stomach exercise
Sunday, January 10th, 2010Best Stomach Exercise
I am going to start this stomach exercise portion of the blog with what I consider the best stomach exercise period. It just happens to emphasize the lower abs. Enjoy!
The lower abdominal is the most sought after goals in fitness. And in order to get a sexy looking lower abdominal you will have to have a fine blend of cardiovascular training, resistance training, proper diet and not to mention the most effective lower ab exercise.
The diet, cardiovascular training and weight training portions of your fitness routine I going to leave for another post. In this article I would like to focus on one aspect of your training. And that thing is the most efficient and most effective lower abdominal exercise.
Before I give the greatest lower abdominal exercise I would like to tell you a a little unknown training method. You can apply this to any abs exercise that you are currently using. The key is to have your hip flexors fully tightened when doing an abs exercise. Let me show you an example.
The basic crunch. Usually you lay down on your back with your feet on the ground. You then push your lower back into the floor and tighten your abdominal muscles. You make sure that you are not pulling on the head and that there is at least a couple inches between your chin and your chest to avoid injury to your neck. You perform the crunch and momentarily hold and return to the beginning. This puts more emphasis on the upper abs than lower abs.
The next evolution is the crunch with the hip flexors engaged. Begin by laying on your back and bring your feet up off the ground. Start by having a 90 degree angle at your hips and your knees. Now slightly straighten your legs (about 4 inches) while keeping your shins parallel with the floor. Now perform the same crunch. You should feel a more of a contraction in the lower abs.
To amplify the feeling in the lower abdominal muscles, start in the same position with your feet off the ground and your knees bent. Now have your exercise partner or a band pulling your feet away from your chest. This really makes you to contract your hip flexors. You will feel much more in the lower abs and you will not be able to do as many repetitions as you normally would. Try it out so you feel the difference for.
So in knowing what we know now, what is the most effective lower abdominal exercise? It is the hanging leg raise. This is a difficult exercise and you may not quite be at that level yet. But in working the lower abs it is the greatest exercise around. Here is how to do it.
Start by hanging from a pull-up bar. Contract your abs and pull your feet up about six inches not bending at the knees. This is the beginning position. Elevate your feet so your body is making an L shape. This will cause you to contract your hip flexors. Once in this position further tighten your abs so spinal flexion occurs and your feet elevate to slightly above eye level. Hold this for a second and slowly return to the starting position with your feet 6 inches forward. This is not a swinging up motion and each movement is controlled. If you notice yourself swinging you may not be strong enough for this exercise or you will have to focus on control.
Try this stomach exercise out, if done Properly you will positively know it is working.
For more great dieting tips to shred fat make sure that you check out Diet For Abs homepage. You also may want to look at the how to Lose Fat Quickly section of the blog.
