Everyone wants great abs. After all, who prefers fat hanging around their waste while they walk around on the beach? However, the problem isn’t that people aren’t trying to get nice stomachs. The problem is that the methods they are using are completely ineffective. They aren’t getting to the core of the problem which further frustrates them, and soon they give up. So we will look at some ways to develop your abs, including upper ab workouts, as well as lower ab workouts.
First of all, before developing our upper and lower abs, we must understand that no matter how many techniques or exercises we perform, we will never truly be able to see our abs unless we are watching our diets. Most people think that simply doing a few upper and lower ab workouts, that their ab muscles will magically show up within a few days. Well if you’re in this boat, then you’re in for a disappoint. The very first rule to seeing your abs is watching your caloric intake, which I explain more in another post. Briefly, if you want to lose fat, you want to be burning more calories than you eat during a day. Also, the foods that you eat must be coming from good clean sources of protein, fat and carbohydrates. This is crucial if you desire to see your abs.
Next, you also want to adopt a cardio routine 3 times per week. I’m not talking about just any type of cardio, but HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). I also talk about this in detail in another post, so I won’t talk much about this here. However, just remember that doing short intense cardio sessions are more effective than doing long and lower intensity cardio. The rabbit wins in this race!
Now we will look at lower ab workouts. When doing exercises for your abs, you can target specific muscles within the abdominal area when performing different exercises. So there is no universal technique which will work out all your muscles at once. Although each exercise will influence the development of other muscles in that area because of the proximity. So here are some great lower ab workouts I find incredibly effective. Combined with other ab exercises, you will notice a major difference in your abs very quickly.
Lower Ab Workouts
Boat Raises:
Lye flat on your back and raise your arms in the air. Then slowly raise your legs in the air while trying to touch your ankles with your fingers. Try to keep your legs as straight as possible and remember to exhale while raising your legs. Hold at the top of the movement and contract your abs for 2 seconds. Then slowly lower your legs and back to starting position while taking a deep inhale. Do this for 3 sets of 12 reps.
Tip: To make this exercise more difficult you can hold a 5 lb weight plate or dumbell in your hands over your head, and then perform the same motion of raising your legs. As you progress you can add more weight.
Knee-to-Chins:
This is also a great exercise which will develop your lower abs. Start by lying flat on the floor and place your hands loosely behind your head. Begin to slowly raise your knees and try to bring your chin towards your knees while exhaling. Return to slowly to starting position while inhaling. Remember that you raise both your chin and knees towards one another simultaneously and to contract your abdominals at the top of the movement. Do this for 12 reps at 3 sets.
Tip: You can also make this exercise more difficult by holding a dumbell or plate behind your head. This exercise can also be performed on a bench.
If you are interesting in more information regarding developing your abs and also losing body fat so that you can look your best, I highly recommend Tom Venuto’s book called, “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle”. In it he describes everything you need in order to be as lean as possible. I have reviewed this program here.
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