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Exercise library · Abs

Windshield wipers

Trunk rotation for the abs with your bodyweight.

How to do it

1 of 3

Arms out, legs at right angles

  1. Starting position

    Lie on your back with your arms out and raise bent legs so your hips and knees form right angles.

  2. The movement

    Lower your knees together to one side, return them over your hips and lower them to the other side.

Most common mistake

Don't lift the opposite shoulder off the floor, shorten the movement and keep both shoulders down.

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Muscle group
Abs
Equipment
Bodyweight
Where
Home or gym
Logged as
Reps

Muscles worked

Windshield wipers are a rotation exercise for your trunk, carried by the obliques: they brake your legs on the way down to the side and pull them back over your hips. The rectus abdominis and hip flexors hold your legs up, while your lats press your arms into the floor so your upper body stays put. Straight legs make the exercise much harder, and the hanging version from a bar is for people who already have a strong core.

Common mistakes

  • Your knees rest on the floor at the end. If you let your legs land, the tension disappears and every rep starts from zero. Turn just above the floor.
  • Your legs fall under their own weight. The hard part is braking, not lifting them back. Lower your knees over two to three seconds and bring them back at the same calm pace.
  • Your knees are pulled in towards your chest. When it gets hard, many people curl up to make their legs lighter. Keep the right angles at hips and knees, and end the set when you no longer can.

Variations and alternatives

  • The Russian twist trains rotation sitting up, with your upper body moving instead of your legs.
  • The cable woodchopper gives the same muscles a standing rotation, with weight you can add.
  • The side plank is an option without rotation, if twisting movements do not agree with your back.

Sets and reps

Most do well with 6 to 10 reps per side and two to three sets, with one rep being down to one side and back to the middle. Alternate sides on every rep and rest for a minute or a little more. If you want to understand how the number of reps relates to your goal, read the guide to sets and reps.

Straighter legs mean a longer lever and more work, and that is your route to progressive overload here. Open the angle at your knees a little at a time over a few weeks, and go back to bent legs if you can no longer brake. If your lower back hurts, and it is not just effort in your abs, put the exercise aside and have a doctor or physiotherapist look at it.

Swap for

Taken, or missing the equipment? The same movement with something else.

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