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Exercises

Deep core exercises for women: holds, slow lower-ab work and anti-rotation

Published October 29, 2026

The best deep core exercises for women are the dead bug, lying knee raise, reverse crunch and hollow hold, which train your abs while your lower back stays pressed to the floor; the plank, side plank and long-lever plank, which hold your trunk still against gravity; the bear crawl and plank shoulder tap, which keep you braced while your limbs move; and the Pallof press and suitcase carry, which resist twisting and leaning. Do 3 or 4 of them, 2 to 3 sets each, two or three times a week, breathing out as you move, and make them harder by slowing down or lengthening the lever before adding reps.

  1. Dead Bug Abs
  2. Plank Abs
  3. Side Plank Abs
  4. Pallof Press Abs
  5. Bear Crawl Abs, Shoulders
  6. Dumbbell Suitcase Carry Abs, Quads
  7. Reverse Crunch Abs
  8. Plate Hollow Hold Abs

Floor exercises with your lower back pressed down

Your deep core is the layer under the six-pack: the transverse abdominis that wraps your waist like a belt, working with your diaphragm, pelvic floor and the small muscles along your spine. These exercises train it by asking your abs to keep your lower back flat on the floor while your legs or arms move away. If your back lifts or your belly domes upward, shorten the move until it stays flat.

Deep abs, anti-extension on the floor

Dead Bug

Abs

Reaching one arm and the opposite leg away while your lower back stays on the floor is the clearest deep core exercise there is. It needs no equipment, you can see straight away whether your back lifts, and making the reach longer or slower makes it harder.

How to do it

  1. Lie face up, arms pointing up and knees bent at right angles over your hips.
  2. Press your lower back into the floor.
  3. Reach one arm overhead and the opposite leg out long, both hovering above the floor.
  4. Bring them back and repeat with the other pair.

Cues

  • Back glued down
  • Breathe out as you reach
  • Opposite arm and leg

Common mistakes

  • Letting the back arch when the leg goes long: reach less far.
  • Going fast: each rep should take about three seconds.

Swap for: Plank, Alternating Leg Raise

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Lower abs, controlled knee raise

Lying Knee Raise

Abs

Drawing your knees toward your chest with your back pressed down trains the lower part of the abs without any strain on your neck. It is the gentlest starting point on this page and the one to use when crunches feel wrong.

How to do it

  1. Lie face up on a mat with your knees bent, feet flat and fingertips resting lightly behind your head.
  2. Press your lower back into the floor and lift your feet.
  3. Draw your knees in toward your chest, keeping them bent.
  4. Lower your feet back out until your heels hover just above the floor, then repeat.

Cues

  • Low back down
  • Knees in
  • Heels hover

Common mistakes

  • Arching your lower back as the legs go out: shorten the range until you can keep it flat.
  • Dropping your heels to rest between reps: keep them hovering so the next rep starts under load.
  • Pulling on your head: your hands only rest there.

Swap for: Reverse Crunch, Captain's Chair Knee Raise

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Lower abs, pelvic curl

Reverse Crunch

Abs

Curling your hips off the floor one vertebra at a time trains your abs to control your pelvis, which is the job your deep core does when you stand and lift. Lowering slowly is where most of the work happens.

How to do it

  1. Lie face up, hands by your sides, knees bent and feet lifted.
  2. Pull your knees toward your chest and keep going until your hips peel off the floor.
  3. Lower your hips one vertebra at a time, then let your feet drift back to just above the floor.

Cues

  • Hips peel up
  • Slow way down
  • No swinging

Common mistakes

  • Throwing the legs back for momentum: the hips should curl up, not get flung.
  • Stopping when the knees reach the chest: the rep counts once the hips lift.

Swap for: Lying Knee Raise, Hanging Knee Raise

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Whole front of the core, loaded hollow hold

Plate Hollow Hold

Abs

Lifting your shoulders and straight legs while your lower back stays down is the hardest floor hold here. A light plate held over your chest adds load in small steps; bend your knees to make it easier while you build up.

How to do it

  1. Lie face up holding a light plate with straight arms above your chest.
  2. Press your lower back into the floor.
  3. Lift your shoulders and straight legs, pushing the plate up over your chest.
  4. Hold the shape without letting your back lift.

Cues

  • Back flat
  • Long and tight
  • Breathe shallow

Common mistakes

  • Letting the lower back peel up.
  • Starting with legs too low: raise them to make it easier.

Swap for: Dead Bug, Landmine Hollow Hold

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Planks and side planks

Holding a straight line against gravity trains every layer of the core to work together. The front plank loads the front of your trunk, the side plank adds the obliques and the deep muscles along your spine, and moving your elbows forward in a long-lever plank turns a 20-second hold into harder work than a long regular plank.

Abs and deep core, front plank

Plank

Abs

A plank asks the whole trunk to hold a straight line, which is what your deep core does all day. Squeezing your glutes and pulling your ribs down turns an easy hold into real work in 20 to 40 seconds.

How to do it

  1. Set your forearms under your shoulders and your feet behind you, body in a straight line.
  2. Squeeze your glutes and pull your ribs down toward your hips.
  3. Hold, breathing normally, without letting your hips sag or rise.
  4. For the harder version, reach one arm forward and lift the opposite foot, hold, then switch sides.

Cues

  • Ribs down
  • Glutes tight
  • Straight line

Common mistakes

  • Hips sagging toward the floor: that hangs on your lower back.
  • Holding for minutes at an easy level: make it harder instead.

Swap for: Long Lever Plank, Plank Shoulder Tap

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Obliques and deep core, side plank

Side Plank

Abs

The side plank trains the obliques and the deep muscles along the side of your spine that keep you from leaning. Start from your knees and work up to straight legs, holding the same time on both sides.

How to do it

  1. Lie on one side with your elbow under your shoulder and your legs stacked.
  2. Lift your hips until your body is straight from head to feet.
  3. Hold, then switch sides.

Cues

  • Hips high
  • Stacked feet
  • Elbow under shoulder

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips drop toward the floor as the hold goes on.
  • Rolling the chest forward or back.

Swap for: Dumbbell Side Plank, Copenhagen Plank

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Deep abs, harder plank

Long Lever Plank

Abs

Moving your elbows a few inches past your head lengthens the lever so the same plank takes much more effort. It is the next step when a regular plank of 60 seconds feels easy, and far more useful than holding for minutes.

How to do it

  1. Get into a forearm plank, then shift your elbows forward until they sit a few inches in front of your eyes.
  2. Squeeze your glutes and tuck your tailbone slightly so your lower back flattens.
  3. Hold your body in a single line, head to heels.
  4. End the hold when your hips begin to sag, rest, and go again.

Cues

  • Glutes tight, ribs down
  • Elbows forward, not wide
  • Short, hard holds

Common mistakes

  • Raising your hips to take the strain off: keep the line and hold for less time.
  • Holding your breath: breathe short and steady through the hold.

Swap for: Plank, Ab Wheel Rollout, Stability Ball Body Saw

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Staying braced while you move

In everyday life your core holds steady while your arms and legs do something else, like carrying a child or lifting a box. Crawling, tapping your shoulders in a plank and rolling out on a wheel all train that: the trunk stays still while the limbs move.

Core and shoulders, crawling with a braced trunk

Bear Crawl

Abs, Shoulders

Crawling with your knees just off the floor and your back flat makes your deep core hold steady while opposite arms and legs move. It also gets your heart rate up, so it fits as the last exercise of a short session.

How to do it

  1. Start on hands and toes with knees bent and just off the floor.
  2. Move one hand and the opposite foot forward together, then the other pair.
  3. Keep the hips low and your back flat as you crawl forward and backward.

Cues

  • Knees hover low
  • Opposite hand and foot
  • Flat back

Common mistakes

  • Hips riding high: keep them at shoulder height.

Swap for: Gorilla Walk, Walkout, Plank Shoulder Tap

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Deep core and obliques, anti-rotation plank

Plank Shoulder Tap

Abs

Lifting one hand off the floor turns a plank into an anti-rotation exercise, because your hips will want to rock toward the free side. Widening your feet makes it easier, bringing them together makes it harder.

How to do it

  1. Hold a straight-arm plank with feet a little wider than hips.
  2. Lift one hand and tap the opposite shoulder.
  3. Replace it and tap with the other hand, keeping your hips from rocking.

Cues

  • Hips stay still
  • Feet wide for balance
  • Slow taps

Common mistakes

  • Rocking side to side: widen the feet and slow down.

Swap for: Plank, Push-Up Plus, Bear Crawl

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Abs, rollout from the knees

Ab Wheel Rollout

Abs

Rolling forward makes your abs stop your lower back from sagging as your arms reach out, one of the hardest anti-extension exercises you can do. Start with a short roll you can control and lengthen it as you get stronger.

How to do it

  1. Kneel with the wheel under your shoulders and your arms straight.
  2. Brace and roll forward, letting your hips follow, until just before your back starts to sag.
  3. Pull the wheel back to your knees using your abs, not your hips.

Cues

  • Tuck the pelvis
  • Roll only as far as you own
  • Arms straight

Common mistakes

  • Letting the lower back cave at the far end.
  • Sitting the hips back first on the return instead of pulling with the abs.

Swap for: Stability Ball Body Saw, Plank

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Anti-rotation and loaded carries

A weight pulling you to one side asks the deep core and obliques to keep you square. The Pallof press resists a cable trying to twist you, and the suitcase carry resists one heavy dumbbell trying to tip you over. Both are easy to load more over time, which floor exercises are not.

Obliques and deep core, anti-rotation

Pallof Press

Abs

Pressing a cable handle straight out from your chest while the cable tries to turn you trains your core to stay square, standing up as you do in daily life. The weight stack lets you add load steadily, so it keeps working once floor exercises get easy.

How to do it

  1. Set a cable at chest height, stand side-on to it and grip the handle two-handed at your chest.
  2. Step away until the cable pulls, feet hip-width.
  3. Press the handle straight out, hold for two seconds without turning, then bring it back.

Cues

  • Hands on the midline
  • Don't turn
  • Hold it out

Common mistakes

  • Standing too close, so the cable barely pulls.
  • Letting the arms drift toward the stack.

Swap for: Cable Woodchop, Landmine Twist

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Obliques and deep core, one-sided carry

Dumbbell Suitcase Carry

Abs, Quads

Walking with one heavy dumbbell at your side makes the opposite side of your trunk hold you upright on every step. It is the most practical core exercise on this page, because carrying a bag or a child on one side is exactly this.

How to do it

  1. Pick up one heavy dumbbell and stand tall with it at your side.
  2. Walk with short, steady steps without leaning toward or away from it.
  3. Set it down, switch hands and walk back.

Cues

  • Shoulders level
  • Tall walk
  • Grip hard

Common mistakes

  • Leaning away from the weight to balance it.
  • Picking a dumbbell so light that nothing has to work.

Swap for: Farmer's Walk, Dumbbell Single-Arm Overhead Carry

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Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in.

Session 1

At home, no equipment, ten minutes

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets24 a week
  • Per workout~15 min
  • EquipmentBodyweight

You want to strengthen your deep core at home with no equipment, you are new to core training or coming back to it, and ten minutes fits in your day.

Four exercises of 2 sets each, three times a week, gives your abs 24 short sets a week, enough to get stronger without leaving you sore. Every set stops 2 to 3 reps or a few seconds short of losing your form, because the point of every rep is keeping your back flat.

Ten-minute deep core
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Dead BugPer side. 2 × 6–10 3 45 s
Lying Knee Raise 2 × 8–12 3 45 s
Side PlankSeconds per side. 2 × 15–30 2 45 s
PlankSeconds per hold. 2 × 20–40 2 45 s
How to run it
Do the same session three days a week, for example Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It works on its own or straight after a walk.
How to progress
Add 2 reps or 5 seconds per set each week. When you reach the top of every range, make each exercise harder instead of longer: slow the dead bug to a three-second reach, straighten your legs in the knee raise, and lift your knees off the floor in the side plank.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

You lift weights in a gym and want core work that carries over

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets16 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentAdjustable Cable, Dumbbells, Barbells, Ab Wheel

You already strength train two or three times a week, and you want core work that helps your squats and deadlifts instead of more crunches.

Each block is three exercises, 8 sets, done at the end of your lifting sessions, so the week adds 16 core sets without a separate trip. Day A resists twisting and leaning with loads you can increase, Day B resists your back arching, which together cover what heavy lifts ask of your trunk.

Core A: Anti-rotation
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Pallof PressPer side. 3 × 8–12 2 1 min
Dumbbell Suitcase CarrySeconds per side. 3 × 30–45 2 90 s
Plate Hollow HoldSeconds per hold. 2 × 15–30 2 1 min

Open Core A: Anti-rotation in the session builder

Core B: Anti-extension
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Ab Wheel Rollout 3 × 6–10 2 90 s
Side PlankSeconds per side. 3 × 30–45 2 1 min
Bear CrawlSteps, counting each hand. 2 × 16–24 2 1 min

Open Core B: Anti-extension in the session builder

How to run it
Add Core A after your first lifting session of the week and Core B after the second. Keep the suitcase carry heavy enough that the last steps are hard.
How to progress
On the Pallof press and suitcase carry, add weight when every set reaches the top of the range at 2 reps or seconds in reserve. On the ab wheel, roll a few inches further before adding reps. On the hollow hold, add 5 seconds, then move to a heavier plate.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Planks feel easy and you want harder core work at home

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets22 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentBodyweight

You can hold a plank for a minute and do dead bugs without your back lifting, and you want the next step at home without buying equipment.

Holding longer adds little once a plank is easy, so this plan makes each exercise harder instead: longer levers, slower lowering and one-handed planks. Two sessions of 11 sets each, at 1 to 2 reps or seconds in reserve, give a strong week of core work in about 15 minutes per session.

Harder core session
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Long Lever PlankSeconds per hold. 3 × 15–30 2 1 min
Reverse CrunchThree-second lowering. 3 × 8–12 1 1 min
Plank Shoulder TapTotal taps. 3 × 16–24 2 1 min
Dead BugPer side. Arms and legs fully straight. 2 × 8–12 1 45 s
How to run it
Do the session twice a week with at least two days between, on its own or after another workout.
How to progress
Add reps or seconds until you reach the top of each range, then make the exercise harder: lower your legs further on the reverse crunch, move your elbows further forward on the long-lever plank, and bring your feet together on the shoulder taps.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What are deep core exercises?

Exercises that make your abs hold your trunk and pelvis still while your arms or legs move or a weight pulls on you: the dead bug, plank, side plank, hollow hold, Pallof press and suitcase carry. They train the transverse abdominis along with the rest of the core, rather than curling your spine like a crunch.

What are signs of a weak core?

Your lower back lifting off the floor as you lower your legs, your hips sagging in a plank within 20 seconds, leaning to one side when you carry a bag, or your back arching as you press a weight overhead. Each of the exercises on this page trains one of those directly.

How often should women do deep core exercises?

Two or three times a week, 6 to 12 sets per session. The core recovers quickly, but more sessions only help if each one has fewer sets and good form. The home plan on this page is three short sessions; the gym plan is two.

Are planks enough for the deep core?

They are a good start but not enough on their own. Add a floor exercise like the dead bug, a side plank, and an anti-rotation exercise like the Pallof press or suitcase carry, so your core is trained to resist arching, leaning and twisting.

Do deep core exercises flatten your stomach?

They strengthen the muscles that hold your stomach in, which can make your waist look tighter, but they do not burn the fat over it. Fat comes off through overall weight loss, and the muscle these exercises build is what shows once it does.