Best Ab Exercises to Do with Weights for a Stronger Core

When most people think about ab training, they picture bodyweight sit-ups, crunches, or planks. While these exercises are effective, adding weights can take your ab workouts to the next level. Weighted ab training not only helps you build a stronger core but also enhances muscle definition, improves posture, and supports heavy lifting in other areas of fitness. In this guide, we’ll explore the best ab exercises to do with weights, why they work, and how you can incorporate them into your routine.

Why Add Weights to Your Ab Exercises Workout

Increased Muscle Activation

When you perform ab exercises with resistance, your muscles are forced to work harder. This increased tension encourages hypertrophy, or muscle growth, leading to more visible abdominal definition over time.

Builds Functional Strength

Your core is central to nearly every movement you perform in daily life and workouts. Weighted ab exercises prepare your core to handle real-life loads, from lifting groceries to deadlifting at the gym.

Improves Stability and Balance

Weighted core exercises challenge stabilizer muscles around your spine, hips, and pelvis, reducing your risk of injury and improving balance.

Faster Progress

Adding resistance ensures progressive overload — a key principle of strength training. This helps you avoid plateaus and see consistent improvements in strength and muscle tone.

How to Safely Perform Ab Exercises With Weights

Before diving into specific moves, keep these safety tips in mind:

• Start Light: Begin with a manageable weight (5–10 lbs) and gradually increase as your core strength improves.
• Focus on Form: Proper technique is crucial to avoid strain on your lower back and neck.
• Engage the Core: Keep your abdominal muscles tight and avoid using momentum.
• Control the Movement: Weighted exercises should be slow and controlled, maximizing tension on your abs.

The Best Ab Exercises With Weights

Let’s break down the most effective ab exercises that incorporate weights. These can be done with dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, or even medicine balls.

1. Weighted Sit-Ups

A classic ab exercise, the weighted sit-up adds resistance for more muscle engagement.

How to Do It:

• Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat.
• Hold a dumbbell or weight plate against your chest.
• Perform a sit-up by curling your torso up toward your knees.
• Slowly lower back down.

Pro Tip: As you get stronger, extend the weight overhead to increase difficulty.

2. Weighted Russian Twists

This exercise targets the obliques while also strengthening the entire core.

How to Do It:

• Sit on the floor, holding a dumbbell, kettlebell, or medicine ball.
• Lean back slightly and lift your feet off the floor.
• Rotate your torso side-to-side, tapping the weight near your hip each time.

Pro Tip: Keep your movements slow and controlled to avoid straining your spine.

3. Dumbbell Side Bend Ab Exercises With Weights

Perfect for isolating the obliques, side bends add shape and strength to your waistline.

How to Do It:

• Stand tall holding a dumbbell in one hand, with the other hand behind your head or on your hip.
• Slowly bend sideways toward the dumbbell, then return to standing.
• Complete reps on one side before switching.

Pro Tip: Avoid leaning forward or backward—keep the movement strictly to the side.

4. Weighted Plank Pull-Through

An advanced variation of the plank that builds stability while engaging the core.

How to Do It:

• Start in a high plank with a dumbbell on the floor just outside your hand.
• Reach across your body, pull the dumbbell underneath you to the other side, then switch hands.
• Keep your hips stable and avoid rocking side-to-side.

Pro Tip: Use lighter weights at first to maintain good form.

5. Cable Woodchoppers Ab Exercises With Weights

This rotational movement develops power and definition in the obliques.

How to Do It:

• Attach a handle to a high pulley cable machine.
• Stand sideways to the machine and grip the handle with both hands.
• Pull the cable diagonally across your body, finishing near your opposite hip.
• Slowly return to start.

Pro Tip: Perform with controlled movement; don’t rely on momentum.

6. Weighted Hanging Knee Raise

Adds intensity to a popular ab exercise.

How to Do It:

• Hang from a pull-up bar, holding a dumbbell or medicine ball between your feet.
• Engage your core and raise your knees toward your chest.
• Lower slowly back to starting position.

Pro Tip: For advanced variation, extend legs straight for a weighted hanging leg raise.

7. Weighted Dead Bug

An underrated but powerful core stability exercise.

How to Do It:

• Lie on your back with arms extended upward holding dumbbells.
• Lift your legs into tabletop position.
• Lower one arm and the opposite leg toward the floor while keeping your back flat.
• Return to start and repeat on the other side.

Pro Tip: Keep your lower back pressed into the mat throughout the movement.

8. Barbell Rollout Ab Exercises With Weights

One of the toughest ab exercises, the barbell rollout challenges every inch of your core.

How to Do It:

• Load a barbell with light plates.
• Kneel on the floor and grip the barbell with both hands.
• Slowly roll the bar forward, extending your body as far as you can.
• Pull back to starting position.

Pro Tip: Engage your glutes and avoid letting your lower back sag.

9. Weighted Decline Sit-Ups Ab Exercises With Weights

A gym-friendly exercise for advanced core strength.

How to Do It:

• Secure yourself on a decline bench with feet locked in place.
• Hold a weight plate or dumbbell at your chest.
• Perform sit-ups with slow, controlled movement.

Pro Tip: Avoid pulling on your neck; let your abs do the work.

10. Weighted Side Plank Hip Lifts

A stability-focused move that emphasizes the obliques.

How to Do It:

• Get into a side plank with your elbow under your shoulder.
• Place a dumbbell or plate on your hip.
• Lower your hips toward the floor, then lift them back up.

Pro Tip: Keep your body in a straight line throughout.

How to Structure a Ab Exercises Workout With Weights

A sample weighted ab workout might look like this:

1. Weighted Sit-Ups – 3 sets of 12–15 reps
2. Russian Twists – 3 sets of 20 (10 per side)
3. Dumbbell Side Bends – 3 sets of 12 each side
4. Barbell Rollouts – 3 sets of 8–10 reps
5. Weighted Plank Pull-Throughs – 3 sets of 12

Common Ab Weight Exercises Mistakes to Avoid

• Using Too Much Weight: Start small to avoid straining your back or neck.
• Poor Posture: Keep your spine neutral; avoid rounding your shoulders.
• Rushing Through Reps: Focus on slow, controlled movements for maximum engagement.
• Neglecting Breathing: Exhale on exertion and inhale on the return phase.

Benefits Beyond Aesthetics With Ab Weight Exercises

While weighted ab training helps sculpt visible muscles, its benefits go much deeper:

• Supports heavy lifts like squats and deadlifts.
• Improves athletic performance in sports requiring rotation (tennis, golf, baseball).
• Protects against injuries by strengthening stabilizing muscles.
• Enhances posture and reduces back pain.

Take Your Core to the Next Level With Ab Weight Exercises

Weighted ab exercises are a game-changer for building strength, definition, and functional power. Whether you’re aiming for six-pack aesthetics, better athletic performance, or improved posture, incorporating resistance into your ab routine can help you reach your goals faster. Start light, prioritize form, and gradually increase resistance as you grow stronger. Your core is the foundation of your body — make it as strong as possible.