Get a flat stomach with these 7 formidable exercises for transverse muscles

The transverse abdominis muscle (transversely of the abdomen) is arguably the least worked muscle in the midsection, for good reason: you can’t see it.

Unlike the rectus abdominis (the famous 6 pack), the transverse is a deep muscle.

Is it any less important? Of course not !

We’ll see why to work it and how with 7 of the best exercises to strengthen its transverse.

Why work on its transverse?

If you are here, it is because you probably already know the capital importance of this muscle, the true guarantor of the good health of your “core” (the “core”, a set of muscles made up of the pelvic floor, the diaphragm , multifidus and transverse).

The transverse surrounds your abdomen (like an internal weight belt) and plays a key role in protection and stabilization of your spine.

It is present in most polyarticular bodybuilding exercises such as the squat or the military press and warns of any unwanted movement.

If it’s low, you may be more likely to develop lower back pain and other injuries.

The 5 Best Exercises for Your Transverse

Strengthening its cross-functionality means maximize core stabilitythis is why the exercises dedicated to it involve a lot of stabilization work and not flexion (like crunches which would aim to work the rectus abdominis).

1. Sheathing

I know, you’re probably tired of hearing about planking, but when it comes to transverse, it’s hard not to mention it.

I’m going to spare you the traditional sheathing tutorial, because you probably know this exercise.

On the other hand, I can only advise you to go and see our guide to the 5 main errors in sheathing and above all, our guide to progression in sheathing.

It is on this last point that I want to draw your attention, your first mission is to hold a plank with a perfect shape for 30 seconds.

Your second mission is not to lengthen the stopwatchbut to reinforce the tension creates and to increase the instability.

The more instability there is, the more your transverse is put to contribution.

To effectively work on your transverse with sheathing, you can play on 3 things:

• Add leverage,
• Add instability,
• Add movement.

We’ve all detailed in our planing progression guide, but here are 2 examples of interesting variations (among many others).

Ab Rollout

The ab rollout is a great example of sheathing with the addition of leverage, basically lengthening the body.

This exercise can be performed with an abs roller, a loaded weight bar, a swiss ball, a TRX, gym rings…

To know everything about the exercise, the technique and the pitfalls to avoid, I invite you to consult our guide to rollouts.

Plank to side plank

Here is a variation of sheathing that adds both movement and instability, you will have to move your limbs while stabilizing your trunk.

1. Get into a sheathing position on your hands and engage your abdominal strap,
2. Shift your weight to your right hand, then rotate your shoulders until you’re resting on your outstretched right arm.
3. Extend your left arm toward the ceiling in a T shape and pause for 2-3 seconds.
4. Return to starting position, then repeat on the other side.

You can add a pump to the movement as in the version opposite. To increase the difficulty, stack your feet on top of each other when doing your side plank.

Make sure you always have your hips high, too, we don’t want movement, we don’t want twisting, on stabilise !

For more cladding variants, see our article: 11 cladding variants 100 times more effective than the original version.

2. Farmer’s Walk

A highly functional exercise that we keep talking about on this blog as it has so many benefits.

We have already dedicated a whole guide to the farmer’s walk, but here is the essence of the movement:

1. Grab a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell and hold it in one hand with the loaded arm alongside the body (the weight is not resting on the body though),
2. Contract your abdominals and make sure to keep your torso straight, the spine should not bend on the side of the weight,
3. Walk as long as you can, slowly,
4. Switch hands and repeat.

3. Kettlebell front rack march

Here is an exercise that we see too little for our taste: the “kettlebell walk” (which also works with dumbbells).

It requires enormous stabilization work, improves transverse strength and balance.

1. Grasp your kettlebells close to your body with your elbows tucked in towards your ribs (front rack position),
2. Engage your core (if you don’t, you’ll notice it immediately since you’ll lose your balance) and lift your legs off the floor one at a time, bringing the knee above the hip crease,
3. You can add a bit of challenge by pausing for 4-5 seconds or more when the leg is lifted, this will be harder on your weaker side.

When you raise one knee, make sure you have the toes of the rising foot pointing toward the ceiling (dorsiflexion) and keep your torso straight.

Only have one kettlebell at your disposal? No worries, take it in one hand, arms along the body (same as the farmer’s walk above).

4. Bird Dog

The Bird Dog does not seem particularly difficult, but it is a great exercise to feel its transverse and learn how to use it.

It involves core stabilization work while the limbs (arms and legs) move.

1. On all fours, hands directly above the shoulders, knees under the hips, back in a neutral posture (neither hollowed out nor arched),
2. Contract the abdominal strap and raise the right arm outstretched in front of you and the left leg outstretched behind you,
3. Push the floor with your right hand and hold the position for 5 seconds,
4. Slowly bring the right hand towards the left knee, until they touch each other, keeping the spine neutral (the back does not hollow or round) and maintaining the abdominal contraction,
5. Once the hand touches the knee, straighten these extremities again for another 5 seconds,
6. Repeat, then switch sides.

To learn more about how to progress this exercise and take it a step further, check out our bird dog guide.

5. Pallof Press

This exercise will strengthen core stability in a transverse plane using your obliques and core to resist the rotation of your body.

The best example is probably the Pallof Press opposite.

1. Adjust the pulley or your elastic band to bust height,
2. Standing, feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, stand sideways in relation to the pulley (feet aligned with the anchor point), far enough to put it in tension in the initial position,
3. Grab the handle or elastic band in both hands, then push it away from you, while resisting the rotation with your strap and hips.
4. Do your reps, then switch sides.

Start with a very light weight, then work your way up.

Too difficult ?

Get on your knees (the buttocks are not resting on the heels, but the hips are fully extended).

6. Dead bug with dumbbell

An advanced variant of the famous dead bug exercise that will work the abdominal strap completely via an anti-extension movement.

Find all the technical details of the latter as well as the errors to avoid in our dead bug guide.

1. Lying on the ground, feet flat, knees bent, raise your upper back from the ground and pull in your abdominals to press your lower back to the ground.
2. Grab the dumbbells, stretch your arms above your head and raise your legs, knees bent at 90°, keeping your lower back pressed into the ground throughout the movement,
3. We will seek the full extension of the right arm and the left leg while in control, without your lower back becoming hollow.

If it’s too difficult, remove the dumbbells.

7. Hollow body

We end with an exercise accessible to all, which does not require any equipment and which does not involve any real technical obstacles: the hollow hold:

1. Begin by lying on your back with your arms stretched above your head on the floor and your legs straight resting on the mat,
2. At the same time, and with control, lift the arms, head, shoulder blades and legs off the ground,
3. Hold this position for 30 seconds, then return to the starting position.

Be careful with always keep your pelvis in the correct position.

If you notice a gap between your lower back and the floor, then bend your knees, otherwise you won’t work your abs and put unwanted tension on your lower back.

For a more detailed progression and all the technical mistakes to avoid, check out our hollow body guide.

Conclusion

The transverse is one of those muscles that we do not see and that we do not work knowingly.

What a pity !

Working on your transverse is ensuring a more stable lumbar spine, which can translate into less risk of injury, better performance on your exercises and potentially, a slimmer waist in appearance.

---

Updated by Quentin on:01/03/2023

Our abs articles