good lower ab work out
- Thread starter newman897
- Start date
doingwork30
Member
Abs are one muscle, its impossible to isolate lower abs. Diet will be what will have you're lower abs going.
Type O Hero
Banned
Pretty much... I mostly use regular crunches, reverse crunches (on an incline), roman chair crunches and occasionally hanging crunches (not leg raises, but where you curl your back and make a crunching motion). Sometimes I incorporate twisting motions to hit my obliques, but for obliques I mostly rely on standing side twists (very good for obliques). Then I do DB pullovers for serratus. All of this will get you where you need/want to be development wise; the rest comes from dieting to get lean.
Any abs-specific exercise will involve rounding of the lower back and you bringing your sternum towards your pelvis. Exercises such as leg raises may be beneficial, but you're working the hip flexors primarily here.
When you're working abs your movements should be controlled and deliberate. When you crunch, squeeze the muscle rather than just being fast and choppy. After each set of abs try doing some stomach vacuums... Just try it and you'll see why I recommend it.
Abs are talked about way, way too much in my opinion. Everyone wants good abs but few realize how easy they are to develop; it just takes dedicated, smart, consistent work. The hard part is dieting to the point where they're visible enough to your liking.
Good luck brotha
JoHNnyNuTZ
Well-known member
What are lower abs...lol well I was abig guy...I have a pouch...so my lower abs are in hiding..lol
Jake Fires
Active member
strongly disagree. if you do crunches youll see good results in the upper part of your abdominal muscle. leg lifts= lower
it is all one muscle but different workouts will affect them differently
newman897
Member
i do alot of leg lifs and have upper abs showing. thanks guys for replies
Dcell22
Member
Hang from a pullup bar (or use roman chair if you prefer but i find pullup bar better for this) and do leg raises, bent knee style, and focus on really raising/curling your knees to your chest (gently stretching your lower back) so as to activate the actual abs n not just hip flexors, squeeze/contract strongly at apex and then lower nice n slow getting a good stretch at bottom (keeping knees bent don't need to straighten out), repeat til failure. you can add resistance too as i see suggested above. this moves seems to give the whole abdominal wall a nice solidity n strength aside from stressing lower abs
Type O Hero
Banned
Leg raises work the iliopsoas muscle (hip flexors) which are designed to pull the knee upward.
Standing up, place your hand on your stomach and lift your leg out in front of you. You won't feel the abs doing much. The function of the abs is to bring the sternum toward the pelivs, not to raise the leg or knee. When you're doing various leg raises, you'll definitely notice your abs tense up. They're contracting as stabilizers to aid in the movement but are not working through a full range of motion.
If you're working abs you'll be dealing with crunching movements. You'll find plenty of people who swear by leg raises but I'd wager that had they never done leg raises that their midsections would be about the same.
If you want to add leg raises to your ab workouts, go for it, I just wouldn't make it one of my primary abdominal exercises since it's not necessarily an abs-specific exercise. Roman chairs, regular crunches and reverse crunches on an inline are all you need. You can add in some twisting motions to those exercises if you want. For obliques I do standing side twists with a light bar over behind my neck to hold onto. Also, try doing stomach vacuums after each set of abs for about 20 seconds.
Standing up, place your hand on your stomach and lift your leg out in front of you. You won't feel the abs doing much. The function of the abs is to bring the sternum toward the pelivs, not to raise the leg or knee. When you're doing various leg raises, you'll definitely notice your abs tense up. They're contracting as stabilizers to aid in the movement but are not working through a full range of motion.
If you're working abs you'll be dealing with crunching movements. You'll find plenty of people who swear by leg raises but I'd wager that had they never done leg raises that their midsections would be about the same.
If you want to add leg raises to your ab workouts, go for it, I just wouldn't make it one of my primary abdominal exercises since it's not necessarily an abs-specific exercise. Roman chairs, regular crunches and reverse crunches on an inline are all you need. You can add in some twisting motions to those exercises if you want. For obliques I do standing side twists with a light bar over behind my neck to hold onto. Also, try doing stomach vacuums after each set of abs for about 20 seconds.
russy_russ
Active member
He is completely correct. It is impossible to target a specific region of the rectus abdominus. A muscle fiber contracts through out it's entire length, and does not contract in an isolated section of a fiber. Myocelluar physiology explains this concept quite well. Also, research with use of EMG equipment also validates this as well.