I first discovered standing ab workouts when I was pregnant and boy are they amazing! Yes you can even do ab workouts safely even while you are pregnant!
It’s actually healthy for you to be moving and engaging your muscles throughout pregnancy for your health as well as your baby’s! It helps with blood flow, healthy weight gain, and of course helps you trim off the baby weight more easily postpartum.
This standing pregnancy workout really was a lifesaver for me!
Remember during pregnancy you shouldn’t be doing any crunches, planks, or even twisters so you don’t cause any ab separation.
Standing ab workouts prevents putting pressure on your Vena Cava and prevents/lessens the separation of your ab muscles.
So in a nutshell, this simple workout is safe and effective whether you are pregnant or not!
As an added bonus, it’s a great way to tone your abdomen without doing endless amounts of crunches or planks. So get ready to sweat and get your burn on mammas!
Standing Ab Workout
With this standing ab workout you will want to do 2-3 sets of each exercise (doing each exercise in a row down the list is one set.). Also take a 1 minute break in between each set.
These exercises will help shape your tummy and obliques.
Side Dips X15 Each Side Target: Obliques
Side Crunch x15 Each Side Target: Obliques and upper core
Woodchoppers x15 Each Side Target: Obliques and mid-core
Overhead Side To Side x15 Each Side Target: Obliques (and serratus)
Standing Knee Drive x15 Each Side Target: full core (bit of hip flexors)
Make sure that you are engaging your core throughout every exercise for best results! If you’ve ever done a crunch the feeling of flexing your core should be familiar to you.
If you haven’t, or just haven’t in awhile, (been there, done that) just think of it as pulling in your stomach up into your ribs.
Getting the right muscle coordination can be a learning curve, but the more you do this workout, you’ll be able to feel where the muscles are better (because they get so dang sore haha!). That will help you to mentally target them.
So get to it! These exercises won’t work if you don’t.
It’s a great intro to working out or just a way to stay active. Whatever your health goals and time constraints are, you can fit this 15 minute workout in and get a great burn!
