How to Do Vertical Toe Touches

This medium-impact exercise strengthens your abdominal muscles and quadriceps.

Method 1
Method 1 of 4:
Getting in the Starting Position

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    Lie flat on your back. Bend your knees so that your feet are flat on the floor. Place your arms by your sides.
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    2
    Tighten your abdominal muscles. Contract your shoulder blades. Slowly, lift both feet off the floor until your thighs are vertical to the floor. It's okay if your toes point away from your body.
    • Do not extend your knees further than this, or you risk lower back injury.
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    3
    Place your hands on your thighs. Your shoulder blades should stay flat on the floor.

Method 2
Method 2 of 4:
Performing the Exercise

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    Exhale. Further contract your abs to pull your head and shoulders off the floor. As you do so, run your hands up your thighs towards your ankles.
    • Keep your head aligned with your spine; don't lower or jut out your chin.
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    2
    Continue the motion until your shoulder blades are completely off the floor. Your hands should be close to, if not touching, your feet/toes. Hold for 5 to 10 seconds.
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    Return to the starting position in a slow, controlled manner. Then, repeat.

Method 3
Method 3 of 4:
Advanced Version

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    To make this exercise more challenging, try working your obliques as well as your rectus abdominis. To do so, do the exercise detailed above. Then, repeat, but instead of reaching for both feet, reach for the outside of one foot with both hands. Repeat with the other foot.

Method 4
Method 4 of 4:
Frequency

  1. 1
    Do 15 to 20 repetitions of this exercise per set. Repeat until you've completed 3 sets.
  2. 2
    In order to start seeing/feeling results, aim to do 3 sets 3 days a week for 5 weeks. For faster results, increase the number of sets/times per week you do this exercise.

Warnings

Things You Need

  • Exercise mat (optional)


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References

  1. http://www.acefitness.org/exerciselibrary/243/vertical-toe-touches#simple-technical

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 18,770 times.
5 votes - 60%
Co-authors: 6
Updated: March 29, 2019
Views: 18,770
Categories: Personal Fitness