Lower Ab Workouts

Floor Exercises for Home or Gym

Traditional Crunches

There are a number of machines out there to help you perfect your crunch. They're really not necessary, though. You just need to follow a few basic rules:

• Keep your head in line with your body. Do not place your hands behind your head and tug forward, causing your chin to rest on your chest. Pretend you're standing with perfect posture. The only difference is: you're looking at the ceiling when you start.
• Breathe out through the nose as you crunch up. Breathe in as you lower down.
• Pull your navel in toward your spine as you crunch. If you don't, you may build your abs out rather than in.

Leg Lifts

To do leg lifts as a lower ab workout, lie on your back on the floor or yoga mat. Tuck your hands palms-down below your buttocks to stabilize your back. Point your toes and bring your straight legs up until they're perpendicular with the rest of your body. Lower them back down slowly, as far as you can go without arching your back. Repeat 15-20 times.

Reverse Crunches

For reverse crunches, start as you did for the leg lifts. Instead of keeping your legs straight, you bend at the knees and bring them to your chest, then straighten them back out inches above the floor. Again, repeat 15-20 times.

Best Videos for Lower Abs

Don't have a gym membership? Not aiming to get one? No problem. You're not destined for flabby abs forever. Luckily, there are quite a few videos out there that have at least a chunk of time dedicated to flattening out those lower abs. The great thing about workout videos is the fact that they push you to do more than you might otherwise make yourself do in a floor routine you set up on your own. Here are a few videos with lower ab workouts:

• Tammy Lee Webb's I Want Those Abs!
• Denise Austin's Hit the Spot: Abs
• Winsor Pilates (20-Minute Workout, Accelerated Body Sculpting, and Ab Sculpting are all effective)
• Perfect Abs
• Gunnar Petersen's Core Secrets (you'll need a fitness ball for this one)

At-Home Equipment

• Fitness Ball: The fitness ball works all your abdominal muscles at once. You can, of course, use it for non-abdominal exercises, but the stability you need to keep the ball in place utilizes your ab muscles—even when you're working a totally different body part.

• Ab Wheel: The Ab Wheel claims to work your whole torso, but your lower abs do a lot of the work when it comes to snapping you back into the starting position. You can easily work your oblique muscles with one of these by veering off at a slant rather than extending your arms directly out in front of you. Then return to center and repeat on the other side.

YouTube

Watching workout videos just got easier. Thanks to YouTube, you can learn new abdominal exercises and check your form with the pros. Here are some great ones:

• Advanced Ab Wheel Workout: This guy uses the wheel while standing—not an easy task! Start out on your knees if you're a beginner.
• Ab Wheel for Beginners: This one shows you how to use the wheel while on your knees.
• Here is what the Captain's Chair workout looks like.
• Leg Lifts for Lower Abs

In Addition to Lower Ab Workouts

Here are a few more tips for getting those abs you dream of:

• Do 30-45 minutes of cardio three to five times per week. That includes things like going for a run, walking your dog at a brisk pace, swimming, dancing, etc. Just get that heart rate up!
• Lay off the salt. Salt can cause you to bloat, which makes your tummy look less than taut.
• Eat a low-fat diet. Abs start in the kitchen, really, and without the proper diet, your hard work will be covered up by a layer of fat. Eat lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains.
• Don’t forget to add some exercises that work your upper abs and obliques, either.
• Be sure to give your lower back a workout, too. Your posture depends on it, and it will help prevent back injuries later. Don’t just work the front of your body (the part you usually see in the mirror!)—work the back equally. Your whole core is important.