The number one reason to do ab work is to improve your ability to stabilize your midsection. This is crucial for having superb coordination when you’re diving for a ball, changing your hitting direction without throwing out your back, or transferring momentum efficiently to hit harder. Learning to tense your abs to control your midsection can help you prevent injuries in the rotator cuff, spine, knee, etc.

The following are my favorite ab exercises to improve stability and boost athletic performance.

Planks

I’m a huge fan of planks for developing stability all over the body. However, this is an exercise that needs to be done RIGHT in order to reap the full benefits.

Don’t

Arch your back and stick your butt in the air.

Drop your head.

Allow your shoulders to be loose.

Do

Keep your chin tucked.

Flatten your back.

Engage your shoulders.

Work up to a minute or so making sure that your form is flawless and that you’re engaging your abs.

Leg drops

I do these instead of traditional crunches or leg lifts. Start by lying on your back while your legs are perpendicular to the ground (you may need some hamstring flexibility for this). Start lowering your legs while keeping your back flat against the ground. Use your abs to prevent your back from arching. As soon as your back leaves the ground, raise your legs again and go for your next rep.

You’ll probably find this exercise to be particularly challenging because there is so much going on with such a small movement. Having control over your low back is absolutely key when it comes to making your abs effective for hitting harder, jumping higher, lifting heavier weights, etc.

Of course there are many other exercises you can do to encourage dynamic rotation and explosiveness. I have found these to be the most effective exercises to develop a stable core to keep injury away, make you a more coordinated athlete, and above all make you stronger.

-Mehdi