The Horizontal Leg Scissor Dance

Trail Log · Movement Breakdown

The scissor kick is an abdominal exercise that has you lying on your back, legs hovering off the ground, alternately raising and lowering them in a scissoring motion. It looks like you're trying to swim on dry land, and your abs are about to understand why swimming is such good exercise.

You lie flat on your back with your arms extended to the sides, palms down on the floor for support. Your arms don't move during this exercise — they're just there to keep you from tipping over sideways when your legs start their scissoring dance. With a slight bend in your knees, you lift both legs so your heels are about six inches off the floor. This is your starting position, and your abs are already on notice.

Now you raise your left leg to about forty-five degrees while lowering your right leg until its heel is just two or three inches off the ground. Then you switch — right leg up, left leg down — in a continuous, alternating pattern. Remember to breathe throughout, because holding your breath during core exercises is a surprisingly common mistake that leads to lightheadedness and possibly an unplanned nap on the gym floor.

The scissor kick targets the lower abdominals and hip flexors, building endurance in those muscles that have to work continuously to maintain leg position and control the alternating movement. It's a staple of martial arts conditioning and dance training, because both activities demand the kind of lower-ab endurance that this exercise develops. Do enough reps and you'll feel those lower abs in a way that regular crunches never seem to reach.