lower stomach workout question

batgirlchristy

whats some exercise besides situps to do to workout the lower stomach, I can not at all get motivated doing situp, any other ideas, thanks

chonji4ever

I hate situps too! Try doing planks. I do them resting on my elbows, and they hit your whole core. Start out with several 10 second sets and build up in time from there. They help flatten the stomach a lot. Focus on holding the body perfectly straight. You might feel some pain in the lower back until the muscles start getting stronger. Do them once or twice a week.

queenliz99

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

GoldenSunRise79

Hello I know that I am very new here...but who ever came across the iifym calculator site NICE FIND!! I am going to try it for the weight loss aspect...when I calculated my tdee...I was emailed almost immediately with my macro # (calories per day)!! Wondering if I could use My Fitness Pal to keep track of my new daily calorie intake per day?

Ws2016

Planks. You'll hate 'em, but they're good for you.

ninerbuff

chonji4ever wrote: »

I hate situps too! Try doing planks. I do them resting on my elbows, and they hit your whole core. Start out with several 10 second sets and build up in time from there. They help flatten the stomach a lot. Focus on holding the body perfectly straight. You might feel some pain in the lower back until the muscles start getting stronger. Do them once or twice a week.

Exercise doesn't "flatten" a stomach out. Calorie deficit does. Planks are great for conditioning the core, but of course that the muscle underneath and doesn't affect the fat on top of it.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

tulips_and_tea

True, reducing calorie intake and losing body fat is the first step, but I don't do sit ups, either. Planks are the way to go. Once you master the basic plank start doing the many variations. They are much harder than they look.

StealthHealth

GoldenSunRise79 wrote: »

Hello I know that I am very new here...but who ever came across the iifym calculator site NICE FIND!! I am going to try it for the weight loss aspect...when I calculated my tdee...I was emailed almost immediately with my macro # (calories per day)!! Wondering if I could use My Fitness Pal to keep track of my new daily calorie intake per day?

This is what I do. I don;t use the MFP calculated calories at all (or their macros). also, after working with a new cal target for a few weeks I will, if required, tweak them up or down to achieve the results I'm looking for.

mochachichi

Hey Christie....good news if you don't like situps...you can go ahead and dump them! (you're welcome) Situps aren't really the best for working the stomach anyway and they really do a better job at working your hip flexors, which you probably don't want.

The "stomach" can pack in a lot of different muscles depending on what you mean by that word but if you want to work the "stomach" let's get the whole core involved. All the muscles in the core/ab area will do one of 4 things....*Stabilize the spine *Flex the spine *rotate the spine *extend the hips so you want to do exercises that do one of those 4 things.

Stabilize the spine=how about some planks
Flex the spine=try some crunches
Rotate the spine-=that would be a russian twist or an oblique crunch or a med ball lift and chop like seen here
http://www.ideafit.com/exercise-library/balance-training

Extend the hip=do some good old glute bridges.

Do exercises that do those 4 things and you are set up with a world class ab/core routine...and not a situp in the bunch! That's cool huh?

By the way...the lower "stomach" that you refer to is the Rectus Abdominus and it attaches at the crest of your pubis at one end all the way up to your ribs at the other end. There isn't really a lower stomach. It's all one muscle...kind of like your biceps...it's only one muscle so just like there isn't a lower stomach, there isn't a lower bicep.

Have fun and mix it up. With so many choices there;s no need to have a stale ab routine

chonji4ever

ninerbuff wrote: »

chonji4ever wrote: »

I hate situps too! Try doing planks. I do them resting on my elbows, and they hit your whole core. Start out with several 10 second sets and build up in time from there. They help flatten the stomach a lot. Focus on holding the body perfectly straight. You might feel some pain in the lower back until the muscles start getting stronger. Do them once or twice a week.

Exercise doesn't "flatten" a stomach out. Calorie deficit does. Planks are great for conditioning the core, but of course that the muscle underneath and doesn't affect the fat on top of it.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Flatten is the correct term. Flattening and fat loss are two completely different discussions. Planks helps improve the posture by strengthening the core muscles that straighten the body, thereby flattening the stomach. The question was about how to exercise the lower stomach muscles.