Mega abdominal workout with scissor kicks

You don't have any equipment for an effective workout? You don't even need them! Because with the Scissor Kicks exercise your abdominal muscles are trained even without equipment. Here's how to do the scissor kicks exercise correctly!

Scissor kicks are a wonderful exercise for the living room. You need very little space - just the size of an exercise mat, to be exact.

So in a small space you can really get your abs burning. Since you don't need any equipment for this exercise, it's easy to adapt to your fitness level.

You control the difficulty of the Scissor Kicks by the number of repetitions.

So, if you've always wanted to work out your abs but haven't found the right exercise until now, you'll love the scissor kick.

Scissor Kicks are an exercise that is presented in many magazines as the quintessential ab exercise.

And also with good reason. Because with it, an intensive abdominal muscle workout is possible!

These are the most effective exercises for the lower abdomen!

How to perform Scissor Kicks correctly

If you're tired of sit ups and crunches, you'll love scissor kicks. They bring a lot of variety to the abdominal workout. By the way, the lower abdominal muscles are particularly challenged.

Compared to classic abdominal exercises, this variant is much more dynamic. This ensures that the muscles are particularly strongly engaged.

That's why Scissor Kicks are so great for beginners and advanced exercisers. They simply make every abdominal muscle glow.

Let's look at this in more detail.

• Equipment needed: no
• Difficulty: medium
• Suitable for beginners: yes
• Terms: Scissor kicks, scissor kicks, scissor punch
• Muscle groups used: Lower abdominal muscles

Scissor Kicks execution for beginners

• Lie down on the exercise mat.
• The head is laid down and not lifted from the floor during the entire exercise.
• Place the arms stretched parallel to the body. The palms face the floor.
• Now lift both legs off the mat and bend them slightly at the knees. You are now in the starting position.
• The toes point to the ceiling. The angle between your legs and the floor is about 30 degrees.
• Now you start with the scissor kicks. To do this, first tense your abdominal muscles.
• Move the right leg down and the left leg up. When the lower leg almost touches the floor, reverse the movement.
• And now switch - so left down and right up.
• Make sure that your legs remain straight during the exercise.

As a general rule, it is better to do small scissor kicks and do them slowly than to do large uncontrolled kicks.

For beginners, 8 to 12 reps and three reps are optimal. If you manage less, then that's not bad. Especially if you have neglected your abdominal muscles until now, the exercise will be difficult for you.

If you have a fitness tracker or a watch in sight, you can also do this exercise for time.20 seconds is usually enough for beginners.

Tip: Write down how often you do the exercise. This way you can keep track of how your fitness level is improving.

Scissor Kicks advanced execution

If this is too boring for you, you can increase the number of repetitions first. But the exercise can also be made harder in other ways.

Weight cuffs

Namely, with weight cuffs. They come in different weight classes - from less than 0.5 to many kilograms.

Place the weight cuffs on your legs. The further down you place them, the harder the exercise will be. If you want to get it right, place them directly on the ankle.

But otherwise the exercise remains the same. Try 8 to 12 repetitions and 3 passes.

The range of the scissor kicks

It makes a big difference whether you stroke your legs wide apart or only make small movements. The load on the abdominal muscles is higher, the greater the distance between the strokes.

However, you should not guide the upper leg completely vertically. Because then the tension of the abdominal muscles will be drastically lower again.

Take on the 30 Day Belly Challenge!

What do I have to pay attention to with Scissor Kicks?

Scissor kicks are not an exercise for total beginners. You should have a basic level of fitness and above all be able to tense the abdominal muscles in a controlled manner.

The point is not to perform the exercise quickly, but slowly and with a lot of body tension.

The frequency

If you want to get the most out of your muscles, keep the frequency low. The basic rule is: one complete movement every two seconds.

The belly

Concentrate on your abdominal muscles during the execution. Especially as a beginner, you tend to work sloppy after a few repetitions. However, this is very unhealthy for your back.

Even though the exercise targets the lower abs, your entire abdominal muscles should be tight.

The back

Attention to all beginners: the lower back should not come off the mat. Many tend to lift the back off the floor.

This happens automatically if you don't tense your back and stomach. Because then you fall into the hollow back, where the belly is stretched out and the back becomes crooked.

You can grab your lower back with your hands to check if the back really stays on the mat. If it lifts a little, it's not a tragedy, just it shouldn't be too much.

Find the best exercises for your deep muscles here!

The arms

They are parallel to the body. If you stretch them out a little, it can help you balance more easily.

For those who have balance problems, make a 45 degree angle between arms and upper body. Quietly guide them every now and then in the direction of the lower back to correct the posture.

The breathing

Don't forget to breathe during scissor kicks. Sounds quite banal, but it is a common mistake during execution.

Try what works better for you - mouth or nose. Both are allowed, only holding your breath is prohibited 😁

Because you perform the exercise quite quickly, there is little point in breathing in or out each time you lift and lower.

A too high or incorrect breathing rate causes the oxygen concentration in the body to decrease. So you get out of breath faster even though you are breathing.

Try this

• Inhale: every 2-3 seconds
• Exhale: every 2-3 seconds

So you can finally burn belly fat!

Which muscles are trained by Scissor Kicks?

Well, well the abdominal muscles so much is already clear. But let's look very closely.

Muscles used in the scissor punch exercise:

• Straight abdominal muscle
• Pyramidal muscle
• Oblique abdominal muscle

Of course, if you use weight cuffs, the effect will be amplified.

Beginners, however, should not overuse their muscles and should first do 3 repetitions of 12 repetitions each before putting on weight.

What are the most common mistakes with scissor kicks?

When you see someone doing scissor kicks, you wouldn't think you could make many mistakes.

But it is possible. To prevent yourself from this, you will find the most common mistakes and what to look out for.

The biggest mistake is the position of the back. If you have weak core muscles, you tend to lift your back off the mat. Tense the abdomen to avoid this.

Also often happens that work with momentum. The legs must always be under tension, get momentum is prohibited and does not lead to the desired effect.

And then there is one final mistake with scissor kicks. This one is made especially often by beginners.

Namely: placing the legs on the floor. By doing this, you take the tension off the abdominal muscles and ensure that the exercise is not effective.

Want to do more? Try these stability exercises!

What other exercises for abdominal muscles at home?

Scissor kicks, of course, aren't the only exercise you can do in the comfort of your own home to show off your abs.

There are many different exercises you can do. This then also brings some variety into your home workout. Not that you will get bored. 😝

• Sit-ups
• Plank
• Russian Twist
• Mountain Climbers
• Bicycle Crunches

Sit-ups

Lie on your back, bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor. Put your hands behind your head or cross them on your chest.

Raise your upper body using your abdominal muscles. Slowly lower yourself back down and repeat the movement.

Which is better: sit-ups or crunches?

Bicycle Crunches

Lie on your back and lift your legs so that your knees are at right angles.

Perform a bicycle pedaling motion with your legs and touch the opposite elbow to the opposite knee.

Mountain Climbers

Get into a push-up position. Alternate bringing one knee to your chest while the other leg remains extended. Keep the pace high and switch legs quickly.

Plank

Get into a push-up position and lean on your forearms. Keep your body in a straight line from your head to your feet.

Tighten your abs and hold this position for a set amount of time. 30 seconds is always a good guideline to start!

Start your 30 Day Plank Challenge today!

Russian Twist

Sit on the floor and bend your knees slightly. Lift your feet slightly off the floor.

Slowly rotate your upper body from side to side using your abdominal muscles. You can also hold a ball or weight to intensify the exercise.

Our conclusion

With Scissor Kicks a very intense abdominal workout is possible. Especially the lower abdomen benefits from the scissor kick exercise.

And you don't need a gym or equipment to do it, just enough space to lay down a workout mat.

Have fun with the training!

To browse further:

• Lunges with dumbbells - how to do them correctly
• Squats: How deep do they really need to be?
• The 22 most effective HIIT exercises for at home

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