The scissor kick is a floor-basedabsexercise performed lying on your back with straight legs alternating up and down past each other, training the lower abs and hip flexors. The legs move in a vertical plane, one rising as the other drops toward the floor, so the pelvis is pulled into an arch twice per cycle and the abs have to hold it flat throughout. Because one leg is always low, the load never comes off the abs the way it does between leg raises. Use it late in a core block or as a finisher.
What Muscles Does the Scissor Kick Work?
- Primary: rectus abdominis (lower abs), iliopsoas (hip flexors)
- Secondary: rectus femoris, transverse abdominis, external obliques
- Tertiary: gluteus maximus, adductor longus, erector spinae
How Do You Set Up for the Scissor Kick?
Lie on your back on a mat with your legs straight and together. Slide your hands palms down under your hips or keep your arms flat at your sides for a wider base. Tuck your pelvis and press your lower back into the mat until no gap remains. Point your toes, squeeze your thighs, and raise both heels a few inches off the floor. Tuck your chin so the neck stays long.
How Do You Perform the Scissor Kick?
- Press your lower back flat into the mat with both heels a few inches off the floor.
- Raise one straight leg to about forty five degrees while the other stays low.
- Switch the legs past each other, lowering the high leg as the low one rises.
- Stop the descending heel a few inches from the floor rather than letting it touch.
- Keep alternating at a steady tempo, one leg always high and one always low.
- Lower both heels together to the floor to end the set and release the tuck.
What Are the Key Form Cues?
- Glue the low back to the mat: the instant a gap opens under your spine the hip flexors have taken over, so hold the tuck harder than you kick.
- Keep the knees locked: straight legs are the whole lever, and bending them shortens the exercise into an easy shuffle.
- Move from the hips only, with the pelvis staying still between the two legs.
- Keep the range small and even, so both legs travel the same distance.
- Breathe steadily instead of holding your breath through the switches.
What Are the Most Common Mistakes?
- Kicking too fast: momentum carries the legs and the abs stop working, so slow the tempo until you feel the tuck holding.
- Letting the lower back arch: the lumbar spine extends while the low leg hangs near the floor, which loads the spine instead of the abs, so raise both legs higher.
- Bending the knees: the levers shorten, the hip flexors do it easily, and the abs get a fraction of the load.
- Pulling on the neck or lifting the head hard: the head strains toward the legs, so rest it down and keep the gaze up.
- Letting a heel touch the floor: the tension resets each cycle, so stop each leg a few inches short.
What Are the Best Scissor Kick Variations?
- Bent-knee scissor kick: knees at ninety degrees, the regression for a back that arches.
- Sideway Scissor: the legs stay low and cross side to side instead of moving up and down.
- Hollow hold scissor kick: hold a hollow with the shoulders raised, adding an anti-extension demand.
- Single-leg lowering: hold one leg high and lower only the other, so each side works alone.
- Hanging scissor kick: alternate the legs while hanging from a pull-up bar, for a much harder version.
How Do You Progress the Scissor Kick?
- Load stays bodyweight; progress by keeping both legs lower, closer to the floor.
- Build from 10 up to 20 switches per set with the back flat.
- Add a set at a time up to 4 per session, or add a second core day.
- Slow the tempo to two counts per switch, or pause a beat with the low leg at its lowest point.
How Should You Program the Scissor Kick?
Program it at the end of a session, after your heavy lifts and any loaded core work, or straight after leg raises as a burnout. Two to three times a week suits it. Do 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 20 switches with 45 to 60 seconds of rest, ending the set the moment the lower back lifts. Pair it with a side plank so the block covers lateral control as well.