We all know about the muffin top but what about the lower belly pooch ? That little area of your stomach that seems to never really be solid. Will you have to change your eating? YES YES and YES! However, in the process of losing body fat and getting lean, you can exercise the lower abdominal area and add some defining muscle to make that area more solid. As the fat melts away and you fine tune your eating more and more, you will be left with the lower abs you’ve been working for.
Lower Belly Exercises
Ball Mountain Climber
“Place your hands on a stability ball, roughly 18 to 24 inches apart, and extend your legs behind you in a pushup position, with your body forming a straight line from your neck to your ankles. Raise your right foot off the floor and slowly bring your right knee up toward your chest, then lower it. That’s one rep. Repeat with the left leg, and continue alternating until you’ve done 10 to 12 reps with each leg (lower belly exercises).
Sprinter Abdominal Exercise
The Sprinter
- Lie on your back with your arms at your sides, legs straight, and heels hovering six to 12 inches off the floor.
- As you sit up, lift and bend your left elbow, and pull your right knee to your chest, as if you were sprinting. Return to the starting position, keeping your legs raised, and repeat with the opposite arm and leg. That’s one rep. Do 10 to 12 (source).
Reverse Crunch
Lie on back, legs extended upward directly over hips. Contracting abdominals, lift hips a few inches off floor. Slowly lower hips, then legs, toward floor. Do 8 to 12 reps (source).
Pelvic Scoop
Lay on your back and place your hands flat on the floor. Cross one leg. Next push with your heal and raise your hips off the ground while keeping your stomach tight. Breath out as you raise your hips to help contract your lower abs. Repeat this for 30 seconds on each side.
Plank Exercises
- Start on your hands and knees on the floor as if you were about to do a pushup. Lower yourself down to your elbows so that most of your weight is resting on the back side of your forearms (you should be able to give a “thumbs up” sign with your fists on the ground). Then, place your feet behind you as if in a pushup position, resting on the balls of your feet. Your body should form a straight line, with no sag or elevation of the hips. This is your starting position.
- The key points of this exercise are to activate your abdominal muscles to “get tight” and also pull your belly button towards your spine. Do not suck in your belly, but rather contract your abs to force it to tighten up. There are two counterpoints to focus on when doing this exercise. First, press your heels back behind you, which will lock your knees and straighten your legs. Second, you’ll want to “pack” your shoulders down onto your ribcage to prevent your shoulders from lifting up or rolling backwards. All of this is done to help you keep a “long and strong” spine position.
- Hold this position as long as you can while maintaining good form. Keep exhaling to help with the abdominal contraction (source).
These lower ab exercises are some of my favorite! I prefer that people do them in a circuit fashion. Meaning, you do one exercise after the other. Each lower ab exercise should be done for 30 -60 seconds. Or you can do 12 – 15 repetitions of each lower ab exercise. Try to do 2 – 3 total rounds.
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Adria Ali
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