The lower abs are the toughest part of the abdominal muscles to target. Hopefully these kick-butt lower abs exercises will help you firm and tone this problem area.
Use any or all of these exercises in your lower ab workout.
With all exercises, exhale when contracting the abs, inhale when you relax them.
The lower abs exercises
Lying leg scissors
With this exercise you lie on your back and position your hands by your sides, palms flat on the ground. Lift your legs off the ground about 5 or 6 inches. Keep them straight if you can, otherwise slightly bent is fine too. Keep your legs in the air, then open them wide, and close them, crossing your legs at the ankles. Alternate by first crossing your left leg over your right, then opening them wide and crossing the right over the left, etc.
Do as many repetitions as you can.
Suspended leg lifts - variation 1
Grab onto a pull-up bar and hang, hands about shoulder width apart. Keep your arms straight and lift your legs until they're at about a 90 degree angle to your body. You should keep your knees slightly bent.
Focus on your abs here - they should do most of the work getting your legs up. Keep your legs there for a count of two and then slowly lower them. Remember to focus on your abs throughout these lower abs exercises - make sure you crunch them as much as possible.
Suspended leg lifts - variation 2
Instead of using a pull-up bar, you can use the parallel bars here. If you don't have parallel bars, you can use any two objects of equal height that will allow you to suspend your weight on them. Just make sure they're sturdy and solid so you don't hurt yourself. Now you lift your legs the same way as in the first variation. This exercise will of course also give your arms and shoulders a nice workout.
Abdominal vacuum
This is not only a great exercise for your abs, but also for your massaging your inner organs. Basically all you do is stand with your knees slightly bent and your hands on you knees. Exhale and clear your lungs of air. Now suck in your gut and hold for 5 seconds while slowly raising your body until you're standing almost upright. Then release your gut and breathe deeply before going down again with hands on knees, exhaling as you descend.
If you have difficulty sucking your gut in for 5 seconds on empty lungs, do it for a shorter period until your body gets used to it. At first do this exercise in front of your bed or on a padded floor with no obstacles. Some people have been known to get dizzy or pass out from this exercise. If you feel any sort of dizziness, start breathing immediately. After a few repetitions you'll find the going easier already as your body adapts.
Jack knives (also known as V-ups, one of the kings of lower abs exercises)
This part of our lower ab workout targets the upper abs at the same time.
Lie flat on your back with your arms stretched out over your head. Now lift your upper body and legs at the same time and touch your legs with your hands in the air above your abdominals. Do not jerk - never jerk when doing any exercise that requires you to bend your back.
This should be a fluent movement and legs should be almost straight with knees only slightly bent. If you can't touch your legs without jerking at first, go as far as you can go. It will come in time. At first you may find you can only do one or two jack knives. That's normal, and with a little persistence you will soon be able to do more.
Be sure to check out the other lower abs exercises elsewhere on this site.
