best workouts for lower abs

Best Workouts For Lower Abs and Burning Belly Fat – Fitoont

The lower abdomen is the place where your body stores fat the fastest. But don’t despair: With these best workouts you can train and shape your lower abs!

A firm, seductive and beautifully shaped stomach. This is the wish of all those who want to get their body in shape. Most people are convinced that the goal is achieved when a six-pack adorns their figure. But watch out…

The biggest hurdle in the implementation of the goal is the so-called lower abdominal muscles. These are at hip height and undoubtedly give your stomach that certain something.

But the question of all questions is whether you know what the greatest irony is?

Did you know that there are actually no lower abs?

That’s the way it is! Exactly this fact, along with an unhealthy diet, is responsible for the fact that most people never achieve this goal that they strive for so much. But no worry!

In a moment I’ll reveal the secret and share with you the 10 most effective exercises for the “lower abs”.

Since the information is sure to have a major impact on the structure of your training, let’s not waste time and get started right away.

Let’s start with the basics:

This will make it easier for you to understand why the 10 exercises that I am about to present are so important for changing your body.

I have to tell you right from the start that your “six pack” actually consists of a single muscle: the straight abdominal muscle or musculus rectus abdominis

This means that there are actually no upper, middle and lower abs.

The muscle fibers of the rectus abdominis are separated by intermediate tendons, which is why, thanks to effective exercise and a relatively low percentage of body fat, bulges appear, giving the impression of 6 separate and separate muscles. These are also called “six pack”.

So if you want to get the most out of all your muscle fibers, especially those on the underside of your abdomen, you need to do appropriate exercises.

The movement pattern is crucial because it defines which muscle fibers are being used. And, of course, the rectus abdominis fibers are no exception.

Most people are unaware that these are maximally activated when the lower part of the trunk is moved towards the chest with the help of a rotation of the pelvis.

This means that popular exercises like “leg raises” e.g.  are actually ineffective. At least for the activation of the lower fibers of the straight abdominal muscle.

In fact, the execution lacks an important element – rotation in the pelvis – due to which the muscle fibers are exposed to a full range of motion, which is very important if you want TOP results.

You May Be interested In: Flat Stomach Workout plan

So, How do you define your lower abdomen?

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a man or a woman, a pro or a beginner, a strength athlete or a marathon runner – there is one fitness goal that everyone agrees on: a flat, trained stomach is a must. Not so easy – because while the upper pack of your washboard abs can be defined very well, the lower ones are a delicate matter that requires a lot of discipline and patience. Why?! It’s simple: The lower abdomen is the place where your body stores fat the fastest. Lousy – but don’t despair: With these 14 exercises you can train and shape your lower abs!

Workouts For Lower Abs: How to train lower abs at home

1. Leg raises while lying down

A Best workouts for lower abs is leg raises. For this exercise:

  • Lie on your back on the floor with your hands relaxed beside your body.
  • Stretch your legs up as straight as possible.
  • Then lower them slowly and in a controlled manner towards the floor.
  • The lower back stays on the floor the whole time – as soon as you can no longer hold it.
  • Start the return movement up.

Important: If you get completely flat on the ground, don’t put your legs down. If you want it a little easier, you can put your hands under your buttocks.

  • Difficulty level: medium
  • Pay attention to this:  Press your lower back permanently to the floor, there must not be a gap!

2. Lying hip raises

The starting position for this exercise is the same as exercise number 1.

  • The difference is that in the top position, with your legs almost straight in the air.
  • You lift your hips off the floor and round your lower back by flexing your lower abs strongly tense.
  • Pause briefly in the position and then slowly lower your hips in a controlled manner.
  • Either you then lower your legs or you go straight into the next repetition of the hip raise – depending on how much you want your abdominal muscles to suffer.
  • Level of difficulty: medium – high
  • It is important to note:  Do not work with momentum from your legs to lift your hips, but with strength from your stomach.

3. Reverse Crunches

  • The starting position is back on your back.
  • Bend your arms so your fingertips are to the left and right of your head and push your elbows to your sides as far as possible.
  • Bend your legs and lift your feet off the ground so they’re just hovering in the air.
  • Now, similar to a normal crunch, lift your chest off the floor and arch your chest toward your knees.
  • At the same time, pull them towards your chest until your nose almost touches your knees.
  • At this point, your stomach is maximally tense.
  • Pause briefly and simultaneously lower your chest toward the floor and your knees to the starting position.

Important:

Neither the upper body, nor the legs touch the ground – means: The feet hover just above the ground and the upper body never lies completely, but your shoulders are always kept in the air by slight tension in the abdominal muscles

  • Level of difficulty: easy – medium
  • Here’s what to watch out for: Even if you’re moving your legs and upper body at the same time, which is a perfect way to cheat – don’t use momentum or you won’t work your lower abs!

4. Criss Cross Crunch/Bug Crunch

The bug crunch, or criss-cross crunch, is a fairly well-known and very effective workout for toning the lower abdominal muscles.

  • To do this, lie on your back and stretch your legs straight out on the floor.
  • Bend your arms to the left and right of your head so that your fingertips are on your temples.
  • Now lift your stretched legs a little off the ground and straighten your upper body so that your shoulder blades are in the air.
  • Now cross your left chest to your right knee by twisting your upper body and at the same time pulling your bent right leg up.
  • The other leg remains stretched out in the air.
  • Now you go back to the starting position with your upper body and at the same time stretch out your right leg again.
  • Then repeat the execution with the other side, i.e.
  • Bring the right chest area to the left knee.
  • Difficulty level: medium
  • Pay attention to this: Always push your elbows back and make sure that you really arch your upper body and bring your shoulder/chest to the opposite knee – don’t just bend your elbow towards the knee!

5. Scissor Kicks

The scissor kicks are relatively easy to perform: Lying on your back.

  • Stretch out your legs and put your head down, your arms are stretched out beside your body.
  • Now lift your legs about 20 cm off the ground and keep them in the air.
  • The toes point forward.
  • Then you start with a scissor movement of the legs: when one leg goes straight down, the other goes up.
  • You can decide for yourself how big and how fast you make the movements.
  • But before you get unclean and hectic, it is better to work with smaller and more controlled movements.
  • Difficulty level: easy
  • Pay attention to this: The lower back remains firm and unmoved on the floor – the movement takes place in the legs, not in the whole body!

6. Folding knife

  • Lie on your back and stretch your arms and legs up and down.
  • Lift your head and tighten your stomach so that you can also lift your legs and arms off the floor.
  • Press your back firmly to the floor and now at the same time pull your straight legs in so that there is almost a right angle in your legs and hips.
  • At the same time lift your shoulder blades off the floor with your arms stretched over your head. This brings your chest and thighs closer together.
  • With your arms stretched, you touch your ankles (if you can’t reach it, just try to aim in that direction) and lower your arms and legs at the same time.
  • But don’t put them on the floor, but go straight to the next repetition.
  • Level of difficulty: medium – high
  • Make sure that your head is in the air the whole time, and that there is room for a small fist between your chin and your chest.

7. Corkscrew

One of the best back-friendly workouts for lower abs:

  • In the starting position, lie back on your back with your arms stretched out and your palms facing up on the floor next to you.
  • Stretch your legs straight up into the air, keeping your knees at a slight angle as always.
  • Press your feet and knees together and keep them together throughout the exercise.
  • You can rest your head comfortably on the floor.
  • Now make a circle in the air with your feet, the direction doesn’t matter at first.
  • You then make the next circle in the other direction.
The stronger your abdominal muscles already are, the bigger you can make the circles.

Important: Keep your hips on the ground at all times, because when you take off, your back is unnecessarily strained.

  • Level of difficulty: medium – high
  • Pay attention to this: As soon as more than a tiny little movement takes place in your hips or you even lift off, stop the exercise or at least reduce the size of the circles!

MINI CIRCLES

  • Sit down, bend your knees and place your hands on the floor,
  • the back is straight
  • now lift your heels and rotate your legs,
  • Make sure your back is straight.

sliding soles

  • Level of difficulty: medium – high

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Best workouts for lower abs in the gym

1. Seated rowing crunches

You can theoretically do this workout for the lower abs at home on a bench or something similar, but it is perfect if you simply do it on a weight bench in the gym.

  • Sit on the edge and hold your hands on the side of the bench.
  • Now lean your upper body back at an angle of about 45 degrees and stretch your legs out in front and down.
  • Then pull your knees towards your chest in a controlled manner, creating a right angle.
  • You straighten your upper body slightly so that your chest and knees come closer together.
  • Level of difficulty: easy – medium
  • Please note : Do not support yourself with your arms, but really get the strength from your abdominal muscles when straightening your upper body! Also important: keep your back straight and don’t just let yourself fall backwards like a sack.

2. Sit-ups on the negative bench

You will also need a weight bench for this exercise. Set them negative and fix your legs to the attachment point.

Lay your upper body on the bench and bring your lower back into a slight hollow back position. You keep it during the entire exercise! Now bend your elbows again, stretch them out to the right and left of your head and place your fingertips on your temples.

  • Now the actual exercise begins:
  • Using the strength of your abdominal muscles, pull your upper body up so far that there is a 90 degree angle between it and your thighs.
  • Then you let yourself down slowly and in a controlled manner, but without resting your upper body completely on the cushion.
  • Begin the next repetition.

If you are a beginner or still have problems with the exercise, you can either not go up as far as in the video or stretch your arms out in front of you instead of keeping them at your temples.

  • Difficulty level: high
  • Here’s what to watch out for: Just like with a regular sit-up, it’s important to avoid swinging your upper body or jerking your head up with your arms.

3. Knee raises on the machine

For this you need a so-called Captain’s Chair or Roman Chair. Many also simply say knee raise device.

  • Support your back on the back pad and place your forearms on the corresponding pads.
  • You hold the handles with your hands, which gives you a better grip.
  • Deliberately push your shoulders down and away from your ears and tense your hanging legs.
  • The toes are flexed towards the shins.
  • Now, with lots of abdominal tension, slowly pull and control your knees up toward your chest as you can.
  • When you reach the top, hold the position for a moment, then deliberately let your legs down again.
  • Tension in the legs and stomach remains in place.
  • Difficulty level: medium
  • Please note: Do not work with momentum, even if this exercise is predestined for it! In addition, you should not pull your legs back too much in the lower movement, because this also helps to gain momentum.

4. Hanging leg raises

The next level of the best workout to work the lower abs: hanging leg raises.

  • In contrast to right now, you’re hanging freely without back padding – that means on a pull-up bar, on a horizontal bar, on a cable pulley or similar.
  • Whether you hold the bar with your hands or place your elbows and forearms in special loops is up to you.
  • Tighten your entire body, especially your stomach and legs – they shouldn’t just be dangling down! Draw the toes towards the shins.
  • Now pull your stretched legs up with the strength of your abdominal muscles as far as you can. At best, like in the video, you can get your toes up to the bar between your arms – above your head.
  • Controlled and nice and slow, then lower your legs back down to the starting position and repeat the exercise.

It makes your belly fat burn, believe me!

  • Difficulty level: high
  • You have to pay attention to this: Try to remain as rigid as possible in the upper body and not swing around, the movement only takes place in the legs.

5. Roll Outs

  • A really crappy, but extremely effective and one of the best workouts for the lower abs.
  • You can either do the exercise with a dumbbell or with a special abs wheel like in the video.
  • Kneel in front of the device and grab the handles (if you choose a barbell: grip about shoulder-width apart).
  • Keep your upper body straight and make a minimal hollow back in your lower back, this protects your intervertebral discs.
  • Now roll forward at a steady pace.
  • Lower your thighs forward and stretch your arms – at best, until your upper arms are next to your ears and your face is just above the ground.
  • Then slowly roll back to the starting position by bending your thighs back and slightly straightening your upper body.
  • Difficulty level: high
  • Make sure to roll out only as far forward as you can keep the tension in your lower abdomen and back. If you sag here, you’ve rolled too far! When the back arches, it damages your lower back a lot – so it’s better to go less far forward and use clean technique instead.

6. Cable crunch

  • Adjust the weight on the cable pull to you and hang the rope.
  • Kneel facing the cable pulley, toes pointed, ropes should end just above your head when kneeling upright.
  • Grab it with both hands, bend your arms and place them either next to or in front of your head. The upper body is straight and tense.
  • Now bend your chest towards the front of your thighs, your arms remain unchanged. Only the belly curls up.
  • Since the rope is now under tension, you work against the resistance of the adjusted weights.
  • Pause briefly at the bottom.
  • Then slowly and controlled return to the starting position.
  • Difficulty level: medium
  • You have to be careful: Don’t help with your arms, but get the strength from your stomach. Be careful when returning to the starting position: don’t get carried away by the weight, but support it and move slowly and in a controlled manner.

7. Jackknife on the exercise ball

  • Get into the push-up position with your hands about shoulder-width apart.
  • Place your feet with your legs straight with your instep on an exercise ball behind you.
  • Make sure you form a straight line with your body and do not sag in the back or stretch your buttocks in the air.
  • You need a lot of body tension for this.
  • Now you bend your torso with strength from your stomach.
  • Pull your knees towards your head, your bottom automatically goes up in the air and only your toes touch the ball.
  • Then slowly and controlled roll the ball back again and into the high plank position.
  • Return position.
  • Repeat.
  • Level of difficulty: medium – high
  • Here’s what to look out for: As said before, make sure to keep your body tense and your back in a straight line with your legs.

Lower abs workouts alone are not enough: the way to a six-pack

As nice and best workouts are for the lower abs, they alone won’t get you six pack abs – unfortunately! Because: Targeted weight loss on the stomach is just as impossible as on other parts of the body-fat reduction always takes place holistically. Meaning, if you want to show off your hard-hitting (lower) abs, you need to melt the fat above them. And that only works with a sensible combination of nutrition and workouts. In order to lose (fat), you must take in fewer calories than you expend. You can calculate your calorie needs here, then subtract 300–500 calories from the value and stick to this value.

Make sure you include enough proteins in your nutrition plan, because firstly this protects you from unnecessary muscle breakdown and secondly it fills you up much better than carbs. Means: You are protected from the ravenous hunger. You can find out more about the right diet for your six-pack project here: burning belly fat nutrition plan.

The second important aspect is appropriate training. Here you should definitely rely on strength workouts to preserve your muscle mass as much as possible (muscles are THE calorie eaters par excellence – 24/7!). Combine that with one or two sessions. Muscular strength exercises a week and the fat will melt away! More about this here: burning belly fat challenge Plan.

But that’s not all…

As you know, we have divided the rectus abdominis into several areas or segments.

And if you want a toned and sculpted abs, it’s not enough to just work the lower fibers because of the potential pain that comes with uneven loading.

That’s why you should include the most important movement patterns in abdominal workouts and thus achieve perfect and even activation that will ensure TOP results. That’s why I want to invite you to try the best abdominal exercises and tackle this 9-minute challenge.

This activates all muscle fibers and trains a nice, tight and defined stomach. Just one click separates you from top-notch training.

So folks, here we go: what are your best workouts to train your lower abs?

References

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