A 6x CrossFit Games Athletes Ranked the Most Popular Ab Exercises—and the Winner Might Surprise You

There's never a bad time of year to build a set of popping abs that you're proud of. Sure, abs are built in the kitchen, and you'll never see them without a proper diet. But targeted core training is required to give your midsection that sharp, athletic look. Building strong, shredded abs isn't all about aesthetics, either. Core strength improves everything from stability and balance to overall performance during heavy lifts.

In a recent video, trainer and six-time CrossFit Games athlete Marcus Filly ranked popular ab exercises in a tier list from S to F, highlighting which are actually worth your time and which fail to deliver. Use Filly’s rankings as a guide, experiment to see what works best for your body, and lock in an ab routine you can stick with for visible results.

Related: Fitness Expert's Best Home Ab Workout & 7 Intense Lower Ab Exercises Hit Your Entire Core

Popular Ab Exercises, Ranked by a Trainer

Hanging Leg Raise

• Tier: S

Filly prefers performing hanging leg raises with back support, which shifts the stress onto the lower abs as you pull your legs up. The added stability takes out momentum and keeps the tension where it belongs.

Super ROM Crunch

• Tier: S

Perform these on a glute ham developer for best results. With the back support and ability to extend over the pad, super ROM crunches allow you to isolate the abdominal muscles. The large range of motion gives you stretch plus intensity, both necessary for growing any muscle.

Cable Crunch

• Tier: A

"Because you're using a cable stack, you can progressively overload and if your technique is good, you can really target a full range of motion extension to flexion in your abdominals," he says.

V-Up

• Tier: B

V-ups add dynamic movement to your core training and effectively target the abs, but they’re difficult to progressively overload and can be tough to control, especially for beginners.

Plank

• Tier: C

Though planks are a frequent go-to ab exercise, they're an isometric movement, so the abs contract without going through a range of motion. While this builds muscular endurance and teaches proper core engagement, it doesn’t necessarily provide the tension or stretch behind muscle growth.

Russian Twists

• Tier: C

Though you'll definitely feel the burn as you twist through these reps, it's another isometric ab contraction. The rotational component doesn’t contribute much to building your abs, either.

Deadbug

• Tier: F

"The deadbug is a great rehabilitation tool for people coming back from injury, but there's not enough intensity here to build any type of popping abdominals," Filly says.

Related: Bicycle Crunches 101: How to Master This Core-Strengthening Move for Stronger Abs