What exercises target the lower abs (post pregnancy flab)

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  • lickmybaconcakes
    lickmybaconcakes Posts: 1,063 Member
    Predominantly lower abdominal exercises: lying down leg raises, V sit ups,captain chairs and bicycles(slowly)
  • GSCPostBaby
    GSCPostBaby Posts: 111 Member
    Firstly, it is impossible to lose weight in one area alone, however you can tone only a particular area. The only problem there is that you will undoubtedly put a lot of time and effort into a killer six pack that nobody will be able to see because it will still be covered in fat.

    I have two children and have personally hit this irritating fitness wall before. It's very disheartening. No matter what you do the results just don't seem to come.

    These things take time. Get rid of the extra fat through diet and exercise and incorporate a variety of strength training into your fitness program to firm up your whole body.

    Though above I said you can spot tone, I don't recommend it. It's a cheaters way out of doing a full workout. The body works in sets of twos. Every muscle group has it's opposite partner which needs to be developed equally in order to get ideal results. My husband is a great example of this. He struggled for years to develop his chest and it just never happened the way he wanted. Once he started putting more time into his arms and back, however, his chest began to bulk the way he wanted.

    Remember, it took months for you to put the weight on, so don't expect miracles overnight.

    As far as ab exercises go, I incorporate both long and short movements as well as obliques into my workout. Some of my favorites are ball passes, Russian twists, extended leg lifts on a table (which you need to be careful when doing or you'll hurt your back), bicycles, ball crunches. I also do about 6-8 other exercises to keep things changed up but I don't like them as much as these. :tongue:

    The other important thing to remember is that all muscles are created equal. You wouldn't do bicep curls every day without a rest and you shouldn't work abs ever day either. The body builds muscle as it is torn down, that's how you get fit, toned and defined, by making your body build new muscle through working out. Therefore, if you're working a muscle group every day, you're just tearing down and tearing down and your body can't possibly repair and build fast enough to keep up. You will actually end up with negative results and possibly weaker muscles. I work my abs ever time I strength train which is two days on, one day off, two days on one day off (which if you ask some trainers is still too often) which ends up being 4-5 days a week depending on how it falls.

    You should increase your protein intake also, so your body has something to make the muscle out of.