Effective Lower ab workout?

[polarmystery]

Can anybody recommend any lower ab workouts that have resistance? Everytime I do abs, I get a good upper ab workout in from weighted crunches, but for the lower... leg lifts and ball roll ins seem to not get me that "soreness" i'm looking for.

 

[conorvansmack]

Try these out. Most gyms have straps that you can hang off of a pull up bar that you put your arms through to hold yourself up with for these. I personally have never gone as high as the guy in the video, just knees to elbows without rolling

Hanging knee raises - http://www.cathletics.com/exercises/videos/kte.mov

These two are ass-kickers.

Hanging leg raises - http://www.cathletics.com/exercises/videos/hlr.mov

L-pull ups - http://www.cathletics.com/exercises/videos/Lpullup.mov

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Can anybody recommend any lower ab workouts that have resistance? Everytime I do abs, I get a good upper ab workout in from weighted crunches, but for the lower... leg lifts and ball roll ins seem to not get me that "soreness" i'm looking for.

How functional is it to train lower abs? They get worked out, but don't get sore. Soreness is not a function of how good the workout was. Soreness is a function of muscle damage and metabolic buildup, which is frequently more hindering than beneficial.

 

[polarmystery]

How functional is it to train lower abs? They get worked out, but don't get sore. Soreness is not a function of how good the workout was. Soreness is a function of muscle damage and metabolic buildup, which is frequently more hindering than beneficial.

while I agree, my upper abs are significantly more developed than my lower. Most of my workouts use free weights anyway for core development (Squats, overhead press, etc) but I just feel like I'm not getting a good enough workout in my lower abs.

 

[polarmystery]

Try these out. Most gyms have straps that you can hang off of a pull up bar that you put your arms through to hold yourself up with for these. I personally have never gone as high as the guy in the video, just knees to elbows without rolling

Hanging knee raises - http://www.cathletics.com/exercises/videos/kte.mov

These two are ass-kickers.

Hanging leg raises - http://www.cathletics.com/exercises/videos/hlr.mov

L-pull ups - http://www.cathletics.com/exercises/videos/Lpullup.mov

nice! I like em. I gotta try one of them when I hit up abs again Sunday. Thanks for the recommendations.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

while I agree, my upper abs are significantly more developed than my lower. Most of my workouts use free weights anyway for core development (Squats, overhead press, etc) but I just feel like I'm not getting a good enough workout in my lower abs.

Lower your body fat % and you'll see that they're equally developed. Fat is more stubborn in that area and is one of the last places to go. Do large ROM exercises. Use the Roman Chair and work up to full ROM situps. That will work the entirety of your abs.

 

[polarmystery]

Lower your body fat % and you'll see that they're equally developed. Fat is more stubborn in that area and is one of the last places to go. Do large ROM exercises. Use the Roman Chair and work up to full ROM situps. That will work the entirety of your abs.

makes sense. I'm bulking so I'll have to kiss that goodbye for now. Thanks man

 

[brikis98]

If your problem is that your lower abs aren't as visible as the upper ones, then that is simply a matter of body fat percentage. Most men tend to retain more fat in the lower stomach than the upper, so to have the lower abs fully visible, you need to get your body fat percentage quite low. If your problem is that your lower abs don't get as sore as your upper abs, then that is misleading. Soreness is not a good indicator of the effectiveness of your workout and does not mean your lower abs aren't getting worked.

Finally, if your problem is that your lower abs are weaker and it is affecting your performance in some activity, then here are some exercises that will help:

* L sits
* L pull-ups
* Hollow rock
* Knee raises or knees to elbows
* Leg raises
* Leg raise with l sit pauses during each rep
* GHD or roman chair sit-ups (start very light with these as they can produce debilitating soreness)

 

[SociallyChallenged]

makes sense. I'm bulking so I'll have to kiss that goodbye for now. Thanks man

No worries, man. Hope it works out when you cut next.

 

[Koing]

Do dragon flags or ab roll outs strictly and your abs get a beasting in general. If you don't do them strict it isn't the same. They are very good ab exercises imo.

Lots of good exercises in this thread to boot. Can you hold an L sit for 30seconds?

Koing

 

[darkxshade]

On a similar subject, anyone know a good workout for the obliques? I only know of one and getting bored of it.

 

[polarmystery]

Do dragon flags or ab roll outs strictly and your abs get a beasting in general. If you don't do them strict it isn't the same. They are very good ab exercises imo.

Lots of good exercises in this thread to boot. Can you hold an L sit for 30seconds?

Koing

Yeah I can hold an L sit for 30 seconds. I tried some of the other mentioned exercises on Sunday at the gym. They worked well but I still didn't feel that tightness like I usually do but I'm trying not to worry about it.

On a similar subject, anyone know a good workout for the obliques? I only know of one and getting bored of it.

If you have good flexibility, try doing wipers. Floor wipers or hanging from a bar and doing them. The latter requires significantly more flexibility than the floor version though.