Abdominal Workouts
Joseph Gladyshev
Bodyweight exercises always recruit more than one muscle group for each exercise so it is impossible to isolate and work one muscle group specifically by doing one type of exercise. It is however possible to increase the load targeting specific muscle groups with specific exercises so that they respond the most to the challenge. The following chart helps you find the exercise that helps focus more on specific abdominal muscle groups for best results.
Your abdominal muscles (abs for short) are part of your core muscles that help to hold you up and keep you doing everyday activities. They stabilize your pelvis and your spine. They help to stabilize your body when you twist and bend forward or from side to side. You use core muscles, including abs, in almost everything you do.
When performing any workout program, there are always safety tips to keep in mind. Lower ab exercises are no different. Before starting a lower abdominal workout, you may want to consider these safety tips:
Background and purpose: Performing nontraditional abdominal exercises with devices such as abdominal straps, the Power Wheel, and the Ab Revolutionizer has been suggested as a way to activate abdominal and extraneous (nonabdominal) musculature as effectively as more traditional abdominal exercises, such as the crunch and bent-knee sit-up. The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of traditional and nontraditional abdominal exercises in activating abdominal and extraneous musculature.
Discussion and conclusion: The Power Wheel (pike, knee-up, and roll-out), hanging knee-up with straps, and reverse crunch inclined 30 degrees not only were the most effective exercises in activating abdominal musculature but also were the most effective in activating extraneous musculature. The relatively high rectus femoris muscle activity obtained with the Power Wheel (pike and knee-up), reverse crunch inclined 30 degrees, and bent-knee sit-up may be problematic for some people with low back problems.
Core-strength exercises strengthen the core muscles. Core muscles include the abdominal muscles, back muscles and the muscles around the pelvis. Strong core muscles make it easier to do many physical activities.
You can do core-strength exercises on a carpeted floor or mat. Breathe freely and deeply during each core-strength exercise. Focus on tightening the deepest abdominal muscle and the one you feel contracting when you cough, also called the transversus abdominis.
The physical benefit of laughter is also extensive, with this joyous experience also providing a workout for bodily systems, including the cardiovascular, pulmonary and respiratory systems. Laughter causes the diaphragm, chest and abdominal muscles to tighten, driving the lungs to work harder through forcing the remaining air out and permitting fresh air deeper into the lungs, which can enable more effective exhalations, due to assisting the expansion of the alveoli.
Interestingly, the physical act of laughter can be compared to mild cardiovascular exercise, and intense laughter through laughter exercises can be equivalent to short aerobic bursts in interval training, a type of exercise with varied intensity popular in abdominal workouts.
We live in an age where rock-hard, six-pack abdominal muscles are the goal of many workout enthusiasts. We all want that washboard look, but which ab exercises actually work? There are two sets of muscles to target: the rectus abdominis muscles (the ones you engage during regular situps, that run from your sternum to your pelvis) and the transverse abdominis (the deepest ab muscles that wrap around the spine and help stabilize your core).
A strong core supports the muscles around your pelvis and lower back, and can actually help with diastasis recti, which is when the linea alba that runs between the rectus abdominis muscle in your abdominal wall widens during pregnancy and doesn't come back together postpartum, causing your belly to "pooch" out.
The abdominal muscles (often called the abs) include not just the visible "six-pack" or rectus abdominis muscles in the front of your abdomen, but also the obliques in the front and side of your abdomen and the transverse abdominis across your lower abdomen. "The transverse abdominis is the inner muscle underneath the outer abdominal layers. It provides stability around the spine," Brown explains.
Movement: Exhale as you tighten your abdominal muscles by pulling them up toward your spine. Keep your spine neutral (no arching your back!). Hold. Release your abdominal muscles and return to the starting position. Do this eight to 10 times, then rest for 30 to 90 seconds. If you can, repeat the sequence.
Watch TV from the floor. You probably did this when you were a kid. Try it now, and maybe you'll be more likely to do an ab exercise, like modified push-ups (leaning on your forearms instead of your hands). "Or try lying on your back with your knees bent," suggests Brown. "Then activate the abdominal muscles by drawing in your belly button toward the spine."
You can even activate the abdominal muscles while you're walking. "Just be very intentional about it," says Brown. Think about posture and muscle activation with each step. The more often you activate your abs, the stronger they'll become, making ab workouts a lot less daunting.
Here are Minno's favorite at-home ab workouts with step-by-step instructions on how to do them. Try doing three rounds of this workout series, two to three times a week to strengthen your entire core.
However, it's important to do ab workouts in complement with other strength-building exercises. Having a strong core means building lean muscle tissue throughout your entire trunk, which is the area below your shoulders to the tops of your legs. This means incorporating back-strengthening exercises as well.
Abdominal or abs exercises, help build and strengthen the abdominal muscles. Abdominal muscles support the torso and hold the abdominal organs in place. Abdominal muscles, along with the back muscles, protect the spine, provide stability to the body and help maintain posture.
Abdominal exercises strengthen the abdominal muscles but cannot flatten the stomach without fat loss from the belly. Losing fat from the belly requires a combination of a healthy diet, aerobic exercise and weight training.
Like all muscles, abdominal muscles also require recovery time after workouts. Overworking the muscles can lead to muscle strains and injuries. After intensive workouts, it is generally good to wait for 48 hours before targeting the same muscle group. Abdominal exercises are most effective if done two to three times a week.
A study sponsored by the American Council on Exercise compared 13 most common abdominal exercises and ranked the most and least effective. The study had 30 healthy adults in the ages between 20 and 45 who went through several exercises in the gym and at home.
It is possible to build abdominal strength in the lower abs region with bodyweight movement alone (no stability ball, pull-up bar or cable machine necessary). It's important to note that the lower abs are not a muscle, but are just the lowest region of the abdominal muscles called the rectus abdominis. While you can't completely isolate the lower abs region, it is possible to choose core exercises that favor the lower portion of the abs.
The best abdominal workout programs for the lower portion of the abs can be done with body weight only (no need for exercises like Swiss Ball Crunches or Cable Crunches). You'll want to focus on effective exercises that emphasize the bottom and bottom-up range of motion of the abs like Figure 8's, Hands Back Raises, Twisted Pistons, Seated Ab Circles, Scissor V-Crunches, and the "21" Crunch.
The rectus abdominis is a single muscle and it\u2019s not possible to completely isolate the lower abs. But if you choose bottom-up movements, you can emphasize the contribution of lower ab fibers to hit this area preferentially."}},"@type":"Question","name":"How do men train lower abs?","acceptedAnswer":"@type":"Answer","text":"The rectus abdominis is a single muscle and it\u2019s not possible to completely isolate the lower abs. But if you choose bottom-up movements, you can emphasize the contribution of lower ab fibers to hit this area preferentially.","@type":"Question","name":"What workout is best for lower abs?","acceptedAnswer":"@type":"Answer","text":"The best workout for lower abs is:\n
- \n
- Figure 8\u2019s for 30 seconds\n
- Hands Back Raises for 30 seconds\n
- Twisted Pistons for 60 seconds\n
- Seated Ab Circles (Clockwise) for 60 seconds\n
- Seated Ab Circles (Counterclockwise) for 60 seconds\n
- Scissor V Ups for 30 seconds\n
- \u201c21\u201d Crunch for 30 seconds\n\n","@type":"Question","name":"How do I target my lower 2 abs?","acceptedAnswer":"@type":"Answer","text":"It\u2019s not possible to isolate the lower 2 abs but you can hit these fibers preferentially by choosing bottom-up movements that use the weight of the lower body to challenge the abs.","@type":"Question","name":"How do I build my lower abs?","acceptedAnswer":"@type":"Answer","text":"The rectus abdominis is a single muscle and it\u2019s not possible to completely isolate the lower abs. But if you choose bottom-up movements, you can emphasize the contribution of lower ab fibers to hit this area preferentially.","@type":"Question","name":"How do I isolate my lower abs?","acceptedAnswer":"@type":"Answer","text":"The rectus abdominis is a single muscle and it\u2019s not possible to isolate the lower abs. But if you move in the direction of the lower abs with bottom-up movements, you can emphasize the contribution of lower ab fibers to hit this area preferentially.","@type":"Question","name":"What ab workout targets lower abs?","acceptedAnswer":"@type":"Answer","text":"The best ab workout routine for lower core strength hits the bottom portion of the rectus abdominis muscles. The lower abs aren't a specific muscle; rather it is a region of this entire larger muscle. You'll do an entire circuit of these effective ab exercises: Figure 8's, Hands Back Raises, Twisted Pistons, Seated Ab Circles, Scissor V-Crunches, and the \"21\" Crunch.\u00a0","@type":"Question","name":"Can you isolate the lower abs?","acceptedAnswer":"@type":"Answer","text":"It is possible to build abdominal strength in the lower abs region with bodyweight movement alone (no stability ball, pull-up bar or cable machine necessary). It's important to note that the lower abs are not a muscle, but are just the lowest region of the abdominal muscles called the rectus abdominis. While you can't completely isolate the lower abs region, it is possible to choose core exercises that favor the lower portion of the abs.\u00a0","@type":"Question","name":"How do I get my lower 4 abs?","acceptedAnswer":"@type":"Answer","text":"The best abdominal workout programs for the lower portion of the abs can be done with body weight only (no need for exercises like Swiss Ball Crunches or Cable Crunches). You'll want to focus on effective exercises that emphasize the bottom and bottom-up range of motion of the abs like Figure 8's, Hands Back Raises, Twisted Pistons, Seated Ab Circles, Scissor V-Crunches, and the \"21\" Crunch.","@type":"Question","name":"How do men get rid of lower belly fat?","acceptedAnswer":"@type":"Answer","text":"While some might try to tell you otherwise, there are no specific ab exercises for belly fat. If any personal trainers tell you it's possible to spot reduce lower belly fat, run the opposite direction! If losing belly fat is one of your training goals, you'll need to focus on adopting a healthy nutrition plan first and foremost to reduce overall body fat, and in the process lose belly fat as well. Doing ab exercises will help strengthen your abs, but if there's a layer of fat covering them, you won't be able to see the muscles you're building. For ab exercises, if you are a beginner you might start with a traditional plank or standard crunches, but as your fitness levels improve, you'll want to choose more challenging and effective ab exercises that hit all major muscles of the abs including the internal and external obliques, the transverse abdominis muscles, and the entire muscle of the rectus abdominis. Once your nutrition is dialed in you can shoot for adding some cardio exercise to your training program a couple days per week such as high-intensity interval training that gets your heart rate up and helps burn fat. Outside of looking and feeling better, losing lower belly fat or even just a couple of inches off of your waist helps prevent heart disease and will improve athletic performance.\u00a0"]}REFERENCES