Fast Belly Blast: Crunch-Free Ab Exercises

Ab flatteners that cinch and sculpt -- no crunches required.

Side-Bend Shoulder Press

What you'll need: a 5- to 8-pound dumbbell

Targets: Shoulders, abs, and obliques

-- Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, dumbbell in right hand by side, and bring left hand to touch back of head, elbow bent out to side.

-- Hinge at waist to side bend to right, reaching dumbbell along outside of right leg toward knee. (Do not allow torso to tip forward.)

-- Return to upright posture, raising dumbbell to right shoulder and then pressing it overhead, palm facing left.

-- Lower dumbbell to shoulder; return to start.

-- Do 30 reps. Switch sides and repeat. Do 3 sets.

Weighted Twist

Targets: Abs, obliques, butt, and legs

-- Stand with feet wide apart in a semi-squat position, holding dumbbell in front of waist, one end in each hand, elbows bent by sides.

-- Keeping hips fairly squared and elbows glued to ribs, rotate torso to right, then left to complete 1 rep.

-- Do 3 sets of 30 reps.

Knee Jack

Targets: Shoulders, abs, obliques, and legs

-- Holding dumbbell directly overhead, one end in each hand, stand with feet wide and staggered, left foot in front of right, left knee slightly bent.

Split-Squat Curl

Targets: Abs, obliques, butt, and legs

-- Stand, holding one end of dumbbell in each hand.

-- Lunge forward with right leg, bending both knees 90 degrees; bending elbows at shoulder level in front of you, bring center of dumbbell in front of forehead.

Curtsy Punch

Targets: Shoulders, arms, abs, obliques, butt, and legs

-- Holding dumbbell close to chest, one end in each hand, stand with feet wider than shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent.

-- Cross left leg behind right so left foot touches floor by outside of right heel and do a slight curtsy as you rotate torso to right, extending arms forward at shoulder level.

-- Return to start.

-- Do 15 reps. Switch sides and repeat. Do 3 sets.