A Core Workout Without Crunches: Train Your Trunk Properly
A good core workout without crunches trains your trunk to resist movement rather than to produce it. In daily life and in lifting, the main job of the muscles around your middle is to stop your spine from arching, bending sideways or twisting when a load tries to make it. So the workout below uses four categories: anti-extension (dead bugs, ab rollouts), anti-lateral flexion (side planks, suitcase carries), anti-rotation (Pallof press, bird dog) and loaded carrying. Two or three exercises, twice a week, after your main strength work, is enough for most people.
Why skip crunches at all?
Crunches are not dangerous for most healthy people, and the abdominal muscles do flex the spine. The problem is opportunity cost. A crunch trains one movement, spinal flexion, through a small range, and it is the movement your trunk is least often asked to produce under load. Fifty crunches train the rectus abdominis to curl you up from the floor. They do little for the deep trunk muscles, obliques and back muscles that keep your spine steady when you carry shopping up Highgate Hill, lift a child or squat with a bar on your back.
There is also a practical point. Many of our clients sit for nine hours a day, and plenty of them dislike how crunches feel on the neck. Exercises that keep the spine near neutral tend to be more comfortable and transfer better to everything else.
Two things a core workout cannot do: it will not flatten your stomach, because fat loss is not local, and it will not give you visible abdominal muscles on its own. That is mostly diet, overall training and genetics.
The four jobs your trunk does
| Job | What it resists | Everyday version | Exercises |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-extension | Lower back arching | Reaching overhead to a high shelf | Dead bug, rollout, body saw |
| Anti-lateral flexion | Bending sideways | Carrying a heavy bag in one hand | Side plank, suitcase carry |
| Anti-rotation | Twisting | Pushing a door open with one arm | Pallof press, bird dog |
| Hip flexion with a stable spine | Lower back rounding as the legs lift | Climbing stairs two at a time | Hanging knee raise, reverse dead bug |
A balanced core session picks from at least three of these.
The workout
Do this after your main lifts, or as a standalone 20-minute session on a lighter day. Choose one exercise from each block. Rest 45 to 60 seconds between sets.
Block 1: anti-extension
Dead bug - 3 sets of 6-8 slow reps each side. Lie on your back, arms up, hips and knees at 90 degrees. Press your lower back gently into the floor, then lower the opposite arm and leg towards the ground and return. If your back lifts, shorten the range. We have a whole post on the dead bug, because it is that useful.
Progression: ab rollout - 3 sets of 6-10 from the knees with a wheel or barbell. Roll out only as far as you can without your hips sagging, then pull back with your stomach rather than your arms.
Block 2: anti-lateral flexion
Side plank - 3 sets of 20-40 seconds each side. Elbow under shoulder, body in a straight line from head to heels, hips pushed forward. Start from the knees if needed.
Progression: suitcase carry - 3 walks of 20-30 metres each side with one heavy dumbbell. Stand tall and walk without leaning. It is harder than it looks, and our guide to the suitcase carry explains the setup.
Block 3: anti-rotation
Bird dog - 3 sets of 6 each side, with a two-second pause. On hands and knees, reach one arm and the opposite leg long without your hips rotating. Imagine a glass of water on your lower back.
Progression: Pallof press - 3 sets of 8-10 each side on a cable station. Stand side-on to the cable, hold the handle at your chest, press it straight out and back without letting it pull you round. The cable stack makes it easy to load in small steps.
Block 4: hip flexion with control
Reverse dead bug or lying leg lowers - 3 sets of 8. Keep your lower back in contact with the floor while slowly lowering both legs.
Progression: hanging knee raise - 3 sets of 6-10. Hang from a bar, curl the pelvis up as you lift the knees, no swinging.
How to progress without just adding time
The common mistake with core training is chasing longer and longer holds. A three-minute plank mostly trains patience. Better ways to make it harder:
- Add load. Heavier carries, a heavier Pallof press.
- Increase the lever. Straighter legs in a dead bug, longer rollouts.
- Reduce the base of support. Lift the top leg in a side plank, or lift a foot in a plank.
- Slow the tempo. Three seconds out and three seconds back.
- Add instability carefully. A half-kneeling Pallof press is harder than a standing one.
If a hold goes beyond about 45 to 60 seconds with good form, pick a harder variation rather than adding time. How long to hold a plank goes into that in more detail.
Your big lifts are core training too
Squats, deadlifts, overhead presses, rows and loaded carries all demand that you hold your trunk stiff under load. For many people, the single best thing they can do for core strength is learn to brace properly and then lift progressively heavier. The isolated exercises above fill the gaps: lateral and rotational control that the main lifts train less directly.
That is how we structure it in 1-1 sessions in our private studio: main lifts first, then ten minutes of targeted trunk work chosen for the individual. Someone with a stiff lower back after desk work gets more anti-extension; someone who plays tennis or golf gets more anti-rotation. The cable station and dumbbell rack mean every exercise above can be loaded and progressed precisely. See how a session works on our personal training page.
Common mistakes
- Holding your breath. Brace and keep breathing behind the brace. Short breaths in and out are fine.
- Letting the lower back arch in planks, dead bugs and rollouts. The moment it arches, the exercise has become something else.
- Doing core work first. Tiring your trunk before heavy squats or deadlifts is the wrong order.
- Doing it every day. Two or three sessions a week is plenty. The trunk muscles need recovery like any others.
Check with your GP or a physiotherapist first if you have current back pain that travels down a leg, a hernia, are pregnant or recently postnatal (where abdominal separation needs specialist guidance), or are returning after surgery.
Questions we get asked
Will this workout give me a six-pack?
It will make the muscles stronger. Whether you can see them depends on body fat, which comes down to diet and overall activity, not the number of ab exercises.
Are sit-ups bad for your back?
Not inherently for healthy people. They are simply a less useful choice than exercises that train the trunk to resist movement, and many people find them uncomfortable.
Can I do this at home?
Dead bugs, side planks, bird dogs and leg lowers need nothing but floor space. A resistance band anchored to a door can stand in for the cable in a Pallof press.
How quickly will I notice a difference?
Most people notice better control in their main lifts within a few weeks. Strength builds steadily over the following months with consistent training.
The NHS guide to strength exercises is a sound reference for building a routine at home. If you would like the whole programme coached, start with private 1-1 training at The Highgate House.
Book with The Highgate House
Ready to start training properly? Email us at [email protected] with the service and the day that suits you, and we will come back to you with times.
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