5 Moves That’ll Set Those Lower Abs On Fire

 

Milan2099 / Jonathan Knowles / Getty Images; Graphic by Valerie Fischel

For as many ways as there are to work your abdominal muscles, the lower abs are notoriously difficult to target. The upper abs and obliques get all the love from many popular exercises, but there are ways to share the burn—and you should.

“The core is sort of your power center for your body, and if you ignore a portion of it, something’s going to become overactive,” says Jason Loebig, Nike Elevated trainer and ambassador for HI-VIBE, a Chicago-based superfood juicery. Since the core plays such an important role in stabilizing your body, you want to make sure you’re training the whole thing, rather than letting other parts of your core take on the bulk of the work. Long hours spent at a desk don’t help either–according to Loebig, this tightens up the our hip flexors and lower back, which can cause them to be overactive (and further take away from the work your lower abs should be doing). 

Focusing on engaging the core can help counteract these imbalances—one way to do this is simple diaphragmatic breathing, says Loebig. “Start laying down on your back and take some deep breaths through the belly. If you put your right hand on your chest and your left hand on your belly, your left hand should be rising and falling. Each time you exhale, you want to engage your abs like you’re going to take a punch to the gut.”

This starts to warm up your core, so you can bring on the real work, no matter what type of abs exercises you’re doing. If you’re looking to target your lower abs, work these five exercises into your routine for a serious challenge.

1. Scissor Switch

Whitney Thielman

• Start on your back with your legs straight and arms reaching over head.
• Extend the right leg as you curl up off the shoulder blades and reach for the calf or thigh. Staying in a curled position, switch legs. 

2. Plank Hops

Whitney Thielman

• Begin in high plank with the feet together.
• Tighten abs, and jump your feet to the right, bringing your knees toward your right elbow.
• Jump your feet back to plank and repeat on the opposite side.

3. Mountain Climbers

Whitney Thielman

• Start in high plank and draw your right knee under your torso, keeping the toes off the ground.
• Return your right foot to starting position.
• Switch legs and bring your left knee under your chest. Keep switching legs as if you’re running in place.

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