Standing Ab Exercises

• Standing abdominal exercises work your other core muscles and balance along with the abs. Dumbbell side bends or oblique dumbbell lifts are done standing up and work your oblique muscles. Cable chops, seesaws, and cable lifts are also good standing ab exercises.
  
  To do a side bend, hold a dumbbell in each hand. Five pounds is good to start. Lean to the right and keep your arms relaxed. Exhale and lift back to the center. Allow your body to lift the dumbbell, not your arms. Exhale and lean to the left. Return to center. Repeat until you have done six reps on each side. Work up to two sets of 10 reps per side.
  
  

Ball Ab Exercises

• The ball crunch, ball crunches with a medicine ball, ball jackknife, ball side crunch, ball roll out, and ball roll back exercises are some of the many good abdominal exercises that can be done on a ball for a more intense abdominal workout.
  
  The ball roll back, for example, works your lower abs. To do this exercise you must sit up straight on a stability ball and put your legs straight out in front of you at hip-width's distance. Cross your arms across your chest and roll back, allowing your knees to bend. Stop bending your knees when they are directly above your ankles. Continue lying back until the ball is under your lower back and your upper body is parallel to the floor. Your shoulders will be in the air. Push through your heels and roll back up to a seated position. Do 12 reps and work up to two sets of 20.
  
  

Transvere Abdominus Exercises

• Most people already know how to work their abs through crunches and side crunches, but less commonly known and performed exercises are those that target the transverse abdominus. The transverse abdominus stabilizes your spine. A strong transverse abdominus will pull your stomach in and help you balance.
  
  A very simple--but important--exercise to do is abdominal contractions. Sit up straight in a chair. Take a normal breath in through your nose. Breathe out and pull in your abs as you exhale. Imagine pulling your belly button back to your spine. Hold the contraction for three to five seconds. This will strengthen your transverse abdominus and also train your brain to effectively recruit this muscle when needed.
  
  Doing exercises like planks and side planks will require a strong transverse abdominus. Even push-ups will use this muscle to maintain a flat back.