Kelly Matthews' 5 Advanced Core Exercises: Build Stronger Abs With Load and Control
UPLIFT IRON CLUBAdvanced core training gets more useful when the abs stop being treated as a separate category of exercise and start being trained like any other muscle group. Strength coach Kelly Matthews recently shared five of her favorite intermediate-to-advanced core movements, and the common theme is clear: control the range of motion, create meaningful tension, load the movement when appropriate, and make progression measurable.
Matthews is an ACE-certified personal trainer and former Division I soccer player whose coaching background centers on strength and athletic performance. Her five-movement list is not a random “burnout” circuit. It combines hip-flexion-heavy leg-raise patterns, loaded spinal flexion, rotation and lateral flexion so the trunk is challenged through several different functions.
The exercises are demanding enough that beginners may need simpler regressions first. For experienced lifters, though, they provide a useful blueprint for turning ab work into progressive strength training rather than an afterthought at the end of a session.
1. Supported Leg Raises: Own the Top Position
Matthews' supported leg raise uses the squat rack and its padding to create a stable setup while the athlete works through a large leg-raise range. The support matters because it reduces the amount of swinging and survival-grip work that can dominate a traditional hanging leg raise. That leaves more attention available for what the trunk and pelvis are actually doing.
The key idea is not simply to lift the feet until the thighs reach horizontal. Matthews emphasizes bringing the legs high while keeping the repetition controlled. At the top, the pelvis should continue to roll rather than stopping with pure hip flexion. That extra movement shortens the rectus abdominis more aggressively and makes the top portion of the rep much harder.
If straight legs make the movement sloppy, bending the knees or reducing the range is a sensible regression. The goal is to preserve control, not to chase an impressive-looking position with momentum. A rep that takes the pelvis through the intended motion is more valuable than a higher rep that turns into a swing.
For lifters who are used to hanging knee raises, the supported version can feel surprisingly strict. That is useful feedback. Removing swing exposes whether you can actually posteriorly tilt the pelvis at the top. Keep the shoulders packed, avoid turning the movement into repeated lumbar extension and flexion, and end the set when the top position becomes noticeably shorter. Progress can come from straighter knees, a slightly larger controlled range or additional clean repetitions before it comes from ankle weights.
2. Lying Leg Lifts: Make the Pelvis Move
The lying leg lift looks simpler because the body is supported by a bench, but Matthews' version still demands active pelvic movement. She uses a bench and support beneath the lower back, then focuses on lifting the hips and tailbone rather than merely moving the legs up and down.
That distinction is important. If the legs rise while the pelvis stays almost completely fixed, the hip flexors can do most of the visible work. Curling the pelvis toward the rib cage turns the exercise into a more complete trunk-flexion challenge. Slow eccentrics also make it harder to hide weak positions with momentum.
Difficulty can be adjusted without changing the exercise entirely. Straighter legs and a lower bottom position increase the lever arm and demand. Bent knees, a shorter range and a higher bottom position reduce it. The best version is the one that lets you maintain abdominal tension without letting the lower back lose control.
Use the bench as a reference point rather than a place to relax between repetitions. Lower the legs only as far as you can while keeping the pelvis and rib cage controlled, then reverse smoothly. If you feel the hip flexors taking over before the abs are challenged, shorten the bottom range and emphasize the pelvic curl at the top. Over several weeks, gradually earn a longer range instead of forcing it on day one.
3. Weighted Lying Crunches: Load the Shortening Phase
Crunches are often dismissed because people perform them with tiny ranges, rushed tempo and no progression. Matthews' loaded lying crunch fixes the biggest problem: it gives the movement a clear way to get stronger over time.
A dumbbell, plate or medicine ball can provide external resistance. The torso curls upward, but Matthews recommends stopping before the movement becomes a full sit-up. That helps keep the stress where you want it instead of turning the top half of every repetition into a rest position or a hip-flexor-dominant sit-up.
Think about bringing the ribs toward the pelvis while keeping the neck neutral. The weight should make the target range harder, not change the exercise into an awkward press. Once a load can be controlled for the planned reps, add a small amount of resistance or make the tempo stricter. That is progressive overload applied to the abs in the same basic way you would apply it to rows, presses or curls.
Loaded crunches are also easier to standardize than high-rep bodyweight circuits. Use the same bench or floor setup, keep the weight in the same position, and judge progress by whether you can produce more controlled reps at the same load. If you need to throw the weight forward to finish the set, the resistance is too high for the purpose. The last reps should be difficult because the abs are fatigued, not because the movement has turned into a whole-body heave.
4. Russian Twists: Rotate Without Letting the Hips Wander
Matthews' Russian-twist setup anchors the feet under a bench, uses a slight backward lean and asks the athlete to rotate the torso while keeping the pelvis comparatively stable. The point is controlled trunk rotation, not rapidly bouncing a weight from side to side.
Holding the load farther from the body increases the rotational demand because the lever arm gets longer. Bringing it closer to the chest makes the same movement easier. That gives the exercise a clean progression path even before adding heavier weight.
The hips should not chase the hands on every repetition. Brace the lower body, rotate through the trunk and use a range you can own. If speed becomes the only reason the weight travels farther, reduce the load. For lifters who already do plenty of sagittal-plane ab work, this controlled rotational pattern adds a useful challenge without needing complicated equipment.
Rotation should feel deliberate rather than maximal. A slightly smaller range with the pelvis fixed can train the target pattern better than touching the weight to the floor on each side while the knees and hips swing with it. You can make the exercise harder by extending the arms, increasing the load modestly or lengthening the set, but change one variable at a time so you know what actually improved.
5. Cable Lateral Flexion: Train the Side Bend Through Range
The fifth movement shifts the emphasis toward lateral flexion. Matthews uses a cable and a box or bench to create support and a larger usable range. One hand can stay behind the head while the cable loads the opposite side, allowing the torso to move deliberately into and out of the side bend.
This is different from simply holding a heavy dumbbell and making tiny side-to-side motions. The cable keeps tension on the trunk through the range and makes load progression easy to track. The support also lets the athlete focus on bending through the torso without turning the movement into a balance drill.
Start lighter than your ego wants. Lateral flexion can feel unfamiliar even in strong lifters, and piling on weight can quickly shorten the range. A smooth stretch, controlled return and consistent side-to-side setup are better markers of quality than a large number on the stack.
Keep the setup symmetrical between sides and resist the temptation to twist toward the cable. The movement is a side bend, so the shoulder should travel toward the hip while the torso stays mostly in the frontal plane. A pause in the stretched position can help you feel whether the range is coming from the trunk or from shifting the hips. When both sides can reproduce the same path, small load increases become much more meaningful.
6. How to Program Matthews' Advanced Core Five
The biggest lesson from this exercise selection is that advanced ab training does not need to mean doing more random movements. It means making the movements you choose progressive and repeatable. The five exercises cover several trunk actions, so there is no need to cram all five into every session.
A practical approach is to choose two or three per workout, perform two to four challenging sets, and leave enough control in reserve that technique does not collapse. Leg raises can live in moderate rep ranges, loaded crunches and cable lateral flexion can be progressed through resistance, and Russian twists can progress through both load and lever length. Exact reps are less important than keeping the target movement honest.
For hypertrophy-focused ab work, take working sets close enough to failure that the final clean repetitions slow down, while avoiding ugly compensations. For athletic training, leave slightly more margin and prioritize precision. Either way, record the load, setup and repetitions. If you cannot tell whether the exercise improved over the last month, it is difficult to call the training progressive.
Matthews' list also highlights an often-missed point: visible abs and a capable trunk are not built by one magic exercise. Training quality, overall strength work, nutrition and body-fat level all affect the result. These movements can make the abdominal musculature stronger and more developed, but they do not replace the rest of a complete training plan.
Used intelligently, the five-movement framework is a strong upgrade from endless unweighted crunches. Pick versions you can control, earn more range before chasing load, and progress the resistance only when the target muscles are still doing the work.
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