Upper Ab Workout: 9 Moves That Actually Hit The Top Of Your Abs

The best upper ab workout is built on moves that curl your ribs down toward your hips.

Our top three are the stability ball crunch, the crunch done right, and the kneeling cable crunch. Two need nothing but a floor or a ball; the third needs a cable or a band.

One honest note: your six-pack is a single muscle, so no exercise isolates the top half. The best upper ab exercises simply put more of the work there.

Below: 9 moves with an easier and a harder version of each, a home plan and a gym plan, and a straight answer on flattening the upper stomach.

Can You Actually Target Your Upper Abs?

Your “upper abs” and “lower abs” are the same muscle, so why do crunches burn up top and leg raises burn down low?

The six-pack is one long muscle, the rectus abdominis. It runs from your lower ribs to your pelvis, and the “packs” are bands of tissue crossing it. You can’t switch the top on and the bottom off.

You can shift where the work lands. In a ultrasound study of the crunch and the leg raise on 15 people, the crunch worked the top of the muscle hardest, while leg raises shifted the work toward the bottom.

Not every lab test agrees; some found the top and bottom working about evenly. So the rule for how to work upper abs is bias, don’t isolate. Form decides how much bias you get.

Every move below curls your ribs toward your hips. Hanging leg raises and toes to bar lean toward the bottom, and mountain climbers and plank shoulder taps train the whole core.

If the bottom half is your weak spot, start with our best lower ab exercises; the 9 upper ab exercises below load the top half best.

1. Stability Ball Crunch

A cheap exercise ball beats the floor for ab work, and the lab numbers back that up.

The ball’s curve lets you lean back past flat, so your ribs travel further every rep.

An American Council on Exercise (ACE) study of 13 ab exercises ranked the exercise-ball crunch 3rd for the whole six-pack muscle and the floor crunch 11th.

That ranking never split top from bottom, though ball crunches showed a top-half bias in other testing.

• Sit on the ball and walk your feet out until it supports your lower back.
• Lean back until your upper back follows the curve.
• Rest your fingertips at your temples.
• Breathe out and curl your ribs toward your hips.
• Pause 1 second, lower for 3 seconds, hips still.

Do: 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps.

Easier: Sit higher and lean back less.

Harder: Hold a plate at your chest or reach overhead.

Mistake to avoid: Bouncing your hips to roll the ball.

Best for: anyone with a ball. Skip if: your balance is shaky; start with move 2.

2. The Crunch, Done Right

If your neck is sore after crunches and your abs aren’t, you did a head nod.

Form decides where the work goes. In a study of the curl-up, the top-half advantage only showed up in people with good form; sloppy reps spread the work evenly. Every move below reuses these cues.

• Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat.
• Fingertips at your temples; never pull your head.
• Brace like someone’s about to poke your stomach.
• Breathe out and roll your ribs toward your hips until your shoulder blades lift, lower back glued down.
• Pause 1 second, then lower for 3 seconds.

Do: 3 sets of 12 to 15 slow reps; if 20 feel easy, add load.

Easier: Arms across your chest, shorter range.

Harder: A towel under your lower back, then a plate at your chest (the plate crunch).

Back-friendly option: One leg straight, hands under your lower back, lift only head and shoulders.

Mistake to avoid: Yanking your chin to your chest.

Verdict: the best free upper ab move once form is right.

3. Kneeling Cable Crunch

One cue fixes most cable crunches: knees heavy, hips quiet, ribs down.

Same rib-to-hip curl as a crunch, but you can add weight in small steps and start every rep from a stretch. No lab test has split top from bottom, but nothing is easier to load.

• Kneel 1 to 2 feet from a high pulley with a rope attached.
• Hold the rope beside your temples; hands stay put all set.
• Hips over your knees, never back toward your heels.
• Brace, breathe out, curl your forehead toward your knees.
• Pause 1 to 2 seconds, then rise for 3 seconds.

Do: 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps; if you can’t pause at the bottom, it’s too heavy.

Easier: A lighter stack, or a band anchored high.

Harder: A 3 to 4 second return, or the standing cable crunch facing away from the stack.

Mistake to avoid: Pulling with your arms or sitting your hips back, which makes it a hip hinge.

If you train in a gym, make this your main upper abs workout move.

4. Decline Bench Crunch

Same crunch, one notch on the bench, and suddenly 12 reps feel like 30.

Starting head-down means your abs fight gravity through a longer curl of the ribs toward the hips.

• Set a decline bench one or two notches down and hook your feet.
• Lie back with your hands across your chest.
• Breathe out and curl your shoulders up and forward; stop once your ribs are curled in, well before upright.
• Same pause and 3-second lower, no dropping.

Do: 3 sets of 8 to 15 reps.

Easier: The lowest notch, or the bench set flat.

Harder: A plate at your chest (never behind your head); cap heavy decline work at twice a week.

Mistake to avoid: Sitting all the way up, which hands the work to your hip flexors.

Harder than the floor crunch in move 2, and easier to load with a plate than you’d think.

5. Ab Wheel Rollout

The hardest upper ab move on this list involves no crunching at all.

As you roll out, your abs fight to stop your ribs flaring and your lower back sagging, then pull your ribs back toward your hips.

Ball rollouts showed a top-half bias in lab testing, and wheel moves rank among the hardest ab exercises.

• Kneel on a pad, hands on the wheel under your shoulders.
• Tuck your tailbone and round your upper back slightly.
• Roll forward slowly, only as far as your back stays flat.
• Breathe out and pull the wheel back under you.

Do: 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps.

Easier: Forearms on a stability ball, or roll toward a wall to cap the range.

Harder: A longer range, then rollouts from your toes.

Mistake to avoid: Letting your lower back arch; end the set when it does.

Best for: intermediate lifters. Skip if: your lower back is cranky.

6. Straight Leg Toe Touch Crunch

No equipment, no space needed, and you’ll feel the top of your abs by rep 10.

Your legs stay parked straight up, so the only thing moving is your upper body curling toward your hips. Full technique is in our guide to straight leg toe touch crunches; the short version follows.

• Lie on your back with your legs straight up over your hips.
• Reach your arms toward your feet.
• Breathe out and curl your shoulder blades off the floor, reaching for your toes or shins.
• Keep your lower back down and your legs still.
• Lower for 3 seconds.

Do: 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps.

Easier: Bend your knees more, or rest your heels on a wall.

Harder: Hold a light dumbbell and reach it toward your feet, or squeeze a stability ball between your feet so your legs have to stay dead still.

Mistake to avoid: Swinging your legs toward your hands.

Verdict: the best no-equipment partner for the crunch.

7. Seated Ab Crunch Machine

If your forearms are pumped after the ab machine, your grip worked and your abs took the day off.

The pad guides your chest down toward your hips, so beginners get the right curl without balancing anything.

• Set the seat so the pad sits on your upper chest and you can round fully.
• Lock your feet in and hold the handles loosely.
• Breathe out and curl your spine one section at a time, closing the gap between chest and hips.
• Pause 1 to 2 seconds, then return for 3 seconds without letting the stack rest.

Do: 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

Easier: A lighter pin, shorter range.

Harder: A longer pause at the bottom or a slower return before you add weight.

Mistake to avoid: Keeping your back straight and folding at the hips; that’s a hip move.

If the cable stack is busy, use this instead of move 3.

8. Hollow Body Hold

Gymnasts barely crunch, yet their abs look carved. This hold is one reason why.

It works the whole front of your core, so it isn’t a pure upper ab move. The top half earns its share because your shoulder blades stay curled off the floor throughout, like a crunch you never finish.

• Lie on your back, lower back pressed flat, ribs pulled down.
• Lift your shoulder blades, arms along your sides.
• Lift your feet, knees bent (the tuck).
• Keep breathing, neck relaxed.
• Straighten your legs only as far as your back stays flat.

Do: 3 holds of 20 to 30 seconds.

Easier: The tuck, or feet on a bench.

Harder: Legs straight and low, then arms overhead, then hollow rocks.

Mistake to avoid: A gap under your lower back means your hip flexors took over; raise your legs.

Harder to load than moves 1 to 4, but the best teacher of the ribs-down brace.

9. V-Up

One move, ten reps, and both ends of your six-pack are on fire.

Your upper body curls like a crunch while your legs rise, so the whole front works. The leg lift brings in more hip flexor than a crunch, which is why it sits last.

• Lie flat, arms overhead, legs straight.
• Press your lower back down.
• Breathe out and lift chest and legs together, reaching for your shins.
• Curl your ribs in at the top instead of folding at the hips.
• Lower both ends for 3 seconds.

Do: 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps.

Easier: The tuck-up (knees bent) or a single-leg V-up.

Harder: Hold a light dumbbell, or pause 1 second at the top.

Mistake to avoid: Swinging up and landing with an arched back.

Best for: a finisher once moves 2 and 8 feel solid. Skip if: you mostly feel it in your hips.

Your Upper Ab Workout: Home And Gym Plans

Pick your column, run it twice a week, done.

Slot	Home (No Equipment)	Gym (Weights)
Main crunch	The crunch, done right: 3 x 12 to 15	Kneeling cable crunch: 3 x 8 to 12
Second crunch	Straight leg toe touch crunch: 3 x 12 to 15	Decline bench crunch with a plate: 3 x 8 to 12
Hold or rollout	Hollow body hold: 3 x 20 to 30 seconds	Ab wheel rollout: 3 x 6 to 10
Optional finisher	V-up: 2 x 8 to 10	Stability ball crunch with a plate: 2 x 12

Rest 45 to 90 seconds, lower every rep slowly, and add one lower-ab move (a reverse crunch works) if you want the bottom half covered.

Upper Ab Workout At Home (No Equipment)

The home column needs nothing but floor space. Progress with slower reps, longer holds and the Harder lines before you buy anything.

When you do spend money, a stability ball is the best first purchase for upper ab work at home.

Upper Ab Workout With Weights Or At The Gym

An upper ab workout with weights, whether plate, dumbbell, cable or machine, follows one rule: add weight only when the top of the rep range is clean.

For a loaded routine you can run at home, see our kettlebell ab workout.

The 10-Minute Upper Ab Workout

Short on time? Run the home moves as a timed circuit instead of counting reps: 40 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest, no equipment.

• The crunch, done right
• Straight leg toe touch crunch
• Hollow body hold
• V-up (or the tuck-up)

Three rounds is 12 minutes, two rounds is 8, and the 3-second lowering still applies on the clock.

Standing Upper Ab Options

Two options: the standing cable crunch from move 3, or a band anchored high and crunched the same way.

Standing versions are harder to feel, so treat them as a variation, never your main move.

How Often To Train Upper Abs

Each plan is 9 to 11 hard sets, and two sessions a week with a day between is plenty for most people. Add a third only once every rep in the top of the range is clean.

Women and men train them the same way: same muscle, same moves, same progressions. We go deeper in how often you should train abs.

Common Upper Ab Mistakes That Waste Your Reps

Most “my upper abs won’t grow” problems are really “my neck, arms and hips did the work” problems.

• Pulling your head: Fingertips at your temples, chin slightly tucked, and lift by rolling your ribs.
• Swinging for reps: Pause at the top and lower for 3 seconds. If 20 easy reps are possible, use the Harder line, not 50 reps.
• Letting your hip flexors take over: Full sit-ups and big leg swings shift the work to the front of your hips, so keep your lower back down, the range short, and on cables your hips over your knees.
• Thinking planks are enough: A plank teaches bracing, but it never curls your ribs toward your hips. Keep it as a warm-up.
• Training through back pain: If crunching bothers your lower back, switch to the back-friendly crunch from move 2 or the hollow hold, and see a physio if the pain sticks around.

Will An Upper Ab Workout Flatten Your Upper Stomach?

Six weeks of ab work, five days a week, and the belly fat didn’t budge.

Twenty-four inactive adults did 7 ab exercises, 2 sets of 10, 5 days a week, in a study of abdominal exercise and belly fat.

Their body fat, belly fat and waist size did not change. Their ab endurance did improve, to about 47 curl-ups against 32 for the group that didn’t train.

Your body decides where fat comes off; the muscle you train gets no say. Training one body part has not been shown to burn fat from that spot.

What actually flattens the upper stomach is a modest calorie deficit, enough protein, daily movement and sleep. The ab work still matters, because stronger, thicker abs show sooner once the fat drops.

Some softness above the belly button is normal and can be one of the last spots to lean out, so keep training and give it time.

Bottom Line

Curl your ribs toward your hips, slowly, with a little more challenge each week. That’s how to work upper abs in one sentence.

Our best picks are the stability ball crunch, the crunch done right, and the kneeling cable crunch. Run the home column if you train on the floor, the gym column if you have a cable stack.

These moves bias the top of your six-pack rather than isolating it, and the Easier and Harder lines are how you progress.

Visibility comes from losing overall body fat; the ab work makes sure there’s something to see. Run the home or gym upper ab workout twice a week for a month, then judge it.