Balanced aesthetics and strength remain top priorities for bodybuilder Erin Stern. In her latest venture, shared on March 26, 2025, she shared a calorie-burning back and abs workout for a smaller waist.
Erin Stern’s visibility as a top-tier IFBB Pro gives her authority when it comes to training and dieting. Her know-how is grounded in legitimate experience as an IFBB Pro, including two Figure Olympia titles. She made a transition to the Bikini category in 2022 as well, claiming gold at the Republic of Texas Pro.
While she hasn’t hit the stage since, she has focused her attention and energy on sharing useful exercise advice. Her growing YouTube channel of over 315,000 subscribers is full of instructional videos on how to not only perfect workout techniques but also attain the physiques her fans have always wanted.
Erin Stern’s Back and Abs Workout for a Smaller Waist
In a recent YouTube video, Stern broke down her back and abs workout for a smaller waist.
Level Up Your Fitness: Join our 💪 strong community in Fitness Volt Newsletter. Get daily inspiration, expert-backed workouts, nutrition tips, the latest in strength sports, and the support you need to reach your goals. Subscribe for free!
- Band-Assisted Chin-Up + Pelvic Tilt (Abs)
- Cable Row + Bench Popovers
- Lat Pulldown + Plank Knee to Opposite Elbow
- Rope High Row + Flutter Kicks
Band-Assisted Chin-Up + Pelvic Tilt (Abs)
She started the routine with band-assisted chin-ups with an underhand grip.
“For the band-assisted chin-up, you’re going to take your loop resistance band and secure it to the bar. Place one foot through the bottom of the loop,” she instructs. “Hands are about shoulder width, about wider than shoulder width. Underhand grip, thumbs wrapped around the bar. You’re also going to hit your biceps with this.”
Switching to an overhand grip, Stern advised lifters to envision pulling their pelvis toward their rib cage for the best pelvic tilt results.
“Using a wide overhand grip, I want you to think about almost pulling your pelvis towards your rib cage. This is sort of a crunch, if you want to think about it that way but really thinking about pulling that pelvis up, keeping a slight round in your lower back.”
Cable Row + Bench Popovers
She said to pull through the elbows and squeeze the shoulder blades together during cable rows, maintaining a neutral grip.
“You’ve got a wide neutral grip here, and I’m leaning forward just slightly. Now, make sure you get a nice full range of motion, so you’re going to stretch at the beginning of the exercise and pull. You’re not going to lean forward too much.”
Using your hands to stabilize, she explained that as you jump, try to think about doing a crunch mid-air to complete bench popovers.
“Make sure your hands are securely around that bench. Depending on your cable station, you may face one way or another as long as you have enough clearance here to perform the exercise safely. As you jump, I want you to think about doing a crunch mid-air. We’re keeping a slight round in the lower back.”
Lat Pulldown + Plank Knee to Opposite Elbow
She said stretching at the top portion of lat pulldowns and performing a scapular retraction as you pull down will allow for better mind-muscle connection.
“For this lat pulldown, think about pulling to about mid-chest height, really stretching at that top portion, almost doing a scapular retraction as you pull down. This is going to really help with getting that great contraction and solidifying your mind-muscle connection.”
She opened up on why it’s important to drive the knees to the opposite elbows for this superset.
“You are simply going to drive your knee to your opposite elbow, making sure to keep your core tight throughout the exercise,” she said. “This will definitely get your heart rate up, and we’re working obliques and rectus abdominis here.”
Rope High Row + Flutter Kicks
Stern said leaning forward with rope high rows is best to hit all of the small muscles in the upper back.
“For this rope high row, we’re leaning forward and you’re going much lighter here because the goal is to hit rear delts, rhomboids, upper traps, teres, all of the small muscles of the upper back. This is going to give you some width. It’s going to give you some definition as well.”
Next, grip the bench, and fire off flutter kicks as an ab finisher. She says to perform these as quickly as possible.
“You’re going to hold the back of the bench, lean back, maintain that almost plank position, and you’re going to do tiny little flutter kicks, making sure to keep again, lots of tension on the abs, and you’re going to go as quickly as you can.”
This wasn’t Erin Stern’s first time breaking down a workout for a smaller waist. She recently told all about a superset-focused routine, made up of eight different exercises that she said could have a meaningful impact on waist size.
Thanks to years of experience sculpting her own physique, Stern knows how to gear lifters in the right direction. She believes toning the abs and back is essential for anyone aiming to shrink their waist.
RELATED: Erin Stern Shares 4 Advanced Techniques to ‘Ramp Up The Intensity of Your Workout’
Watch the full video from the Erin Stern YouTube channel below:
You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and
YouTube for even more content.
