Sculpt your lower abs with this four-move bodyweight workout
Fat on the lower stomach can be harder to shift, but these exercises will help strengthen and tone your abdominals
If you’re still trying to work on your six-pack — maybe you’ve tried doing 100 crunches a day, like I did for a week and have started eating in a calorie deficit to lower your body fat — it’s important not to abandon exercising your lower abs too. Don’t worry, it’s not a whole load of exercises you need to add to your workout regime. In fact, this workout only has four moves and you don’t need any equipment either — result!
The lower ab area can be prone to holding stubborn fat, which can be difficult to shift and, sadly, we can’t choose where our body loses fat. However, Healthline says that while ab exercises will help to strengthen and tone your abdominals, “the only way to lose fat on your lower stomach is to lose fat overall.” What can help with this? Eating in a calorie deficit. Do this, alongside these exercises and you’re more likely to see better results.
For this workout, you need to pick four out of the six exercises to do from the list below. Whichever ones you decide to choose, you’ll need to do 10 to 12 reps of each with a 15 second rest between each set (if you need 20 we won’t judge). You want to aim to do three to four rounds in total and you get a longer rest in between each round — 45 to 60 seconds. Here’s your exercises:
- Reverse crunch
- Jackknife
- Heel taps
- Flutter kicks
- Seated leg raises
- Seated knee tuck
Make sure you take your time and don't rush your exercises, so you feel your core really engaging. For the exercises that require you to lie completely on your back, remember to tilt your pelvis in towards you, so it’s completely flat to the floor and there’s no arch underneath. Make sure you have something comfy underneath you, like a yoga mat (the Gaiman mat is a brilliant budget buy) otherwise, your form will most likely be off and you won't perform the exercise properly.
