Show Your Lower Belly Who’s the BOSS!
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The lower belly can often be a difficult area to tone. Don’t be discouraged! There are several exercises that can target core muscle groups and tighten your lower abdomen.
Most good abdominal workouts include at least one plank exercise. Plank exercises develop abdominal muscles, and also strengthen the back and shoulders, affecting your posture. A straight posture pulls in your stomach, making it appear flatter. A rolling plank begins in a typical plank position, but you’ll then rotate to one side into a side plank and hold for ten seconds, then switch to the other in order to tone your obliques as well.
A Mountain climber exercise is great for your lower abdominal muscles because your core has to work hard to keep you stable. It also targets your hamstrings and quads, as well as your gluteus. You will be working each of these muscles as you bring your knee to the opposite elbow. Performing cross-body mountain climbers will certainly make you feel accomplished when you’ve completed a few!
Roll-Ups make your deep psoas muscle work hard. The psoas is found in your stomach and attaches to your spine. It is part of your body’s hip flexor muscle group. When you perform a roll-up, you’ll lie flat on your back with your legs together and roll gently yet powerfully upward until you are sitting up with your forehead close to your knees. Since you will be rolling up one vertebra at a time, you will work your deep core muscles through the entirety of this move. This sit up strengthens the psoas and improves posture as well.
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RELATED ARTICLE: Cross Kick Your Core Into Shape
It is well-known that jackknife exercises were designed to tone abs. These moves tone the rectus abdominal muscles that comprise the row of muscles running up the front of your core. A toned rectus abdominal improves posture and when there is little to no fat covering them, they give a “six-pack” appearance. The swiss ball jackknife uses a Swiss ball, also known as a stability ball. This training aid has been used for years to enhance core workouts. Rest your skins on the ball, then roll the ball toward the chest using your feet, then return to the starting position. This movement works the abdominal muscles and using the ball further enhances the core workout.
Most of us sit for a good portion of the day. Utilizing a pull-up bar is a great way to tone your core and relieve the pressure on your lower back. When you perform exercises such as the hanging leg raise you will work your ab muscles and hip flexors. This will improve posture and strengthen your core. While hanging from a chin-up bar, you’ll need to bend your knees and then bring them to your chest while bending at the hip. When you do this and then bring your legs back slowly to the starting position, you’ll be working those tricky lower abdominal muscles.
Performing these exercises regularly, eating well, and completing cardiovascular exercise will help you obtain the toned look you desire. You’re sure to see improvement in both your body and your self-esteem!
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