Lower Stomach Exercises

Lower Stomach Exercises

An important and sometimes neglected step in stomach exercise routines is isolating particular muscles within the abdominal group. One such set of muscles which needs isolation in order to be exercised properly are the muscles in the lower stomach. There are a number of stomach exercises which isolate and work these muscles. As with any workout routine, be sure to consult a professional before beginning and always warm up properly to avoid injury.

Crunchless Crunch
This first exercise is fairly simple but can also be fairly difficult. Essentially, it involves trying to pull the belly button in towards the spine. This can be tricky, as it involves using muscles which you may not be used to activating. To start, either lie or on your stomach or kneel. You might want to try both ways and see which helps you feel the exercise better. Relax your body as much as possible, then try to use only the lower abdominals to move your belly button toward your spine. Hold for ten seconds. If holding for ten seconds feels easy, hold for a longer period. The goal is to hold the contraction until you either cannot feel it, or you feel other muscles working harder than the transverse abdominus. When you feel this, let the contraction out.

Alternating Toe Touch
You will need to lie on a flat surface for this stomach exercise. The floor works best, using a mat or towel to cushion the spine. Lie on the floor and put your feet up in the air. Extend your right arm and use your lower abdominals to lift your shoulders off the floor. Touch your left toes with your right hand, then lower yourself back down. Switch hands and repeat. Keep your knees straight throughout and maintain a space between your chin and chest.

Sit-Up Hold
While you are still on the floor, try this stomach exercise. Bend your knees so your feet are flat on the floor and position your hands behind your head. Keep your elbows back so you cannot see them-- do not put them alongside your head. Use your lower abdominals to lift your shoulders off the floor. Hold for ten seconds. You may increase the number of seconds you hold as it gets easier. Be sure to lift with your abdominals and not with your arms or neck.

Lower Back Flatten
This stomach exercise is a good natural progression from the sit-up hold, as it starts from the same basic position: lying down, knees bent, feet flat. You may have noticed when you did the previous exercise that there is a natural space between your lower back and the floor, created by the curve of your spine. In this exercise, you want to use your lower abdominals to push your lower back toward the floor and eliminate this space. Try to focus on pushing with only your lower abdominals and not your legs. Your pelvis will rotate slightly, which is fine so long as the lower abdominals are doing the work. Once you have got your back flat to the floor, hold the contraction for ten seconds. Again, you should continue to build on this time as your stomach muscles gain strength and endurance.

BONUS : Low Carbohydrate Diet

A low carbohydrate diet can go a long way to helping you lose weight and feel healthier. This article will give you a deeper understanding of how low-carb diets work, how they can help, and a few other useful pointers you should keep in mind before and while you are on this style of diet.

Carbohydrates are found mostly in foods such as bread and pasta. When your body performs a task, the carbohydrates you’ve consumed are fuelling it. If, however, you consume more carbohydrates than the body utilizes, these are converted into fat and weight gain is the result. So taking on a low carbohydrate diet that removes the bread and pasta, replacing them with high-protein foods such as meat, soy products and green vegetables can lessen the amount of fat the body usually produces.

A low carbohydrate diet can be risky, as the body requires carbs in order to have energy. Reducing the levels of carbs in the body might have a negative impact on the health of a dieter, so always be careful before taking on a diet such as this. Remember that under no circumstances should you put your well being at risk in order to lose weight. The body has a need for at least a small amount of carbs every day, and you can do permanent damage to your body if you go crazy with a diet like this. The best thing to do would be to see a doctor before starting with your plan, as he or she will be able to advise you on the best course of action.

Remember that no matter how successful a low carbohydrate diet is for you, the time will come when you’ll want to stop dieting and go back to eating foods that are higher in carbs. This will mean that there’s a risk you’ll be putting the weight you lost back on again, and losing all the fruits of your good work. The point is this: Taking on a diet, even one that works well, will not cure you for the rest of your life. Staying healthy requires a constant effort every day to resist eating too many unhealthy foods, and to keep you in shape.

One of the reasons low-carb diets have become so popular in recent years is that they allow you to eat foods that still might be high in fat and protein. The beginning of this low carbohydrate diet fad, with the Atkins diet, had celebrities claiming they could lose weight while still eating pork chops and hamburgers. To anyone thinking seriously about their health, this should set off alarm bells and warn them away from such a course of action. No miracle diet allows you to eat unhealthy foods and lose weight without having a hidden negative effect on the body. While you might lose weight in the short term, going in a dangerous course such as this can result in serious problems later in life, and may reduce life expectancy altogether.

Having said that, a low carbohydrate diet can be beneficial and is recommended by many health professionals to reduce weight gain and improve quality of life. If you check with your doctor and listen to the signals your body sends to you, this course of action could have you feeling fitter and happier than you have in a long time.