7 Best Barbell Exercises to Get a Strong Core Like Jillian Michaels

Jillian Michaels is not just any other name; she's is followed by most people who follow the fitness industry. The 48-year-old has donned many roles over the years, starting off as a bartender and personal trainer to becoming a businesswoman, author and television personality.

Jillian Michaels: The Fitness App is something people swear by to achieve their fitness goals. With an Instagram following of 1.4 million, 20 fitness DVDs that have sold over 100 million copies worldwide and nine books on health and wellness topics, with eight of them featuring on the New York Times Best Sellers List, Jillian is a name to reckon with in the fitness industry.

Jillian is one of the world's leading fitness trainers, offering sample workouts in her award winning The Fitness App (Image via Instagram)

So what is Jillian Michaels known for the most, apart from her podcast 'The Jillian Michaels Show'?

She's best known for her rock-hard, chiselled abs that she has cultivated through rigorous workouts, including kickboxing, yoga, Pilates, plyometrics and weight training. If you want lean, muscular abs like her, read on to know how you can get them:

Barbell Exercises to Get Strong Core Like Jillian Michaels

Here's a look at seven barbell exercises that can help you build a great core and chiselled abs like Jillian Michaels:

1) Barbell Rollout

The barbell rollout is an excellent exercise to strengthen your abs. In this exercise, the farther you extend, the more you strengthen your abs.

Using a barbell allows you to fall close to the ground and provides resistance to your ascent. It's also more difficult than an abdominal wheel, as a wider weight must be controlled.

Here's how you need do this exercise to get rock-hard abs like Jillian Michaels':

Get down on your knees, and seize a barbell with 45-pound plates.
Push your hips forward; keep your arms straight, and get as low as possible without allowing your ribcage to flare out.
Squeeze your glutes during the entire movement.
To increase the difficulty, use shorter or heavier plates.

2) Barbell Side Bend

Barbell side bends target your obliques. By utilising a barbell instead of dumbbells, you can increase the intensity on your obliques, as the bar is heavier and the level arm is longer. It's more difficult to move a seven-foot long bar than a pair of dumbbells held at the sides.

Here's how you do this exercise to get tight abs like Michaels':

Hold a barbell behind the neck like you would during a back squat.
Stand with your knees approximately hip-width apart and your chest bent to the side as you attempt to make the barbell nearly vertical.
Alternate sides.

3) Landmine Rainbow

The Landmine Rainbow allows you to use a barbell as a lever to access a variety of workouts. You engage your core with a landmine rainbow by moving your arms in an arc while maintaining a stable spine and ribs.

Here's how you can do this exercise to get muscular abs like Jillian Michaels':

Insert a barbell's handle into a landmine.
At the opposite end, stand facing the landmine; grasp the opposite end with extended arms, and begin with the barbell end approximately at eye level.
Without rotating your hips or shoulders and while keeping your arms as straight as possible, twist the barbell to one side.
Alternate sides. To increase the difficulty, add weight by securing tiny plates at the end.

4) Barbell Overhead Carry

Barbell overhead carry requires the core muscles to be highly active and super essential for maintaining a neutral trunk. Additionally, you'll benefit from enhanced upward scapular stabilisation. It's an excellent cardiovascular and mental conditioning activity.

Here's how you do this exercise to get lean abs like Michaels':

Press the barbell overhead while maintaining absolutely straight arms.
Maintain a firm core and a modest scapular retraction. Do not allow your back to arch excessively.
Simply walk a distance, and set the barbell down when you feel your ability to hold it overhead diminishes.

5) Zercher Squat

No other squat variant challenges your core as effectively as the Zercher squat. As you're carrying the weight directly in front of your body, your core will have to work hard to keep you upright and prevent you from collapsing forward.

Here's how you can do this exercise to get well-defined abs like Jillian Michaels':

Begin by holding a barbell in the crook of your elbows, with your hands clasped in front of your chest.
Maintain a shoulder-width stance with slightly spread toes.
Squat by leaning back, separating your knees and maintaining your weight on your heels.
Drive through your heels, and lift when your hips are below parallel.
Maintain a flat lower back and contracted shoulder blades throughout the exercise.

6) Barbell Sit-up Press

Sit-ups are a basic abdominal workout, and holding weights overhead is a common approach to increase their difficulty. Barbell sit-up press challenges your core, giving you toned abs.

Here's how you can perform this exercise to get sleek abs like Michaels':

While seated on the floor in a sit-up position with bent knees, grasp a barbell with hands approximately shoulder-width apart.
Lying on your back with your knees bent, perform a bench press by pressing the bar above your chest (or floor press in this instance).
Maintaining this position, execute a sit-up. Maintain a straight back, and use your abdominal muscles to elevate your torso off the ground. You may recline again, and repeat.

7) Barbell Leg Raise

Barbell leg raises allow you to emphasise the lower ab muscles. Leg raise variations are among the most effective exercises for targeting this region.

Here's how you can do this exercise to get rock-hard abs like Jillian Michaels':

Lying on your back with arms fully extended, hold the barbell over your chest as if performing a bench press.
Raise your bent or straight legs to the bar, and drop them back down. Avoid placing your legs on the floor.
Repeat while maintaining a tight core throughout the movement.

The aforementioned exercises should give you well-defined, lean abs like Jillian Michaels'.