Toning your lower abs is important for more reasons than to have a sleek, attractive body. While that is important to many, your lower ab workout is important to your overall heat and well being. Strong, toned lower abdominal muscles are important for spinal stability and the prevention of lower back injury. Even if you are not particularly concerned about the aesthetics of toning that lower abs, be sure to include lower ab workouts in your exercise routine for these health-related reasons.
Pitfalls
The exercises designed to work the lower abdominal muscles are very easy to do wrong. They are the set of exercises for which you must concentrate the most in order to be sure you are doing them correctly. This is because any exercise in your lower ab workout can be done without ever using an abdominal muscle. When doing crunches or bicycles, be sure to focus on using your abdominal muscles, and not your back; otherwise, you will see no progress from your workout.
The Proper Equipment
Magazines and television ads are full of equipment you can buy to help you with your lower ab workout. Rollers, rockers, and slides are abundant and are advertised by fit, healthy people demonstrating how these gadgets help you get into shape. Save your money. What you need for a healthy workout is a mat or carpet to protect your back, comfortable clothes, a water bottle, and the knowledge of what exercises to do and how to do them. Do not let anyone convince you that you have to spend a lot of money to get fit.
Tips for Success
In order to ensure positive results from your lower ab workout, follow a few important steps when working through your exercise regimen. First of all, breathe. This may sound silly, but pay attention during your workout see how often you catch yourself holding your breath. Your muscles need a steady flow of oxygen in order to work properly. More isn't better. If you are doing 100 or more crunches per day, you are likely not seeing the results you are expecting. Thirty carefully controlled reps each day will give you much more of what you want. Don't rush your workout. Slow, deliberate movements work your muscles more effectively than quick, jerky ones.
What Works
A lower ab workout is done primarily lying on the floor. First, lie face down, and slowly, deliberately use your abdominal muscles to pull your navel toward your spine. Release and repeat. Then, on your back, push your lower back to the floor, then release. Abdominal leg lowering, again in slow, deliberate movements, should cause tension in your abdomen, not your back. After these, the plank, done on your elbows and toes, and bicycles are excellent exercises to include in your regular lower ab workout.
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