You don’t have to spend hours at the gym or use expensive equipment to get visible abs. With the right home workout plan, you can effectively target your core and get closer to achieving your six-pack goals.
Here, I share a complete six-pack abs home workout plan that requires no equipment—just a bit of space and some determination.
I’ll also explain how each exercise benefits your abs and helps you develop the core strength necessary for a defined look.
To work your abs harder, start each set by engaging your entire core so the muscles work from the beginning to the end of each circuit.
Complete 6-Pack Abs Workout Routine
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 your lower abs, and the final routine works the often-neglected side abs – or obliques – along with your deeper core muscles.
Day 1: Upper & Lower Abs
| Exercise | Sets | Repetitions |
|---|---|---|
| Crunches | 3 | 12-15 |
| Leg Raises | 3 | 12-15 |
| Plank | 3 | 30s |
| Bicycle Crunches | 3 | 12-15 per side |
Day 2: Obliques and Core
| Exercise | Sets | Repetitions |
|---|---|---|
| Russian Twists | 3 | 15 per side |
| Side Planks | 3 | 30s per side |
| Mountain Climbers | 3 | 15 per leg |
| Reverse Crunches | 3 | 12-15 |
6-Pack Abs Dumbbell Workout Plan
If you add weight to your ab training, you will give your body the stimulus it needs to adapt and grow. The best way to do this is with a dumbbell ab workout with some surprising core-challenging moves.
One of the easiest ways to train your abs is using free weights. If you’re short on time or want to train your ab at home, you can try these best dumbbell abs exercises.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dumbbell Russian Twist | 3 | 20 (10 each side) | 30 sec |
| Dumbbell Sit-Up | 3 | 12-15 | 30 sec |
| Dumbbell Side Bend | 3 | 12-15 | 30 sec |
| Renegade Row | 3 | 10-12 (each arm) | 45 sec |
At Home Six-Pack Workout Plan
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| High Knee | 4 | 30-40 reps |
| Russian Twist | 3 | 8-12 reps |
| Hip Raises | 3 | 8-10 reps |
| Plank Knee to Elbow | 3 | 12-15 reps |
You can do the workout two to three times a week. As you get stronger, it is important to increase your reps over time. Adding more weight to your body will help it grow and pop more.
12-Week Home Abs Workout Plan (Bodyweight Focused)
| Week | Workout A | Workout B | Workout C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | – 2x Crunches – 10 reps – 2x Plank – 20 sec – 2x Leg Raises – 8 reps | – 2x Mountain Climbers – 20 reps – 2x Side Plank – 15 sec/side – 2x Reverse Crunches – 10 reps | – 2x Bicycle Crunches – 10/side – 2x Plank – 25 sec – 2x Russian Twists – 16 reps |
| Week 2 | Increase to 3 sets per exercise | Add 5 reps or 10 seconds per set | Maintain 3 sets, focus on form |
| Week 3 | – Crunches – 15 reps – Plank – 30 sec – Leg Raises – 10 reps | – Mountain Climbers – 30 reps – Side Plank – 20 sec/side – Reverse Crunches – 12 reps | – Bicycle Crunches – 12/side – Russian Twists – 20 reps – Plank with shoulder taps – 10 reps/side |
| Week 4 | Add 1 extra set (4 total) | Add time to planks (40 sec) | Increase reps or add resistance (water bottle, book) |
| Week 5 | – Crunches – 20 reps – Forearm Plank – 40 sec – Leg Raises – 12 reps | – Mountain Climbers – 40 reps – Side Plank – 25 sec – Reverse Crunches – 15 reps | – Bicycle Crunches – 15/side – Russian Twists – 24 reps – Plank with shoulder taps – 12/side |
| Week 6 | Focus on time under tension (slower reps) | Add an extra round of circuit | Do circuits back-to-back with 30 sec rest |
| Week 7 | – Crunch Pulse – 15 reps – Plank – 45 sec – Flutter Kicks – 20 reps | – High Knee Mountain Climbers – 40 reps – Side Plank Leg Lift – 10/side – Hollow Hold – 15 sec | – V-Ups – 10 reps – Bicycle Crunches – 20/side – Plank – 50 sec |
| Week 8 | Add 1 set of plank to failure | Add dumbbell for Russian Twists (if available) | Reduce rest time to 15–20 sec |
| Week 9 | – Crunches – 25 reps – Leg Raises – 15 reps – Plank – 60 sec | – Reverse Crunch + Hip Lift – 15 reps – Side Plank – 30 sec – Mountain Climbers – 50 reps | – Russian Twists – 30 reps – Bicycle Crunches – 25/side – Plank Shoulder Taps – 15/side |
| Week 10 | Mix all exercises in a 3-round circuit | Use a timer: 30 sec each move, 15 sec rest | Focus on form; increase total duration to 30 min |
| Week 11 | – Leg Raises – 20 reps – Crunch Pulses – 20 reps – Plank – 70 sec | – Plank with Alternating Reach – 10/side – Side Plank – 40 sec – Russian Twists – 35 reps | – V-Ups – 15 reps – Flutter Kicks – 30 reps – Mountain Climbers – 60 reps |
| Week 12 | Do full-body circuit including abs: 5 rounds, 4 moves each | Time-based HIIT abs: 40 sec work / 20 sec rest x 6 moves | Challenge Workout: 100-rep abs blast (choose 4 moves) |
Best Exercises To Get Six-Pack Abs
An effective abs workout should include exercises that target all areas of your midsection.
1. Sit Ups
This is one of the best ways to work out your core muscles, like your hip flexors, upper and lower abs, and obliques. They help promote good posture by strengthening your lower back and gluteal muscles.
People often perform sit-ups incorrectly, which is one reason why they have received bad press.
When performed slowly and carefully, sit-ups can help prevent back pain. Instead, it can aid digestion, build muscle, and improve posture over time.
2. Crunch
A crunch is an abdominal exercise that primarily targets the upper abs. Unlike traditional sit-ups, crunches emphasise flexing the spine while keeping the lower back on the ground.
The crunch motion occurs in the upper spine, and your shoulders rise a few inches off the floor.
Your lower back stays on the floor, with no hip motion. This is different from a sit-up, which involves movement at the waist and hips.
3. Lying Straight Leg Raise
The Lying Straight Leg Raise is a foundational exercise widely used in fitness, rehabilitation, and athletic training. It primarily targets the hip flexors and quadriceps, with secondary engagement of the core and lower abdominal muscles.
This movement is performed while lying on your back, keeping one or both legs straight as you raise them off the ground.
- Mastering the Lying Straight Leg Raise builds the foundational strength and control needed for exercises like:
- Hanging Leg Raises
- Toes-to-Bar
- L-sits / V-sits
- Dragon Flags
4. Plank
The plank is a highly effective and versatile exercise that targets the entire core, including the abs, obliques, lower back, and stabilising muscles.
A plank is an isometric exercise where you hold a static position, resembling the top of a push-up. It engages the core muscles by challenging their endurance and stability.
Variations of Plank for Beginners:
- Knee Plank
- High Plank on Knees
- Side Plank on Knees
Advanced Variations of Plank
- Side Plank with Leg Lift
- Plank Jacks
- Spiderman Plank
- One-Legged Plank
5. Side Plank
The side plank (also known as the oblique plank) is one of the best exercises for strengthening the oblique abdominal muscles, which helps reduce love handles.
The side plank position strengthens the side abs muscles, which don’t get worked as much during abs exercises like crunches. It also activates the shoulder, arm, and back muscles.
If you’re new to planking, you should master the basic forearm plank before moving on to the side plank variation.
6. Seated Knee Up
The Seated Knee Up involves sitting, typically on the edge of a bench or chair (or even the floor), and drawing your knees towards your chest while simultaneously crunching your upper body slightly forward. This creates a powerful contraction in the abdominal and hip flexor muscles.
Keep the trunk stable for best results, and bring the knees as close to the chest as possible.
This will result in greater shortening and stronger muscular contractions of the abdominal muscles.
7. Reverse Crunch
The Reverse Crunch is a supine abdominal exercise where, instead of lifting your torso towards your legs, you lift your legs and pelvis towards your stable torso. This shift in mechanics alters the emphasis and can serve as a great alternative or addition to traditional crunches.
It is an intermediate-level variation of the popular abs crunch exercises.
8. Bicycle Crunch
The Bicycle Crunch is a dynamic, full-core bodyweight exercise that combines trunk rotation and leg movement to engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously.
It is well known for being one of the best abdominal exercises for strengthening the obliques, deep core stabilizers, and rectus abdominis.
A 2001 study by ACE found that compared to the standard crunch, the bicycle crunch produces 148% more mean activity in the abs and 190% more mean activity in the obliques.
9. Cross-Body Mountain Climber
The Cross-Body Mountain Climber is a dynamic, compound exercise that elevates the classic mountain climber by adding a rotational movement.
This variation strengthens the upper body and improves overall stability by bringing the knee toward the opposite elbow, which puts more strain on the core, particularly the obliques and hip flexors.
With this, you can improve your balance, agility, coordination, strength, flexibility, and blood circulation because it engages multiple muscle groups simultaneously.
10. Oblique Crunches
Oblique Crunches modify the standard crunch movement to direct stress and muscular effort towards the oblique muscles. This is usually achieved by bringing one elbow towards the opposite knee (rotation) or by laterally flexing the torso (side bending).
The ipsilateral (same side) external oblique, internal oblique, and quadratus lumborum contract CONCENTRICALLY to bend the torso sideways. The contralateral (opposite side) muscles work ECCENTRICALLY to control the movement and return to neutral.
11. Dumbbell Side Bend
The Dumbbell Side Bend is an isolation exercise that involves holding a dumbbell in one hand and laterally flexing (bending) the spine to the side. It’s primarily used to strengthen the muscles responsible for side bending and stabilising the torso in the frontal plane.
- If you’re new to the exercise, start by practising the movement with your body weight alone.
- For a more challenging variation, use a kettlebell or a pulley machine for the cable side bend variation.
The exercise should occur strictly in the frontal plane (imagine standing between two narrow walls). Any forward flexion or backwards extension changes the muscular emphasis and can increase spinal stress.
12. Abs wheel rollout
The Abs Wheel Rollout is a highly effective core-strengthening exercise performed with an ab roller (ab wheel), a simple device featuring a small wheel with handles on both sides.
The movement involves rolling the wheel forward and backwards while maintaining a straight body line, primarily targeting the abdominal muscles but also engaging the upper body and stabilising muscles throughout the torso and hips.
The wheel rollout exercise is one of the little advanced abs exercises. Here are a few tips to start.
- You can start with the plank and move on to the wheel rollout when you’re ready.
- You can also make the exercise easier by performing it up an inclined surface.
Bonus: Hanging Knee Raise
The hanging knee raise is one of the great ab exercises for men to isolate the abdominal muscles, build core strength, and develop a six-pack. This exercise primarily targets the lower abdominal muscles while also focusing on the obliques and hip flexors.
Increasing fundamental strength and hypertrophy of those muscle groups can assist in movements like squats, cleans, snatches, bracing, and more.
Raise your knees as high as possible to maximize muscular effort. Keep your knees slightly bent as you lower your legs down to maintain tension on the abs.
6-Pack ABS At Home WORKOUT (NO EQUIPMENT REQUIRED)
References
- Venu Akuthota, Ferreiro, A., Moore, T. and Fredericson, M. (2008). Core Stability Exercise Principles. Current Sports Medicine Reports, [online] 7(1), pp.39–44. doi:https://doi.org/10.1097/01.csmr.0000308663.13278.69.
- Huxel, K.C. and Anderson, B.E. (2013). Core Stability Training for Injury Prevention. Europe PMC (PubMed Central), [online] 5(6), pp.514–522. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1941738113481200.
- Seo, K. and Park, K. (2018). The effect of trunk stabilization circuit exercise using a rubber mat on the thickness and white area index of transverse abdominis in healthy young adults. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, [online] 30(6), pp.892–895. doi:https://doi.org/10.1589/jpts.30.892.
