should form a 90-degree angle).
3. Slowly bring your knees toward your chest, lifting your hips and glutes off the floor.
4. Try to maintain the bend in your knees throughout the movement.
5. Slowly lower your legs back to the starting position under control motion. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
6. To make this exercise more challenging, perform it on a decline bench with your head on the high end.

2. Lying Straight Leg Raise

One key benefit of the Lying straight leg raise is its ability to specifically target the lower abdominal muscles. This exercise also significantly stimulates the hip flexors.

Keep your lower back against the mat during the exercise. Straight leg raises reduce the risk of lower back pain.

It is a beginner-friendly exercise because you don’t need special equipment except for space where you can lie on your back freely. To make the straight leg raise more challenging, add a small cuff weight to your leg.

How To Do

1. Lie on the floor/bench with your entire body straight and your hands at your sides to stabilize your torso.
2. Hold your legs a few inches off the floor.
3. Raise your legs up toward the ceiling until they are just short of perpendicular to the floor.
4. Slowly lower your legs back to the starting position.
5. Make sure not to arch your back at any point in the move.

3. Mountain Climber

Mountain climbing is an explosive bodyweight exercise that simultaneously engages multiple muscle groups, including the core, shoulders, arms, and legs. It’s almost like getting a total-body workout with just one exercise.

It helps you improve balance, agility, coordination, strength, flexibility, and blood circulation.

The combination of strength and cardio elements in mountain climbers creates a perfect storm for calorie-burning

How To Do

1. Start in the push-up position with your arms completely straight and directly beneath your shoulders.
2. Your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles. Don’t round your lower back.
3. Don’t lift your hips too high. Your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles.
4. Squeeze your abs, lift one foot off the floor and bring your knee up towards your chest while keeping your body in as straight of a line as possible.
5. Return to the starting position and repeat the movement with your opposite leg.

Oblique Workout For Six-Pack Abs

When people think about the “core”, they usually just consider the rectus abdominis (aka the six-pack abs), with exercises like hanging leg raises, Side planks, and maybe some crunches or sit-ups.

While there’s nothing wrong with those exercises or with focusing on your abs, the core is actually composed of multiple muscle groups that also need attention. One of those is the obliques (internal and external obliques). 

Obliques are an important part of your core, which comes in handy during rotational exercises and when balancing everyday life.

These oblique exercises engage far more than just your so-called “side abs” and make you a stronger human overall.

How Do You Target The Oblique?

The obliques help you bend side to side, rotate your torso from left to right, and assist with spinal flexion.

The obliques also actively resist rotation to help stabilize and protect your spine. They’re a key muscle group for stability, which gets attacked when you twist, turn, and brace in those positions.

That means moves like side planks and windmills will challenge your oblique muscles, as will any exercises that require you to hold a load off-center while still trying to keep your hips and shoulders square.

1. Oblique Crunch

The oblique crunch is one of the best bodyweight exercises for targeting your core muscles, specifically the obliques on the sides of your abdomen.

It is a core exercise that strengthens the obliques and the other core muscles, including the transverse abdominus and medial glute.

How To Do

1. Lie on the floor on your right side with your hips and knees bent.
2. Place your left hand behind your head and place your right hand across your body and on the obliques.
3. Placing your hand on your obliques can help you feel the muscles contract and enhance the mind-muscle connection.
4. Contract your obliques to lift your shoulder off the floor.
5. Hold this position briefly, contracting your obliques as hard as possible.
6.  Then, return to the start position. Complete all reps on the left side and then repeat on the right.

2. Side Plank

The side plank is one of the best core exercises for strengthening the oblique abdominal muscles, which are not worked as much during ab exercises such as crunches.

If you’re new to planking, you should master the basic forearm plank before moving on to the side plank variation.

How To Do

1. In a side plank position, lie on your right side on the floor with your left foot on top of your inner side and your left arm on top of your left side.
2. Raise your body by placing your right forearm flat on the floor so that it’s perpendicular to your torso.
3. Lift your torso until your right upper arm is straight underneath you.
4. In this position, only your right forearm and the outer side of your right foot contact the floor, and your body forms a diagonal line.
5. Keep your abs pulled in tight and hold this position for as long as you can, and then repeat on the left side.

3. Russian Twist

The Russian twist engages and strengthens your core muscles as well as your lower back. This exercise helps to tone and tighten your abs and obliques, and to trim your waist and build six-pack abs.

It also helps to improve your balance, stability, and posture.

How To Do

1. Lie down with your knee bent at the knees and feet flat on the ground.
2. Elevate your upper body to create a V shape with your thighs.
3. Begin to twist side to side while maintaining balance on your buttocks, keeping constant tension on the abs.
4. Repeat this movement until the set is complete.

Know More: 21 Best Oblique Exercises For A Strong Core

Complete Six Pack Abs Workout Routine

Warm-up (5 minutes)

• Light cardio, such as jumping jacks, jogging in place, or running arm circles
• Dynamic stretches, such as torso twists, arm circles, and leg swings

Workout (20–30 minutes)

• Crunches: 3 sets of 10–12 repetitions
• Leg raises: 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions
• Plank: 30-60 seconds
• Side plank: 30-60 seconds per side
• Russian twists: 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions per side
• Bicycle crunches: 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions per side

Cool-down (5 minutes)

• Static stretches, such as holding a hamstring stretch or calf stretch

Manish Kumar

Manish brings over 10 years of hands-on experience in weight lifting and fat loss to fitness coaching. He specializes in gym-based training and has a lot of knowledge about exercise, lifting technique, biomechanics, and more.

Through “Fit Life Regime,” he generously shares the insights he’s gained over a decade in the field. His goal is to equip others with the knowledge to start their own fitness journey.