Ankle weights can benefit your workouts in different ways. Find out what exercises you can use them in to get bigger abs.
How much weight you should use for ankle weights varies from exercise to exercise and individual to individual.
For resistance training exercises like the ab exercises below, you can find and use ankle weights from 0.5 pounds (0.23 kg) up to 20 pounds (9.1 kg).
If you are not sure which weight would be right for you, you can invest in good adjustable ankle weights, begin with light weights, and slowly build up from there.
Table of Contents
1. Ankle weight leg raises
Like many of the options on this list, leg raises take place on the ground. If you don’t have a soft surface available it may be smart to invest in something like a yoga mat.
Take the following steps to do one leg raise:
- Lie down on your back with your legs stretched and right next to each other on the ground. Put your arms on the ground at your sides for balance.
- Slowly turn your hips and move them toward your chest. In theory, your legs should not really move relative to your hips. You can go as far as raising your lower back off the ground. Keep the middle of your back on the ground.
- Slowly lower your legs back to the ground.
Leg raises are such a popular ankle weight exercise because it is so hard to add other external weights to this exercise in a safe way.
At the same time, you need to keep in mind that getting a good ab workout out of leg raises can be challenging if you are not used to engaging these muscles.
Ab workout beginners likely want to start with something like reverse crunches instead. Potentially already with the extra resistance from ankle weights.
2. Ankle weight knee raises
For the next exercise, you will need equipment like a pull-up bar or a gym machine called the captain’s chair. You basically need to get in a position where your legs hang freely.
Take the following steps to do a knee raise on a pull-up bar:
- Hang from the pull-up bar with your hands at about shoulder-width with your hand palms facing forward. Let your legs hang down for now.
- Raise your knees held together upwards to at least hip height. Let gravity do its work on your lower legs throughout the exercise.
- Lower your legs back into the starting position in a controlled manner.
While ankle weights are especially useful, you could also do this exercise with a dumbbell held between your feet.
Even with just the weight of your body, knee raises can be a great exercise option to focus on your upper abs. Just make sure you don’t use too much of the momentum of swinging your legs.
3. Ankle weight flutter kicks
Flutter kicks involve the following steps:
- Start lying down on your back with your legs stretched and right next to each other on the ground. Your arms start resting on the ground at your sides for balance.
- Push your lower back against the ground with the help of your core muscles. The goal is to keep your lower back pushed to the ground throughout the exercise if you want to train your core muscles.
- Keep your legs more or less stretched and together while you move up your feet until your legs make a 90 degree angle with the ground.
- Slowly lower your legs until you either can’t keep your lower back on the ground anymore or until they are right above the ground. The more experienced you are with core training the closer you will be able to get to the ground.
- While keeping the other leg stretched, elevate one leg a small amount.
- While lowering this leg back to starting position elevate the other leg in the same way.
- Keep repeating this alternation between the two sides.
Flutter kicks are similar to the movement you make with your legs while swimming crawl.
This movement works your abs in an isometric (static) way.
While this could be more comfortable, the more dynamic ankle weight ab exercises tend to be more effective for muscle growth and strength progress.
4. Lying opposite toe touches
The lying opposite toe touch is a simple yet powerful exercise to engage your abs and oblique muscles at home. Take the following steps to do this exercise:
- Lie down on your back with your legs stretched and right next to each other on the ground.
- Move up your legs to ideally a vertical line. If your hamstrings are tight it will be more of a steep angle. Go as far as you comfortably can while keeping your lower back on the ground. Point your arms vertically upward too.
- Slowly lift your upper body to reach with one hand to the foot of the opposite side as far as comfortable. Make sure you use your abs and obliques and not the momentum of your arms to do this movement.
- Return to the position in step 2 in a controlled motion.
- Reach with your other hand to the opposite foot in a similar way.
- Return to the position in step 2 in a controlled motion.
You can also do regular forward lying toe touches. This variation would mainly target your ab (and hip flexors) muscles instead of also working your obliques.
One variation is not necessarily better than the other. Your training goals with these ankle weight exercises will influence your choice a lot.
5. Ankle weight scissor kicks
Take the following steps to do scissor kicks:
- Lie down on your back with your legs stretched and right next to each other on the ground. Rest your arms on the ground at your sides for balance.
- Push your lower back against the ground with the help of your core muscles. The goal is to keep your lower back pushed to the ground throughout the exercise if you want to train your core muscles.
- Keep your legs more or less stretched and together while you move up your feet until your legs make a 90-degree angle with the ground.
- Slowly lower your legs until you either can’t keep your lower back on the ground anymore or until they are right above the ground. The more experienced you are with core training the closer you will be able to get to the ground.
- While keeping both stretched, move one leg over the other one.
- Move the leg that is on top to the bottom in a similar way.
- Keep repeating this alternation between the two sides.
Scissor kicks look and are very similar to flutter kicks but instead of your legs going up and down they go sideways over each other.
The same principles of isometric vs isotonic (dynamic) movements apply. Some of the other ab exercises with ankle weights will typically be more effective for results.
6. Ankle weight bicycle crunches
This next exercise requires slightly more coordination. Two repetitions of bicycle crunches involve the following steps:
- Lie down on your back with a 90-degree angle in both your hips and knees. Hold your hands against the side of your head with your elbows pointing sideways.
- Raise your shoulders and push your lower back against the ground with the help of your ab muscles.
- Slightly turn your upper body to one side and reach with your elbow to the knee of the opposite side (for example your left elbow to your right knee) while stretching the leg of the side of the elbow you use while still keeping it off the ground (continuing the example stretching your left leg).
- Bring the stretched leg back into the starting position and repeat with the other side. Keep your shoulders off the ground during the exercise.
For a good ab workout keep your movements slow and controlled.
If you don’t feel your abs fatiguing, it could be a sign that your bicycle crunch technique can likely use some improvement.
Another potential reason for this is that your oblique muscles are a lot weaker than your abs. Bicycle crunches work these other muscles a lot too.
7. Weighted V-ups
Like with all of these exercises make sure you use the right technique when doing V-ups to avoid any injuries.
If the described angle is not yet within your capabilities, you can start with repetitions with smaller angles and build up from there.
Take the following steps to do a v-up:
- Lie down on your back with your legs stretched and right next to each other on the ground. You can hold your arms against your chest if you are relatively new to ab training, stretched above your head if you are more experienced.
- Keep your legs slightly less than stretched while you move them up slowly. At the same time curl up your upper body starting with your shoulders and continuing with the rest of your back until your upper body makes a V-shape with your legs. Make sure your abs and not the momentum of your arms power the movement.
- Slowly lower your legs and upper body again. If you will do more repetitions you can keep your feet hovering just above the ground and your lower back pressed against the ground with the help of your abs. If you are done you can lower your legs to the ground.
You can make V-ups even more challenging by making your arms carry extra weights like wrist weights, a weight plate, dumbbells, etc.
8. Ankle weight windshield wipers
Take the following steps to do a windshield wiper:
- Lie down on your back with a 90-degree angle in both your hips and knees. Stretch out our arms to the side for balance.
- Slowly tilt your legs sideways to one side as far as comfortable. One side of your hips will come off the ground.
- Raise your legs into starting position and repeat the movement on the other side.
Due to the sideways movement windshield wipers will mainly engage your oblique muscles.
That being said, you will likely engage your abs to a certain extent to keep your hips at the right angle. Especially with the extra weight from ankle weights.
9. Ankle weight air cycling
For this next exercise, you will again need a pull-up bar, captain’s chair, or any else that leaves your legs hanging freely.
Once you have that, take the following steps to do air cycling on a pull-up bar:
- Hang from the pull-up bar with your hands at about shoulder-width with your hand palms facing forward. Let your legs hang down for now.
- Start raising one knee upwards. Let gravity do its work on your lower legs throughout the exercise.
- Raise the knees to at least hip height.
- Start lowering this knee while raising the other knee the same way at the same time.
- Repeat for a number of repetitions or a certain amount of time.
This exercise resembles doing high knees in the air.
You will mostly work your abs and obliques in isometric (static) ways and your hip flexors in a more dynamic way.
If your hip flexors fatigue before your abs had a good workout, you may want to choose one of the other ankle weight exercises on this list.
10. Ankle weight double crunches
Take the following steps to do doubles crunches:
- You start laying down on your back with your hands behind your head.
- Bend your legs at the hip and knee so both angles are about 90 degrees.
- Raise your head and shoulders from the ground while keeping your lower back on the ground. At the same time bring your knees toward your chest by using your abs. The angles of your legs should not change a lot.
- Return to the position in step 2 in a controlled motion.
Your ankle weights will allow you to engage your lower abs muscles more during double crunches compared to doing them with just your body weight.
At the same time, you are also working the upper and middle parts a nice amount. To work these areas more, you can also consider holding some form of weight against your chest.
