8 Ways To Make Your Abs Pop Without Doing Crunches

Daphnie Yang is a certified personal trainer and the creator of HIIT IT! in New York City.

Let’s be honest about crunches. They are a pain to do, get you really dirty if you’re not on a yoga mat, and can cause a kink in your neck if you’re not practicing the right form. And, perhaps most importantly, they don’t target the entire abdominal region. So that’s why I created this routine that will target your six-pack muscles and then some.

These equipment-free exercises will get at your rectus abdominis (home to the six-pack), obliques (those pesky side abs), and transverse abdominis (which are underneath your obliques and help strengthen your spine). These moves won’t feel like a plain old abs routine, though, because they work your entire body and get your heart rate up, too.

Do three rounds of this routine up to three times a week to see serious results. You’ll never want to turn to boring crunches again.