I’m often asked about my favorite free weight exercises for women. This is a tough question because I love so many exercises for so many reasons! But, if I have to pick my favorite free weight exercises for women, I will start with the most targeted trouble zone, the abs.
Amy Mac’s Favorite Free Weight Exercises for Women’s Abs:
Exercise | Step-by-Step Instruction |
Plank | The plank exercise targets those hard to reach inner abs that can make you look and feel thinner in minutes! • Start kneeling on the ground with hands under shoulders, extend the legs into a plank position. |
Side Plank | Target those love handles with the side plank and see results! • Start on your side. Weight on the forearm, feet stacked. • Lift the hips and squeeze the obliques, keep the hips stacked, squeeze the stomach and butt. |
Side to Side Abs | Work those obliques and see results with this ab twist. • Start seated. |
Toe Reach | Learn to scoop the belly button and work the full ab wall with this crunch! • Start lying with feet in the air. |
Working the abs is so important, not only for appearance reasons, but for health reasons too! There are several muscles in the “abs” group and I won’t bore you with all their details and jobs but I will tell you that the “inner” abs work to keep everything in place. They keep the organs in place, the spine healthy and happy, which means less back pain and posture issues in the long run. The “outer” muscles span the full length and width of your stomach and are the ones you work to see the sexy 6 pack lines and they also work to keep your middle strong. The “side” abs pull the whole package together and keep the waist looking trim. The back muscles help to counteract the ab muscles and keep you standing tall and the whole body aligned.
I hope you enjoy my favorite free weight exercises for women’s abs and if you think I’ve missed some, leave them in the comments!
~amy
