Training The Lower Abdominals

There are two basic areas of confusion when it comes to abdominal training. The first of these is that of the much sought after lower abdominals. Many folks (including my new personal training clients) say that their upper abdominals are starting to really show, but the lower abdominals are not coming in at all regardless of how much training they do. These are also usually the same folks that are always on the lookout for the miracle lower abdominal exercise.

But if you look at the anatomical picture of the abdominals found here (clients only), you can clearly see that the rectus abdominus is a single muscle running from sternum to pelvis. The lower abdominals do not exist.

The reason that the lower abdominal area seems to take forever to show is not because of your abdominal training but because mother nature has chosen the lower abdominal region as one of here favorite fat storage areas. I know, it sucks.

So long story short, the lower abdominals ARE getting trained from all that time in the gym it’s just that you can’t see them under the fat! Just to prove a point, try this: lie on the floor and get ready to do some abdominal crunches. Take one of your hands and put it on your lower abdominal area and the other on your upper abs. Now slowly do a proper crunch and curl up vertebrae by vertebrae so that your sternum and pelvis are closing towards each other. You will feel both areas contract at the same time as you curl up.

I’m going to go into this in depth in the next newsletter about the second issue in regards to abdominal development but what I want you to take away from this information is that seeing your lower abs or definition in any muscle for that matter is a matter of reducing body fat and not finding that one wonder exercise that will make your muscles show.

[tags]ab workout,abdominals,abdominal training,lower abdominals[/tags]