Good lower ab exercises??

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briskii93
briskii93 Posts: 2 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am looking for more exercises to tone my abs, more so the lower area. I'm looking for things I can do at home without gym equipment. I do planks, Russian twists, reverse crunches, leglifts, and side mountain climbers, but am looking for more or if anyone has a good routine that they have seen results with that would be extremely helpful!

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  • omakase619
    omakase619 Posts: 226 Member
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    Search YouTube
  • icepaw28
    icepaw28 Posts: 41 Member
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    Im doing the same thing. Im going to follow this.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    edited January 2017
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    Hanging leg raises will torch your abs if you do them right and don't just swing your legs. They're also fantastic work on grip strength and front delts. So long as you have something to grab overhead, you have all you need for them.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    If you've been doing Russian twists, reverse crunches, leg lifts, and side mountain climbers you've got the basics covered. Although @Gallowmere1984 s - hanging leg lifts are a great exercise.

    Note that, lower ab exercise will not reduce lower belly fat (not sure if that is you aim or not). If that is your goal then you diet is the important factor.
  • Michael190lbs
    Michael190lbs Posts: 1,510 Member
    edited January 2017
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    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    Hanging leg raises will torch your abs if you do them right and don't just swing your legs. They're also fantastic work on grip strength and front delts. So long as you have something to grab overhead, you have all you need for them.

    I agree I do a Pull up Crunch exercise that just destroys my abs twice a week. I use a grip where palms are facing in to get the best squeeze sets of 15 when I can't do another I hang and bicycle my legs- awesome finishing burn!! I also have a roman chair in my living room that works pretty good..
  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
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    Leg lifts or Toes to Bar are my go-tos for lower abs. The important thing with Leg Lifts is to full ROM (getting the knees to the chest) Otherwise it becomes a hip flexor exercise.

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    Hanging leg raises will torch your abs if you do them right and don't just swing your legs. They're also fantastic work on grip strength and front delts. So long as you have something to grab overhead, you have all you need for them.

    A good alternative, or a good beginner version is the captain's chair leg lifts. I also did the ab roller last night for the first time and holy crap on a cracker and I sore. And I also like lying down leg lifts.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    briskii93 wrote: »
    I do planks, Russian twists, reverse crunches, leglifts, and side mountain climbers

    You currently have a 6-pack. If you can't see it, it's hiding under a layer of fat, and possibly loose skin too. Exercises don't target fat loss or skin. For more on that, google "spot reduction myth". :+1:
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
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    If you're looking to tighten up your midsection you'll have to eat in a caloric deficit to reduce body fat. But in regards to exercises all of the above stated are great.
  • 4righteousnesssake
    4righteousnesssake Posts: 276 Member
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    Google or look up on YouTube "flutter kicks". Do a couple hundred of those after an ab workout session or as a stand alone and I qauruntee your lower abs will feel it.
    Also, give this a look. The video and folks are a little goofy, but the ab work is second to none.

    https://www.vidivodo.com/p90x-ab-ripper-x
  • LittleBeanMachine
    LittleBeanMachine Posts: 16 Member
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    I'm currently working on this myself, so I was wondering the same thing. So far in my journey, I have found using an exercise ball has been helping me. It's kinda like hanging leg lift crunches, but I can actually feel my muscles strengthening! I cross my ankles on top of the ball and extend them forward, ease them back, then roll my knees into my stomach while pulling up into a crunch with my upper body. I do 300 of these a day so far and I lost 13 pounds in 10 days so far, and my pants are getting looser!!! I do a combination of weights with these crunches, too for added impact. Keep in mind diet is a big part of it! Hope this helps!
  • Master_Butcher
    Master_Butcher Posts: 50 Member
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    Echoing Hanging Leg Raises. Superset them with Planks and your abs will be quivering by the time you're done. As don't underestimate the effect compound movements have on your core.
  • ISO905
    ISO905 Posts: 17 Member
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    For ab exercises you are looking at 3 movements...planks (and its variations) crunches and twists (russian twist, cross reaches etc) Those 3 movements will hit the abs (rectus abdominis) your internal and external obliques and muscles that stabilize the spine...the transverse abdominis. Those are the only moves that work the area directly but all those exercise can be progressed to make them more difficult

    For instance you can progress from planking from knees to quadrupeds to a regular plank to planking with one leg raised and so on.

    Crunches can be progressed from a regular crunch to crunches with arms folded across the chest to crunches with arms extended behind your head to crunches on a stability ball

    Twists can be varied by doing oblique crunches or russian twists or oblique crunches on a stability ball or lift/chops. Lots of variety.

    Leg lifts aren't really a great ab exercise because a leg lift is called a hip flexion. Other than playing a minor role in stabilizing the hip during the movement, the abs don't really play a role in hip flexion. Rather the psoas and some adductor muscles and muscle in your quadrucep play the biggest role in leg lifts. If hip flexion was a good ab exercise then it stands to reason that climbing the stairs (which is hip flexion and hip extension repeated over and over) would develop your abs.

    In general, leg lifts may not even be a good exercise for most people as many already have overactive hip flexors---especially those that have a job where you sit for extended periods of time. Some report feeling their "abs" burning during leg lifts thus concluding that they are working their abs but for the most part it is probably the psoas muscle you are feeling. It runs behind the "abs" and feels very much like an ab burn

  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
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    psuLemon wrote: »
    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    Hanging leg raises will torch your abs if you do them right and don't just swing your legs. They're also fantastic work on grip strength and front delts. So long as you have something to grab overhead, you have all you need for them.

    A good alternative, or a good beginner version is the captain's chair leg lifts. I also did the ab roller last night for the first time and holy crap on a cracker and I sore. And I also like lying down leg lifts.

    Yeap, I do CCLRs on days when my midsection is already toasted, as I do at least one ab accessory at every lifting session. The ab wheel is an absolute beast when you first start with it. I usually save that for a "screw it, I'm bored" exercise at home, and bust off 5-6 sets to failure.

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