Working the very lower ab muscles, below your bellybutton...

[thefreshman]

Whenever I flex my abs, the very lower ab muscles from your bellybutton to your crotch kinda bulge out on the sides by the groin. They aren't as firm as my abs, is there any special sip methods that help firm that area, or do I need to do more situps. I haven't been working out at all the last couple years, just the last month.

Its just something I noticed on my body, and was wondering if there is anything special to do for this, or if a couple months of situps will bring it around? Thanks

 

[Si|vio]

Leg Lifts or Knee Tucks will help you tighten your lower midsection.

 

[Rémy!]

It sounds like it could also be your obliques, do you do any heavy oblique work?

 

[toga22]

Lying leg raises is a good exercise for your lower abs.

Also if you have access to a chin-up bar, hanging knee and/or leg raises is also a great exercise.

Remember too, that you should always work your lower abs first in an ab workout.

Good Luck~
toga

 

[MarshallPenniford]

um, aren't the abs all one muscle? just genetics I think.

 

[thefreshman]

It sounds like it could also be your obliques, do you do any heavy oblique work?

No, just situps.

 

[bignate73]

lower abs = myth

its just a matter of incomplete ab training. as for leg raises? HIP FLEXORS. that burn you feel in your lower tummy.....ILIOPSOAS, maybe some rectus abdominus, but not as the prime mover.

throw your situps out the door and get some full range crunches going.

 

[MrMuscle]

lower abs = myth

its just a matter of incomplete ab training. as for leg raises? HIP FLEXORS. that burn you feel in your lower tummy.....ILIOPSOAS, maybe some rectus abdominus, but not as the prime mover.

throw your situps out the door and get some full range crunches going.

i'll get back to you later sucka

 

[Belial]

i'll get back to you later sucka

And agree with him, I hope.

 

[SAC]

its just a matter of incomplete ab training. as for leg raises? HIP FLEXORS. that burn you feel in your lower tummy.....ILIOPSOAS, maybe some rectus abdominus, but not as the prime mover.

throw your situps out the door and get some full range crunches going.


I agree

 

[Gladiola]

lower abs = myth

Indeed... that rectus abdominus (6-pk) is *one* long muscle.

American Council on Exercise did a big study on what works abs best.. captains chair came up pretty high, as did the good old classic crunch & the bicycle maneuver.

 

[the People's Champ]

what is the captain's chair?

 

[Johnny Auto Parts]

BigNate, Belial, and MrMuscle.....what do you guys do for abs?....and what do you mean by full range crunches as opposed to situps?

 

[toga22]

um, aren't the abs all one muscle? just genetics I think.

Most abdominal exercises are divided into "lower" or "upper" ab exercises. There aren't two seperate muscles that you can isolate. Rather the exercises work the whole abdominal wall. However there are clusters of muscles which are separated by connective tissue. These so call clusters make up the "washboard" or "six pack" that many aim for. You can focus on the upper clusters by moving just your torso.....and the lower clusters by moving your pelvis.

It is recommended that you should exercise the lower abs before the upper abs and do any twisting movements, which exercise the obliques, first.

 

[Belial]

BigNate, Belial, and MrMuscle.....what do you guys do for abs?....and what do you mean by full range crunches as opposed to situps?

Hanging leg raises (off a chin up bar), Decline weighted crunches with a 110, and side bends.

 

[MarshallPenniford]

Most abdominal exercises are divided into "lower" or "upper" ab exercises. There aren't two seperate muscles that you can isolate. Rather the exercises work the whole abdominal wall. However there are clusters of muscles which are separated by connective tissue. These so call clusters make up the "washboard" or "six pack" that many aim for. You can focus on the upper clusters by moving just your torso.....and the lower clusters by moving your pelvis.

There aren't two seperate muscles, yet there are clusters of muscles? Do you realize that you are contradicting yourself?

 

[Belial]

Single motor unit. So no, she's not contradicting herself.

 

[MarshallPenniford]

Well, if it's a cluster of muscles (plural). Then that implies there are at the very least two muscles. My understanding is that rectus abdominus is one muscle. Seems like a contradiction to me.

 

[Belial]

The rectus abdominus is a single muscle. However, looking at the muscle itself, it's crossed by fibrous bands that help it maintain its shape. This does NOT mean different parts of the muscle contract differently. It's purely a structural (Not a mechanical) feature.

 

[MrMuscle]

BigNate, Belial, and MrMuscle.....what do you guys do for abs?....and what do you mean by full range crunches as opposed to situps?

i do hanging leg raises supersetted with knee raises on a bench. then i do side crunches, twists and finally crunches

 

[BatZgirl]

re

i SUGGEST Doing the Upper crunch, you can realy feel it working your lower abs. Also try getting yourself a flex or swiss ball and doing this specific exercise on it

1: THE CRUNCH

2: V-SITS

(Sit on an exercise ball, knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Keeping your abs contracted, your chest up and out and your shoulders back, slowly recline backward a few inches. Hold for five seconds and return to the starting position. Do 8-12 reps. )

3: BRIDGING

Lie on your back with your feet up on an exercise ball and your arms stretched out to the sides. Slowly raise your hips and glutes toward the ceiling while contracting your glutes and hamstrings, until your bodyweight rests comfortably on your shoulder blades. Return slowly to the starting position. (Throughout, keep your hips square to the ceiling and your abs contracted.) Do 13-20 reps.

 

[Charlie B]

Additionally, recent research has shown that the regular old "bicycle or bicycle crunch" or whatever you may refer to it as, recruits and stimulates more abdominal muscles and support muscles than any other one exercise. Abs get a great deal of work indirectly, so don't go overboard trying to work them "directly". By the way is that youBatZgirl on the Swiss Ball?

 

[sysopt]

lower abs = myth

its just a matter of incomplete ab training. as for leg raises? HIP FLEXORS. that burn you feel in your lower tummy.....ILIOPSOAS, maybe some rectus abdominus, but not as the prime mover.

throw your situps out the door and get some full range crunches going.

I agree 1000%

working abs come down to do two things:
1)spinal flexion
2)stabalizing the torso
everything else is bull

how do you pronounce iliopsoas?

 

[Belial]

how do you pronounce iliopsoas?

Kinda like it's spelled....






haha

 

[bignate73]

ill ee oh sew as

hehe.

 

[HulkRow]

Lying leg raises is a good exercise for your lower abs.

Also if you have access to a chin-up bar, hanging knee and/or leg raises is also a great exercise.

Remember too, that you should always work your lower abs first in an ab workout.

Good Luck~
toga

i second that, cause i do it and it works, your lower abs will get hard in time, trust me.