This exercise provided courtesy of Devin Wicks, Director of Fitness Operations at the University of California, Berkeley and specialty strength coach for some of the university's elite sports teams.

Benefits
There's more to abs than crunches. For a different and deeper ab challenge, keep stability through your center as you tap side-to-side with a medicine ball.

Muscles Worked
Abdominals - Obliques

Starting Position
Sit on the floor with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold a medicine ball in both hands at chest level. Engage your transverse abdominals (the horizontal band of muscle below your belly button) and keep your back flat as you lean your upper body behind vertical, no more than 30 degrees.

Exercise

1. From the starting position, keep your chest lifted so that you don't slump, and rotate sideways to bring the ball around to the side as you extend your arms.
2. Touch the ball lightly to the floor beside your hip, and then bend your elbows and bring the ball back to your chest as you straighten your body.
3. Immediately repeat on the other side, rotating your upper body as you extend your arms and tap the ball to the floor beside your other hip.

About Devin Wicks: Devin Wicks (ACSM-HFI, USAW Club Coach) is the Director of Fitness Operations for UC Berkeley where he develops health and fitness programs for the campus community. He also works as a conditioning specialist for Cal Athletics where he has developed targeted training programs for several Olympic Gold Medal athletes. Devin has presented and toured nationally, providing cutting-edge education for fitness industry professionals and enthusiasts alike.