Best Lower Abs Exercises You Have Never Tried

Check out the best lower abs exercises that you have never tried, as chosen by Jeff from Athlean X.

Best Lower Abs Exercises You Have Never Tried

“There are a lot of exercises for hitting your lower abs, all of which involve some bottom up movement of the pelvis towards your shoulders.  That said, many of these are performed while hanging from a bar which makes them too difficult for beginners and even leads to the forearms fatiguing before the abs on even the most advanced trainees.  In this video, I’m going to show you the best lower abs exercise you’ve likely never tried and it doesn’t even require you hang from a bar.”

Problems with Hanging Abs Exercises

“While we are talking about those hanging ab exercises however, here is why they tend to be a problem.  Most often, the person doing the exercise tends to become over reliant on the hip flexors to lift the legs rather than using the abs to curl the pelvis into a posterior tilt on every rep.  This can happen either by bad habit or as a compensation for weak abs.  Either way, this takes the tension off of the abs and places it on a muscle group that is likely already tight and overactive.”

Source: Photos courtesy of CrossFit Inc

Bottom Up Movements

“The next option is to perform these same bottom up movements but instead of hanging, you lay on the floor.  The issue here is once again the hip flexors can tend to dominate the movement and cause the same detrimental effects mentioned already.  Even more, the legs stop becoming a factor in the resistance of the exercise and actually help you to do the move as you get them past ninety degrees of lift.”

Bodyweight

“The good news is, the best lower abs exercise you can do doesn’t require you to have to hang from a bar or lay on your back.  All it requires is a dip station or even the corner of a kitchen countertop.  If you are going to perform it from a dip station all you have to do is position yourself in the suspended position with your hands on the dip bars and your elbows almost locked out.”

Great Form

“You don’t want to bend the elbows too much here or at any point during the exercise since this will shift the focus from the abs to the triceps and cause you to fatigue where you don’t want to.  With the bodyweight supported you will actually find that you get a beneficial compressive force into the shoulder joint that can make an unstable shoulder feel much better.  The hanging ab exercises while awesome for the lower abs can make it tough on the shoulder of someone that has a rotator cuff or labrum tear.”

“Next, you let the pelvis drop naturally by dangling the legs.  This will help to decompress the spine and cause a distraction force to the lumbar spine and lower back that can help alleviate any discomfort you may have developed from doing lots of hip flexor dominant lower ab movements over the years.”

Drive the Movements

“Begin by simply bouncing your body up and down while alternating the twist of your torso as you pull up.  Your main thought should be driving the movement with the posterior tilt of the pelvis and not the arms.  This will engage the lower abs while at the same time, getting the obliques to fire up with each rotation left to right.  Keep doing this in rapid fire fashion for 30 to 60 seconds or until fatigue prevents you from performing clean reps.”

Video – Best Lower Abs Exercises You Have Never Tried

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Muscles of the Abs and Core

The core is an important part of the body that allows you to move and perform many exercises. It is made up of different muscles that can be found in the abdominal area. These muscles help stabilize your spine, pelvis and hips while providing support for every movement. The core muscles are very important in stabilizing a person and allows for great movements.

Best Lower Abs Exercises You Have Never Tried – Rectus Abdominis

The rectus abdominis is the most superficial muscle of the anterior abdominal wall, and it is the only muscle that extends from the pubis to the chest. It is a long, flat, and narrow muscle which lies in front of the lower six ribs.

The rectus abdominis originates from various tendinous inscriptions on each side of its line of attachment (costal cartilages 1-4). Additionally, there are tendinous inscriptions along its line of attachment as well as on both ends of its tendon. The tendinous inscriptions provide attachments for two ligaments: iliac crest and inguinal ligament.

Best Lower Abs Exercises You Have Never Tried – Internal oblique muscle

The internal oblique muscle is one of the three muscles in the abdominal wall. It is more superficial than its counterpart, the external oblique muscle, which lies just beneath it. The internal oblique muscle is also more important for core stabilization than its counterpart because of its thicker shape and shorter fibres that allow for better interdigitation with other abdominal muscles.

It attaches to ribs five through seven and crosses both anteriorly and posteriorly over each side of lumbar vertebrae one through four (L1-L4).

Although this muscle’s main role is core stabilization, it has other functions as well:

• It flexes your spine when you lift something heavy overhead;
• Helps stabilize your pelvis by pulling on your lower back;
• Participates in rotational motions that occur while performing exercises such as sit-ups or twisting crunches;

Best Lower Abs Exercises You Have Never Tried – External oblique muscle

The external oblique muscle is a thin muscle that runs from the lower ribs to the pelvis. It is the most superficial of the three oblique muscles.

The external oblique helps to stabilize the spine and keep the body upright by contracting when you twist or turn your body. This muscle also helps with breathing, since it pulls air into your lungs while you breathe in and pushes air out of your lungs while you exhale.

Best Lower Abs Exercises You Have Never Tried – Transversus abdominis

The transversus abdominis is a muscle located deep in the core of your body. It helps to stabilize your spine and assist with respiration.

The inner core is comprised of the internal oblique, transversus abdominis and multifidus muscles. These muscles are important stabilizers to help you maintain good posture throughout the day.

The core muscles are very important in stabilizing a person and allows for great movements.

The master muscle of the body is the core. The core muscles are very important in stabilizing a person, which allows for great movements. These muscles are important for posture and balance, movement, breathing and digestion.

The major core muscles include: Transversus Abdominis (deep abdominal muscle), Internal Oblique (muscle that lies on either side of rectus abdominis), External Oblique (muscle that lies underneath internal oblique), Quadratus Lumborum (lower back muscle) and Gluteus Medius (one of several muscles that make up buttocks). All these muscles need to work together as a group in order to stabilize your pelvis during walking or running activities so you don’t fall over from lack of balance or just not being able to move correctly due to poor technique or strength imbalances between opposing muscle groups.

Conclusion – Best Lower Abs Exercises You Have Never Tried

The core muscles are very important in stabilizing a person and allows for great movements.

Add these lower abs exercises into your training.