How to do a Toe Touchers
Reviewed by Jim Parker, CPT, B.A. Kinesiology
Workouts with Toe Touchers
Target muscles worked
Instructions for Proper Form
Toe Touchers are a bodyweight exercise that primarily targets the abdominals. This movement involves lying on your back and extending your legs straight up, then reaching towards your toes with your hands. This exercise focuses on contracting the abdominal muscles to bring the torso towards the legs, increasing core strength and improving flexibility in the hamstrings and lower back.
- Lie on your back with your legs vertically extended, knees slightly flexed, and your arms vertically extended overhead.
- Keep your lower back against the floor by slightly rotating your pelvis upward and bracing your core by breathing into the stomach and flexing your abdominal muscles.
- Flex your abdomen by pulling the bottom of your ribcage towards your pelvis to lift your upper back off the floor until you can touch your toes.
- Keep tension in the abdomen as you control the movement back to the starting position.
Sets & Reps Calculator
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Alternatives & Variations to Toe Touchers
1. Up Dog
3.1 mSCORESWAPPED 635 TIMESUp Dog is a yoga-inspired, bodyweight exercise that primarily targets the muscles in your core and lower back. By extending your arms and pressing your hips towards the ground, you get a good stretch along your spine and abdominal muscles. This exercise is beneficial for improving flexibility and posture, and can serve as a great mid-workout stretch.
2. Side Bend Stretch
2.7 mSCORESWAPPED 568 TIMESSide Bend Stretch is a static stretching exercise that primarily targets the obliques and intercostal muscles along your side. This stretch helps improve flexibility and range of motion in the torso, and can be particularly effective for relieving tension and preventing injuries related to the lower back and sides. Additionally, it can aid in enhancing posture and balance.
3. Crunches
94 mSCORESWAPPED 400 TIMESCrunches are one of the most common exercises out there. It’s an easy to perform, bodyweight exercise that targets your abdominals. Crunches are very similar to Sit Ups, however, instead of raising your upper body all the way into a near sitting position, you only raise your shoulder blades off the ground. This is a great exercise for beginners looking to build core strength.
4. Plank
92.8 mSCORESWAPPED 322 TIMESPlanks are one of the most common core exercises out there. This is a bodyweight exercise that is performed for time rather than reps. Planks don’t require any movement, instead they force you to place yourself in a position that requires you to engage your core, and maintain that muscle activation for the duration of the exercise. This is a great way to help build strength and stability in a way that will translate to a variety of other exercises, and your daily life.
5. Leg Raise
96.5 mSCORESWAPPED 282 TIMESLeg Raise is a simple bodyweight core exercise that involves laying on the ground and suspending your legs in the air. While your core does play a significant role in raising your legs, the real benefit comes from controlling their descent back to the floor.
6. Dead Bug
92.4 mSCORESWAPPED 271 TIMESDead Bugs are a bodyweight core exercise that requires you to lay on your back, and alternate extending your arms and legs out away from your body. The position you’re in on the ground keeps your core engaged, while extending your arms and legs away from you forces you to further recruit your core to continue to stabilize yourself.
7. Ab Crunch Machine
96.1 mSCORESWAPPED 247 TIMESAb Crunch Machine is a variation of Crunches performed with a machine. Unlike standard Crunches, the use of a machine gives you more control over your resistance. In addition, the machine will restrict your range of motion allowing you to focus more on exertion than stabilizing the movement.
- Intermediate
- Abs
- Ab Crunch Machine
8. Bird Dog
75.9 mSCORESWAPPED 223 TIMESBird Dog is a compound, bodyweight exercise that primarily targets the core and lower back. It involves extending one arm and the opposite leg simultaneously while balancing on all fours. This exercise helps improve stability, balance, and strengthening the muscles in the core and lower back, making it a great addition to any workout routine focused on core strength and stability.
9. Alternating Heel Touch
78.2 mSCORESWAPPED 221 TIMESAlternating Heel Touch is a bodyweight, core exercise that involves laying on the ground and reaching towards your heel on either side. By raising your shoulder blades off the ground, you’re already engaging your core, while reaching towards either side helps to engage your obliques.