If you are looking for a bodyweight exercise that seriously targets your **obliques**, challenges your core stability, and improves rotational power—all without any equipment—the Windshield Wipers workout deserves a permanent spot in your routine.

This is a dynamic, floor-based core movement that intensely targets the rectus abdominis, obliques, and the deep stabilizers of the trunk, particularly the **transverse abdominis**. It is favored in athletic conditioning programs for building rotational control and anti-rotation strength.

🔬 Why Windshield Wipers Are Superior to Traditional Crunches

Unlike standard crunches, which mainly focus on spinal flexion (bending forward), Windshield Wipers engage the core in a functional, full-range movement that forces the stabilizers to fight rotation and gravity simultaneously:

  • Oblique Dominance: Hits the external and internal obliques much harder than most traditional crunches or planks.
  • Rotational Control: Trains both **rotational control** (moving the legs) and **anti-rotation strength** (keeping the shoulders grounded), which is vital for sports performance and injury prevention.
  • Functional Strength: Improves hip mobility and flexibility while demanding isometric strength from the upper body stabilizers.
  • Scalability: Easily scaled from beginner (bent knees) to advanced (added weight or hanging from a bar).

Primary Muscles Worked:

  • External & Internal Obliques (Dominant force for lateral movement)
  • Rectus Abdominis (Especially lower fibers, for hip flexion)
  • Transverse Abdominis (The deep corset muscle, for stabilization)
  • Hip Flexors & Adductors (For dynamic leg control)
  • Erector Spinae & Deep Spinal Stabilizers (Isometrically engaged)

⚙️ How to Do the Windshield Wipers Exercise Correctly

Windshield Wipers Exercise: Tone Your Core With This Ab Workout

The movement should be slow, controlled, and fluid, mimicking the action of a car’s windshield wiper blade.

  1. Starting Position: Lie flat on your back. Extend your arms out to the sides in a **”T” position** (palms down for maximum stability).
  2. Raise Legs: Raise your legs until they are **perpendicular to the floor** (90 degrees). Knees can be slightly bent if hamstring flexibility is a concern.
  3. Brace Core: Brace your core tightly, as if preparing for an impact. This locks your lower back in place.
  4. Lower Right: Keeping your **shoulders completely glued to the ground**, slowly lower both legs to the right side until they hover just above the floor, or until you feel your left shoulder starting to lift.
  5. The Arc: Engage your left obliques forcefully to reverse the movement, bringing the legs back up through the center.
  6. Lower Left: Continue the arc, lowering the legs down to the left side in one controlled motion.
Key Coaching Cues:

  • Move Slowly: 3–5 seconds per side is the ideal tempo for maximizing oblique tension.
  • Shoulders Down: This is the golden rule! If your shoulders lift, you’re using momentum and losing core engagement.
  • Lower Back: Keep it pressed into the floor. If it arches, you’ve lowered the legs too far for your current strength level.
  • Breathing: Exhale forcefully as you lift the legs back up through the center (the most difficult part).

📈 Recommended Sets and Reps

Rest 45–90 seconds between sets to allow for recovery and maximum output in the next set. Focus always on control, not the number of reps.

Training Level Recommended Sets & Reps
Beginners 3 sets of 6–10 controlled reps per side (Knees slightly bent)
Intermediate 3–4 sets of 12–15 reps per side
Advanced 4 sets of 20+ reps per side, or transition to the hanging version (Hanging Leg Windshield Wipers).

Final Thoughts: The Windshield Wipers workout is one of the most underrated core exercises available. Add it 2–3 times per week (ideally at the end of your workout when your core is warm and mobilized), and within a few weeks, you will feel—and potentially see—a noticeable difference in your midsection strength and oblique definition.