When it comes to working your abs, we need to start with a few myths and truths. First, you can’t spot reduce! Like most people, when I see my waistline getting bigger than I’d like, my first thought is "I gotta start doing abs more regularly". This just plain and simply won’t take the fat off the abs! It’s mostly a feel-good measure when it comes to losing fat from the abs. Starting a program of crunches and other ab exercises will ‘tighten up’ the abs a bit and may help improve posture which will help the waist look a bit smaller, but it does next to nothing when it comes to burning fat off the mid-section. (I say it does ‘next to nothing’ because any activity does burn extra calories, and if you burn more calories than you take in, you will end up burning bodyfat, and some of that fat may come off the abdominal area). Next, you can’t isolate the ‘lower abs’. In fact, there really is no such thing as ‘lower abs’. The rectus abdominus (what we think of as the six-pack) is one long muscle that is attached at the ribcage/sternum area and at the pelvis. As with all muscles, you can’t work just one end or the other. When a muscle contracts, it contracts along its entire length.

Now lets get to the exercises. As I said above, the abs (I’m going to talk mainly about the rectus abdominus---what most people think of as their abs) are connected at the sternum/rib cage and pelvis. When the abs contract, the sternum and pelvis are drawn closer together and the spine is flexed (or rounded---the opposite of the arch I have my clients keep in their back during virtually all other exercises). During the typical crunch, the pelvis is stationary, so the sternum is being drawn toward the pelvis. To do the basic crunch, lie on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Press your lower back into the floor and cross your arms across your chest or lightly hold your head with your fingertips. Pull your bellybutton in toward your spine about halfway as far as you can and hold your abs tight. Exhale as you crunch up 3-5 inches, hold tight for 1 second, and inhale as you slowly lower yourself down. Don’t lower yourself quite all the way down though---keep your shoulders hovering about an inch above the floor to keep more tension on your abs. Remember to keep your navel in and hold your abs tight during the entire set, and keep your head in neutral position (don’t let your chin move toward your chest or nod your head on each repetition).

To do a reverse crunch, instead of lifting your shoulders off the floor, they stay stationary, and you curl your pelvis up toward your ribcage.  To start, lie on the floor with your arms on the floor along your sides and palms down.  Pull your legs up so you have a right angle at the hips and at the knees.  Curl your pelvis up toward your ribcage while holding your abs tight and holding your navel in just as you do during a regular crunch.   This can also be done in a manner similar to the hanging leg raise. Instead of just raising and lowering your knees, however, (which only works the hip flexor muscles) you should raise your knees up until there is a right angle at the hip and at the knees, and don’t change those angles during the repetitions. While keeping your legs bent at this angle, curl your pelvis up toward your ribcage. Most people doing the leg raise exercise feel like they’re working their abs, but they are mostly working them isometrically. This is a tough exercise to do if done correctly, so if it seems easy, you’re either in great shape, or doing the simple leg raise instead of the reverse crunch.

These are just a couple of the more basic ab exercises that primarily work the rectus abdominus (you know, the six-pack). For a great exercise that works the transverse abdominus (your body’s natural weight belt), check out the exercise at the bottom of the ‘Beltless’ article on my Topics page.

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