What’s a good lower ab workout?
Greetings! Here is a back pain question I found when I was looking at Yahoo.
I’ve been trying to tone myself out a lot but I can’t seem to work my lower abs. I can work everything else out just fine. Any ideas for a good lower ab workout without access to a gym or much if any equipment?
Didn’t you enjoy that? I did. I think I may add my own answer to that back pain question. How about you?
Have a happy time!
November 30th, -0001 at 12:00 am
Hi there.
My husband is a personal training and says unfortunately contrary to popular opinion your upper and lower abdominals cannot be isolated. People who tell you they can do not understand anatomy and physiology well enough or read the numerous research studies that show no extra muscular effort in a number of exercises claimed to emphasise the upper or lower abdominals. True is it that you may fell a little more sore in your lower abdominals after a certain exercise but the thing about peoples perceptions is they suck!!! To prove this point all you hve to do is have to look at how many people get jaw pain and ignore it as being a sign of a heart attack or related heart problems. If you are trying to target your surface abdominals that give you your six pack (aka your rectus abdominis) you the following exercises would be beneficial:
*Weighted Crunches (or sit-ups but the research shows the most effort is during the crunch part of the sit up anyway). The difference between crunches and sit up is in a crunch your lower back doesn’t leave the floor and a sit up is where you… well sit up further after doing the crunch part.
*Raised Leg Crunches. This is the same as the standard crunch however your knees are bent and feet off the floor so that your knees are directly above your hips.
*Reverse Crunches. This is one of those exercises claimed to benefit your lower abs. Intead of curling your shoulders toward you hip as in a normal/standard crunch you curl your hips toward your chest and shoulders which remain pinned to the floor.
Planks/Hovers/Abdominal Bridge/Just Bridge…. this exercise has many weird and wonderful names but essentially it envolves you holding your body off the floor using your elbows and your toes forming a bridge like action and holding this for as long as you can. During this time you should be able to breathe normallly, hold your spine in a normal and relaxed position without sagging your hips toward the floor and not feel your back doing any of the work. It is an abdominal exercise after all. If you find it too stressful on your back my husband starts some of his clients off on their knees instead of their feet initially. Aim to hold this position for 30 – 90seconds.
The good news is you don’t have to rush out and buy a set of dumbells if you don’t want to. All of these exercise can be done without equipment and if needing to increase the intensity can have weight added accross the chest or placed on your lower back as in the case of the hovers. You can use house hold items such as canned food, waterbottles which can either be filled half way or completely filled depending on how much resistance you want. The key is to get creative. These exercises are pretty well known and if you need more clarification on how to perform these techniqes I’m sure you will find them on youtube if you type the exercise name into the subject area.
My Husband recommends starting off with one abdominal exercise doing 2-3 lots of 10 – 20repetitions for the first 4 weeks then add an extra set every 3-4 weeks. After about 8 weeks or so you can change the exercise to add variety based on the number of exercises given above.
A word of advice though is that if your diet is not conducive then all the sit ups in the world will not help you tone the abs effectively. Also throw in a bit of cardiovascular training to assist in losing the body fat more effectively.
Good Luck and I hope this helps.
November 30th, -0001 at 12:00 am
Lower abs are usually the last to show, so normal crunches and abdominal exercises will eventually show results, along with healthy diet of course.
Although some workouts that work more on lower abs are leg lifts (lay flat with arms straight by your butt and lift legs vertically and almost to the ground) and variations of leg lifts.
November 30th, -0001 at 12:00 am
Pilates are great for all parts of your tummy and all you need is a towel or mat to lay on while u do them.