Strength Coach Reveals the Best 'Anti-Movement' Abs Exercises for a Bulletproof Core and Heavier Compound Lifts

Enter any gym, and you’ll see the same core workout: crunches, situps, ab machines, and endless twisting exercises. The logic seems obvious—if you want stronger abs, more visible abs, you train them by bending and twisting your torso, right? But according to trainers, that’s not how your core works. Your core’s main job is to prevent movement, not create it. 

“The primary role of the core in strength training and daily movement is to brace the body,” says William Dotson, NASM-CPT & CNC, competitive powerlifter and personal trainer. “This protects the spine, and it also allows an optimal transfer of force through the body.”

The importance of training your core goes beyond just having a visible six-pack. During heavy compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, and presses, research shows a strong midsection is required for bracing, stabilizing your spine, and transferring force. If core strength is lacking, your performance declines and injury risk increases during lifts.

Fortunately, fixing this common mistake can boost your core strength and help you lift better. Here, trainers explain where lifters go wrong with their core training, and share which exercises to do instead to build a stronger, more functional core.

The Biggest Core Training Mistakes Lifters Make

Most lifters get core training wrong by focusing on exercises that produce spinal movement, such as crunches, situps, and ab machines. While these exercises can build abdominal endurance, they don’t train the core stability needed for heavy lifting.

“The three most common mistakes in core training are failing to focus on different directions of force, not progressing the core exercises, or only doing exercises that produce movement, such as situps and twists,” says Matt Kasee, MS, CSCS.

In practice, this means lifters are stuck doing the same basic exercises without ever challenging their core in new ways. This leads to repeatedly bending and twisting your spine instead of training your spine to resist force, creating a gap between how your core is trained and how it’s actually used during lifts.

A better approach is to train your core across multiple stability demands while gradually increasing the difficulty, aka progressively overloading them the way you would your squat or deadlift. That could mean progressing from a standard plank to more advanced variations, adding weight, or introducing new movements that force your core to stabilize dynamically rather than simply holding a position.

Related: 20 Weighted Abs Exercises to Strengthen Your Core From Every Angle

The Importance of Bracing Your Core

“When people think of engaging their core during exercise, they often think of either sucking their stomach in (like trying to pull their belly button towards their spine), or flexing their abs (like trying to do a crunch while standing), says Dotson. "However, this doesn't engage the core the way we want to, and may actually put more stress on the spine.”

Your core is essentially a bridge between your upper and lower body that keeps your torso stable through bracing, allowing the force generated by your legs and hips to transfer into the weight while lifting. When your core bracing is strong, lifts feel smoother and stronger. When it’s not, energy leaks through your midsection, your form breaks down, and your spine is strained, increasing your injury risk and limiting how much weight you can safely handle.

How to Brace for Beginners

1. Imagine someone's about to punch you in the stomach. You naturally stiffen your muscles to resist the hit, that's the feeling of a "brace".
2. Inhale deeply into your stomach and sides, avoiding puffing out your chest. You should feel your waist expand outward like a balloon.
3. While holding that breath, "crunch" your ribs down toward your hips. This stacks your torso into a solid, straight column.
4. Push your abs out against your skin (without exhaling).

Related: The 10 Best Cable Ab Workouts to Carve Your Core From Every Angle

The Right Way to Train Your Core

You should train your core to resist movement from multiple directions. Coaches typically divide this into three categories:

• Anti-extension: Preventing your spine from arching
• Anti-rotation: Resisting twisting forces
• Anti-lateral flexion: Resisting side bending

The following exercises target each of these patterns:

Best Anti-Extension Core Exercises to Bulletproof Your Lower Back

Anti-extension exercises train the core to prevent the lower back from arching under load, which is critical during lifts like overhead presses, deadlifts, and squats. “While I think a well-rounded training program should include exercises like situps and some rotational movements, the bulk of core training should revolve around stabilizing the core and getting proper alignment of your pelvic floor and diaphragm,” explains Kasee.

How to Do Ab Rollouts

1. Kneel on the floor with the ball or wheel about one foot in front of you, to start.
2. Maintain a straight line from your knees to your head.
3. Using a stability ball or ab wheel, roll forward slowly while keeping your arms straight.
4. Extend until your torso is almost parallel with the floor.
5. Pull yourself back to the starting position while keeping your back straight.

How to Do Body Saws

1. Start in a plank position with your elbows under your shoulders.
2. Place your feet on sliders or your forearms on a stability ball.
3. Slowly push your body backward while maintaining good plank form.
4. Pull yourself back to the starting position.
5. Repeat while keeping your core tight and your hips stable.

Related: This Overlooked Lumberjack Move “Completely Cooks” Your Core (No Situps Required)

Best Anti-Rotation Core Exercises for Explosive Lifting

Anti-rotation core work trains your core to resist twisting forces. This becomes essential whenever uneven loads are involved, like when doing single-arm presses, offset carries, or dynamic movements when playing sports.

How to Do Pallof Presses

1. Stand perpendicular to a cable machine with your feet shoulder-width apart, to start.
2. Hold the handle at your chest with both hands.
3. Engage your core and press your hands straight forward.
4. Pause for one to two seconds with your arms extended.
5. Return the handle to your chest while resisting the cable’s pull.

How to Do Shoulder Tap Planks

1. Start in a high plank position.
2. Lift one hand and tap your opposite shoulder.
3. Pause for one to two seconds without preventing your hips from rotating.
4. Return your hand to the floor.
5. Alternate sides without letting your hips rotate.

How to Do Plank Drags

1. Begin in a plank with a kettlebell beside one hand.
2. Reach underneath your torso with the opposite hand.
3. Drag the kettlebell across to the other side.
4. Place the hand back on the floor.
5. Repeat with the opposite arm.

Best Anti-Lateral Flexion for Unilateral Strength

Anti-lateral flexion teaches your core to resist side bending. It's a critical component because it prevents your spine from collapsing sideways under uneven loads.

How to Do Farmer's Walks

1. Stand tall with a weight in each hand, to start. 
2. Maintain a tall chest, retract shoulder blades, and keep weights from resting on thighs. 
3. Walk forward, using choppy, heel-to-toe steps. Ensure that your head is facing forward and your posture is rigid.

How to Do Split Squats

1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your left foot behind you so you’re in a staggered stance, to start
2. Bend both knees to drop into a lunge; they should make 90-degree angles. 
3. Drive through your feet to stand. 

Related: 10 Beginner-Friendly Ab Workouts to Get a Six-Pack by Summer

Why Better Core Training Makes You Stronger

Compound lifts are where core exercises for stability really pay off. A 2023 meta-analysis found that having a strong, stable torso allows your legs and hips to generate more force that is transferred directly into the barbell. Without that stability, energy leaks through your torso, resulting in weaker lifts and increased load on your spine.

Here’s what changes when you train your core for stability:

• Improves Force Transfer: A stable core allows power from your lower body to move through your torso and into the barbell.
• Protects the Spine Under Load:Bracing your core creates stiffness around your spine, reducing the risk of excessive bending during heavy lifts.
• Supports Heavier Lifting: With a stronger stabilizing system, you can lift heavier in compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, and presses.

How to Program Core Training the Right Way

You don’t need long, dedicated core workouts—but you do need to place them strategically in your week. A simple approach is to train your core two to four times per week, either at the end of your workouts or between sets of compound lifts.

Here’s a basic weekly structure for programming your core training:

• Anti-extension: 3 total sets per week
• Anti-rotation: 3 total sets per week
• Loaded carries: 2-3 total sets per week

You can split these across training days. For example, add anti-extension exercises after lower-body workouts, anti-rotation exercises after upper-body workouts, and loaded carries on either day. It’s fine to train core on back-to-back days as long as the intensity is moderate and you’re not pushing every set to failure.

If you lift three to four days per week, a simple program could be:

• Day 1 (Lower): Ab rollouts
• Day 2 (Upper): Pallof press
• Day 3 (Lower): Body saws or plank variation
• Day 4 (Upper): Loaded carries

These exercises can be added at the end of workouts or incorporated between compound lifts. But like with anything else, the key here is progression. For example, once you can hold a plank for 60 to 90 seconds or complete your rollout reps without a problem, it’s time to move on to more challenging variations. Instead of “chasing the burn” with endless crunches, start building a core that makes you stronger where it counts.

Related: How to Master the Dead Bug Exercise for Core Strength and Stability