Tips For Training Your Lower Abs

Posted on 14. Jan, 2010 by Fitness Trainer in Workout for Abs

Everyone knows that one of the primary achievements for anyone who is exercising is a trim, tight stomach. The biggest problem is that their focus is usually wrong when exercising their core. Most exercisers only hit the upper abs (the upper part of the rectus abdominis). While it is important to train all muscles of your abs and lower back (rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique and transverse adominis), I am going to give my attention to the lower abs (the lower portion of the rectus abdominis) for this article. I will show you how to incorporate the advice to the exercise.

Before I show you a stomach exercise I would like to give you some tips on exercising your abs. You should not feel any discomfort in the lower back. If for any reason you are experiencing pain you should cease the exercise and ask a fitness professional to watch your technique performing the exercise. Most likely this is the problem. Or you are trying to do an exercise that is too advanced.

Make sure that you breathe while doing your lower ab exercise. It is a naturally reaction to hold your breath. holding your breath helps your body tighten your transverse abdominis to to protect the spine. You must have spinal flexion through a full range of motion to fully work your rectus abdominis. You cannot do this while holding your breath. Make sure that you breathe out while you are contracting your abs. This is called the concentric part of the exercise.

Make sure that your attention is on the exercise and that the correct muscles are firing. To many times I see people forcefully try to perform an exercise. They are recruiting other muscle to do the work. You want to exercise only the muscle group you are targeting. Remember it is far better to do 10 quality repetitions than 50 with bad form.

Focus on where you feel the exercise working. If you are trying to work the lower abs and you feel it in your hip flexors, either you are doing the exercise wrong or you did not choose a lower ab exercise. If you feel it in your lower abs and half way through the lower ab exercise you lose that feeling. Either your form began to fail or your lower abs is fatigued and other muscles groups are compensating.

Either completely engage your hip flexors when doing a lower ab exercise or you make sure that they do not contract at all. The hip flexors are the first muscle group that will engage to help you execute the exercise that focuses on the lower abs. If the hip flexors are already fully contracted you are forced to use the lower abs. This is why hanging leg raises with your legs straight is a great lower ab exercise. The other way is to make sure that they do not engage at all. This takes good muscle control and practice.

Ok, enough of the tips. I am sure by now you want to get to one of the exercises. This lower ab exercise is called the Alternating Leg Raises. To execute the exercise, begin by lying on your back with your hands underneath your buttocks. This will prevent you from arching the lower back that may cause stress on the lower back. Brings both legs up so they are around ten inches off the ground. Now bring one of the legs up so that there is a 90 degree bend at the hip. From this point simple bring the one leg down and raise the other up at the same time. Repeat this process until the lower abs is fatigued.

I know that these are all little things, but it’s the small things that brings the best results. Try this advice out for a few weeks, you will be happy you did. If you would like more exercises check out these lower abs exercises.

Read vital knowledge about the topic of lose 10 pounds in days – please go through this webpage. The times have come when concise info is really within one click, use this possibility.

Share and Enjoy: