Without a doubt, one of the areas of the body people most want to change about themselves is their stomach, and it’s not as difficult as many people think to get tight, toned abs. All it takes is a good understanding of which lower abdominal exercises are most effective, and a good commitment to setting time aside regularly to work on your lower abdominal exercises in addition to the rest of your exercise regimen.
The abdominal muscles themselves, made up of the upper, lower, and oblique muscles, all work together to facilitate movement between the upper body and lower body. The lower abs are the hardest of these muscle groups to trim, because most abdominal workouts focus primarily on the upper abs and obliques. So it truly takes dedicated lower abdominal exercises to make forward progress in building overall toned and trim abs.
One of the main benefits of lower abdominal exercises is that, unlike many exercises for the upper and lower bodies, the best require no extra equipment or weights. They can all be done with only your body, leveraging gravity and your own muscles to get into shape. We will lay out three of the best lower abdominal exercises here, all of which should be done as slowly as is comfortable, to make sure maximum benefit is attained. During these exercises, the hands should be placed beneath the butt to support the lower back and make sure you don’t overly stress your back.
One of the best lower abdominal exercises is the double leg reverse crunch. To do this, you’ll want to lie on your back with your hands under your butt. You’ll bend your legs and pull them in so that your lower legs are parallel to the floor, then slowly lower them until your feet are just off the ground, with the bend remaining in the knees. During this, you’ll want to keep your abs contracted, remain with your feet just off the ground for a few seconds, then further contract the abs and raise the knees back up to the start position. This is an incredibly difficult exercise, and when you first start you’ll probably want to stick to five reps or so for each set, working up to twenty or more.
Another great exercise is the scissor. To do this, lie on your back with your hands under your butt and extend your legs with your abs tightened, with the feet just off of the ground. Then move the left leg so that it crosses your right leg, then open the legs out, and repeat with the opposite legs. Repeat for about ten reps to begin with, working up to twenty or thirty.
Double leg lifts are one of the more simple lower abdominal exercises, but still build abdominal muscles fairly quickly. Lay on your back with your hands under your butt, and lift your legs close together with abs tightened straight into the air, keeping your abdominal muscles tightened the entire time. Then slowly, and with control, lower them back to just an inch or so off of the ground. Repeat this ten or so times to begin with, and work up to twenty or thirty over time.