Want To Strengthen Your Upper & Lower Abs In One Go? Try This Workout

Reported by MindBodyGreen.

Core work has a reputation for being either brutally complicated or insultingly easy — crunches that barely register, or ab circuits that require a personal trainer on standby. V-ups land somewhere far more interesting: a single move that torches your upper and lower abs simultaneously, no equipment, no excuses.

According to MindBodyGreen, the exercise — demonstrated by boxer and fitness instructor Mindy Lai — is deceptively simple in concept. Lie flat on your back, arms and legs fully extended. In one controlled motion, lift both your arms and legs toward each other, aiming to touch your hands to your feet at the top before lowering back down. Thirty seconds of that and your core will have opinions. Lai's cue: imagine your body folding into a taco shell. It's a weirdly effective mental image that keeps the form honest.

More Than Just an Ab Exercise

The real appeal of V-ups is what's happening beyond the obvious burn. Because the move demands that your arms and legs stay straight throughout — not flailing, not bent as a shortcut — your shoulders, back, and legs are all quietly pulling their weight. What looks like an ab exercise is functionally a full-body challenge. For anyone who's been cycling through isolated movements without seeing results, that compound demand matters. And if the full expression of the move is too much right now, tucking your knees toward your chest instead of extending your legs is a legitimate modification that still keeps the core engaged, not a cop-out.

Form notes worth taking seriously: don't let your spine round as you rise — a curved back shifts the load away from your abs and straight into your lower back, which is not the trade-off you want. Point your toes to activate your legs, and brace your core before the movement even begins. The difference between a V-up that works and one that just makes noise is whether you're actually controlling the ascent or just throwing momentum at the problem.

V-ups won't revolutionize your entire fitness philosophy, but as a go-anywhere, anytime movement that hits the upper and lower abdominals in one shot — the combination that most ab exercises frustratingly miss — they're worth adding to your rotation. Do them mid-workout, between sets, or when you have three spare minutes and your body needs to remember it exists.

If your core routine has started to feel like a formality, V-ups are the efficient reset it actually needs.

Read the original at MindBodyGreen.