BEST LOWER AB WORKOUT
First and foremost, before we even begin this conversation, let me clear up a common misconception.
The rectus abdominis is a single muscle group, and it’s not possible to isolate the lower belly from the rest of the abs.
But, you CAN influence the contribution of different fibers to a contraction, by working in the direction of movement of the area you’re looking to emphasize.
With this in mind I’ve built an ab workout featuring all “lower ab” movements.
This lower ab workout for men or women will cover the major functions of the lower abs by including bottom-up movements, which are some of the best for influencing lower ab muscle fiber recruitment. It will also include rotational movements which train the entire core as it’s meant to be trained.
Clocking in at only 6 minutes, this exercise routine proves that an ab workout does not have to be long to be effective! Short, intense daily ab workouts will give you a stronger core much faster, because you can make them short enough to make it easier to train the abs consistently. Here’s a preview of what’s to come. All of these are bodyweight exercises with no equipment needed, but they will be more comfortable if you use an exercise mat.
LOWER ABS WORKOUT FOR MEN
- Figure 8’s for 30 seconds
- Hands Back Raises for 30 seconds
- Twisted Pistons for 60 seconds
- Seated Ab Circles (Clockwise) for 60 seconds
- Seated Ab Circles (Counter Clockwise) for 60 seconds
- Scissor V Ups for 30 seconds
- “21” Crunch for 30 seconds
Let me show you these challenging lower ab exercises and introduce you to a powerful new tool for your ab training.
USING 6 PACK SHUFFLE FOR UNLIMITED AB WORKOUTS
To generate this lower abs workout, I’m going to be using the 6 Pack Shuffle feature that comes with all of our ATHLEAN-X programs.
6 Pack Shuffle allows you to choose a region of the abs to emphasize, so we’re going to choose the lower abs.
We’re going to choose the ‘no equipment’ option and choose level 2, and it will deal up a 6 minute lower ab workout for us.
Now you might not need any equipment for this, but you WILL need a heavy dose of determination to try and resist the burn of these abdominal exercises as you do them.
Remember, the pain from ab training is usually only temporary. As soon as you finish the exercise and the lactic acid starts to clear the abdominal muscles, you’ll feel normal again.
See if you can follow the entire lower ab workout along with me, resting when I do.
If you need extra rest, don’t be ashamed – take it. Maybe you can only do 45 seconds of one of the 60 second exercises. That’s ok, do what you can and rest for the remainder of that exercise. As you get stronger on these you will be able to do the whole thing without extra rest.
6 MINUTE LOWER AB WORKOUT
Here’s the lower ab workout the 6 Pack Shuffle feature has delivered for us for today. Remember, Shuffle can deal up a large variety of options for you depending on your requirements, so your ab workout can be different every single day.
As you complete these movements, be sure to pull in your transverse abdominis which are the deep core muscles that help to stabilize you in everyday activities. This focus on form will also help ensure you get the most out of your core workout exercise program.
1.) Figure 8’s for 30 seconds
Exercise Notes: Lie face up in starting position with your legs lifted at a 90 degree angle from the hips toward the ceiling, upper body flat on the floor with shoulder blades tucked under and hands on the floor. Try keeping your legs in a straight line as much as possible while keeping your core muscles engaged. As you make your 8, every time you come up to the top, lift your hips off the floor to clear your tailbone. Make sure to use proper form throughout the exercise.
2.) Hands Back Raises for 60 seconds
Exercise Notes: For this lower abs exercise, place your palms flat on the floor underneath your shoulders and slightly out to the sides. Slowly lift your legs with knees bent slightly in a reverse crunch motion, and crunch your upper body toward them, and then slowly lower your legs, upper and lower body moving simultaneously. Try not to lift with your legs or use your hip flexors for this move and all the exercises in this workout. Instead, make sure to engage your core throughout the entire exercise. Believe it or not, my abs are already burning at this point, so if yours are too, that’s normal.
3.) Twisted Pistons for 60 seconds
Exercise Notes: Start in forearm plank position with your arms on the floor and shoulders stacked, and extend your legs behind you with feet on the floor. Bring your legs in toward the opposite elbow, rotating in and out with your right knee moving toward your left elbow and then left knee moving toward right elbow, as you make sure to brace your core. We want this to be explosive. If you have to rest, drop to your knees and resume as quickly as possible.
30 SECONDS REST
4.) Seated Ab Circles for 60 seconds (Clockwise)
Exercise Notes: Starting position is on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you, and lean back slightly, and extend your arms out to the sides with palms flat on the floor. Be sure you are bracing your abs as you make circular motions in each direction with your legs. You can see me beginning to get tired. Check in with yourself to make sure you are getting core engagement, and that the hip flexors aren’t doing the work. If done with proper form, this exercise will hit the entire rectus abdominis and the oblique muscles.
5.) Seated Ab Circles for 60 seconds (Counterclockwise)
Exercise Notes: Starting position is sitting on the floor. Bend your knees slightly with feet flexed toward you, ensuring you’re maintaining a strong core throughout the movement. Really dig in here as you start to tire out. If necessary, close your eyes and go to your happy place.
6.) Scissor V Ups for 30 seconds
Exercise Notes: For this lower abs exercise, starting position is in a boat pose or V-pose on the floor. Scissor your right and left leg over each other in an alternating fashion as your shoulders lift up and off the floor and you crunch yourself forward. First your left foot will scissor over the right and then the right over the left. Make sure to scissor all the way down until legs are parallel to the floor, keeping legs straight as much as possible, remembering to engage your abs. At this point, it’s getting harder to lift up, but you have to just keep pushing. Remember, if you need to take a brief rest, do so and then continue.
7.) “21” Crunch for 30 seconds
Exercise Notes: For this abdominal crunch exercise starting position is lying face up on the floor with arms straight over your head. Start by bringing your left leg toward you as you crunch upward bringing your head and shoulders off the floor with your arms extended above your head. Make sure to brace your entire core and pull in your belly button as you lower the left and lift and crunch toward the right leg. Extend your right leg back down, and then finally lift and crunch toward both legs, moving arms and legs at the same time. Then, lift your left leg again to start over. In these final 30 seconds, just push as hard as you can. I know your low abs are on fire!
Why did this lower abs workout feel so difficult? Our low abs tend to be a little bit weaker, and by virtue of having to lift the weight of our legs, lower abs exercises are technically weighted exercises. Our top down movements are far less weighted and don’t have as much resistance.
Even if you had to stop and rest a few times along the way, you can use that as a measure of progress. Keep working on this routine until you don’t have to stop for rest at all.
I have given you a complete no equipment at home lower ab workout for men or women that will get you started on getting that six pack you’ve always wanted. I recommend brief daily ab workouts just like these to help you get the best results. If you’re looking for this exact 6 Pack Shuffle tool, we include it in all of our ATHLEAN-X programs.
If you want to get not only a six pack, but a complete ripped athletic physique, you need a plan to help you get there. Our programs include all the workouts and the meal plan you need to make it happen!
- The rectus abdominis is a single muscle group and it’s technically not possible to isolate the “lower abs,” but you can make exercise choices to preferentially activate this area of the abs.
- The best types of movements for emphasizing lower abs are bottom up and rotational based ab exercises.
- We’ve used the 6 Pack Shuffle feature included with all of our ATHLEAN-X programs to deal up a lower abs workout that is only 6 minutes long but extremely effective.
- Ab workouts with a lower abs emphasis are typically more difficult than other types of ab workouts because the low abs tend to be weaker, and we are hitting them with weight as we move our legs toward our core.
LOWER AB WORKOUTS FAQS
The rectus abdominis is a single muscle and it’s not possible to completely isolate the lower abs. But if you choose bottom-up movements, you can emphasize the contribution of lower ab fibers to hit this area preferentially.
The best workout for lower abs is:
- Figure 8’s for 30 seconds
- Hands Back Raises for 30 seconds
- Twisted Pistons for 60 seconds
- Seated Ab Circles (Clockwise) for 60 seconds
- Seated Ab Circles (Counterclockwise) for 60 seconds
- Scissor V Ups for 30 seconds
- “21” Crunch for 30 seconds
It’s not possible to isolate the lower 2 abs but you can hit these fibers preferentially by choosing bottom-up movements that use the weight of the lower body to challenge the abs.
The rectus abdominis is a single muscle and it’s not possible to completely isolate the lower abs. But if you choose bottom-up movements, you can emphasize the contribution of lower ab fibers to hit this area preferentially.
The rectus abdominis is a single muscle and it’s not possible to isolate the lower abs. But if you move in the direction of the lower abs with bottom-up movements, you can emphasize the contribution of lower ab fibers to hit this area preferentially.
The best ab workout routine for lower core strength hits the bottom portion of the rectus abdominis muscles. The lower abs aren't a specific muscle; rather it is a region of this entire larger muscle. You'll do an entire circuit of these effective ab exercises: Figure 8's, Hands Back Raises, Twisted Pistons, Seated Ab Circles, Scissor V-Crunches, and the "21" Crunch.
It is possible to build abdominal strength in the lower abs region with bodyweight movement alone (no stability ball, pull-up bar or cable machine necessary). It's important to note that the lower abs are not a muscle, but are just the lowest region of the abdominal muscles called the rectus abdominis. While you can't completely isolate the lower abs region, it is possible to choose core exercises that favor the lower portion of the abs.
The best abdominal workout programs for the lower portion of the abs can be done with body weight only (no need for exercises like Swiss Ball Crunches or Cable Crunches). You'll want to focus on effective exercises that emphasize the bottom and bottom-up range of motion of the abs like Figure 8's, Hands Back Raises, Twisted Pistons, Seated Ab Circles, Scissor V-Crunches, and the "21" Crunch.
While some might try to tell you otherwise, there are no specific ab exercises for belly fat. If any personal trainers tell you it's possible to spot reduce lower belly fat, run the opposite direction! If losing belly fat is one of your training goals, you'll need to focus on adopting a healthy nutrition plan first and foremost to reduce overall body fat, and in the process lose belly fat as well. Doing ab exercises will help strengthen your abs, but if there's a layer of fat covering them, you won't be able to see the muscles you're building. For ab exercises, if you are a beginner you might start with a traditional plank or standard crunches, but as your fitness levels improve, you'll want to choose more challenging and effective ab exercises that hit all major muscles of the abs including the internal and external obliques, the transverse abdominis muscles, and the entire muscle of the rectus abdominis. Once your nutrition is dialed in you can shoot for adding some cardio exercise to your training program a couple days per week such as high-intensity interval training that gets your heart rate up and helps burn fat. Outside of looking and feeling better, losing lower belly fat or even just a couple of inches off of your waist helps prevent heart disease and will improve athletic performance.
REFERENCES
Jeff Cavaliere M.S.P.T, CSCS
Jeff Cavaliere is a Physical Therapist, Strength Coach and creator of the ATHLEAN-X Training Programs and ATHLEAN-Rx Supplements. He has a Masters in Physical Therapy (MSPT) and has worked as Head Physical Therapist for the New York Mets, as well as training many elite professional athletes in Major League Baseball, NFL, MMA and professional wrestling. His programs produce “next level” achievements in muscle size, strength and performance for professional athletes and anyone looking to build a muscular athletic physique.
