Try This Lower Abs Exercise

The lower abdominal is one of the most sought after achievements in fitness. And in order to get a firm looking lower abdominal you will have to have a the correct mixture of cardiovascular training, strength training, proper diet and not to mention the best lower ab exercise.

The diet, cardio and resistance training portions of your fitness program I going to leave for another article. If you want more information about your diet visit diet for abs blog. In this article I would like to focus on one aspect of your training. And that thing is the most effective and most efficient lower abdominal exercise.

Before I give the most efficient lower abdominal exercise I would like to tell you a a little unknown training method. You can apply this with any abs exercise that you are currently performing. The secret is to have your hip flexors fully engaged when performing an abs exercise. Let me give you an example.

The crunch. Usually you lie on your back with your feet on the floor. You then push your lower back into the ground and tighten your abdominal muscles. You are aware that you are not pulling on the head and that there is at least a 2 to 3 inches between your chin and your chest to avoid injury to your neck. You come up to a crunch position and momentarily hold and return to the beginning. This puts more emphasis on the upper abdominal muscles than lower abs.

The next evolution is the crunch with the hip flexors engaged. Start by laying on your back and bring your feet up off the ground. Start by having a 90 degree bend at your hips and your knees. Now slightly move your legs away from your chest (about 4 inches) while keeping your shins parallel with the floor. Now execute the same crunch. You should feel a little more in the lower abs.

To amplify the feeling in the lower abs, start in the same position with your feet off the floor and your knees bent. Now have your another person or a band pulling your feet away from your chest. This really forces you to contract your hip flexors. You will feel much more in the lower abs and you will not be able to do as many reps as you normally would. Don’t believe me? Try it out for yourself.

So in knowing what we know now, what is the most effective lower abdominal exercise? The best exercise is the hanging leg raise. This is a difficult exercise and you may not quite be at that level yet. But in shaping the lower abs it is the greatest exercise around. Here is how to perform the exercise.

Start by hanging from a pull-up bar. Tighten your abs and pull your feet up around six inches keeping your legs straight. This is the beginning position. Elevate your feet so your body is making an L shape. This will cause you to contract your hip flexors. Once you reach this position further tighten your abs so your spin flexes as in a crunch and your feet go slightly above eye level. Hold this for one second and slowly lower your legs to the starting position with your feet 6 inches forward. This is not a swinging up motion and each movement is controlled. If you notice yourself swinging you may not be strong enough for this exercise or you will need to concentrate on control.

Give this lower ab exercises a try, if done Properly you will definitely feel it working.

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