The ab workout you can do while lying down. Finally!

The Lying Down Ab Workout. Don’t hit the snooze button. Try this lying down ab workout instead.

By: Roger Lockridge

The Lying Down Ab Workout

Obviously as people who take their fitness seriously, you like to get up, move, and be active. It’s awesome to get up, have a great breakfast, and get after it. But we all have those days where we just don’t want to get up and going because wherever it is we are laying is so comfortable. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to get an ab workout in without all the moving around? Well this workout could potentially be a solution that you like because this is a full ab workout session that should take no longer than 15 minutes and you are lying down throughout the entire session. You might want to do this on a mat or on the floor instead of your bed or couch though.

Side Crunch

Lie flat on your left side with your legs on top of each other and bent. Place your right hand on the side of your head. Contract your obliques and crunch up as high as you can. Squeeze and hold the contraction for a second before slowly returning to the starting position. Repeat for the desired number of reps. Switch so you’re lying on your right side with your left hand on your head. Perform this same movement for the same number of reps.

Lying Leg Raise

Lie flat on your back with your legs straight. Place your hands flat underneath your glutes. Contract your abdominals and raise your legs up while keeping them straight until they are vertical. Once they reach that vertical position, raise your hips up to provide an extra squeeze of the abs. Lower your hips back down and slowly return your legs to the starting position. Don’t let them touch the floor. Stop an inch short of touching the floor and repeat for the next rep. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Reaching Crunch

Lie flat on your back. Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor. Raise your arms and reach for the ceiling. While contracting your abdominals, raise your shoulders off the floor and reach as high as you can. Hold this position for a second before lowering yourself to the starting position. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Lying Vacuum

Lie flat on your back with either your legs straight or knees bent with feet flat depending on your comfort. Rest your hands on your stomach. Suck in your stomach like you would want your belly button to touch your spine. Forcefully exhale so all your breath leaves you. You should feel a sharp contraction in your abdominal area. Hold this position as long as you can before taking in another breath and relaxing your stomach. If you’ve never tried this before, try to hold it for five seconds. After you get comfortable with that time, shoot for 10 seconds, then 15, etc. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Perform each of these exercises in circuit fashion. That means you do each exercise in consecutive order without any rest in between. Once you complete the final exercise, that is one circuit. Rest for 60-90 seconds between circuits. Beginners should perform two circuits of this workout. Intermediate and advanced athletes should perform three to four circuits. You can perform this workout anywhere from one to three times a week depending on your fitness experience.

The Ab Workout

Side Crunch – 15 reps per side.

Lying Leg Raise – 15 reps.

Reaching Crunch – 15 reps.

Vacuum – 5 vacuums with each for being for as much time as you can.