Do you want to tone your lower abs? Try these exercises to sculpt your lower abdomen

For many of us, one of the most difficult spots on our bodies to slim down and drop fat from is the lower abdomen (the tummy area). Even walking, running or cycling habitually - activities that should, in any case, be integrated into everyone's weekly or daily routines - do not seem to work. In fact, we often find that the excess fat that we have on our stomach does not respond to exercise at all. If the goal is to sculpt this part of the body, then, you will have to do specific exercises aimed at the lower abdominal muscles.

In reality, the abdominals are a single unit of muscles, and it is true that there are exercises that are able to act more specifically on the lower abdomen area. Here are four of them that can be done at home:

The bicycle

Video tutorial via Bodybuilding.com

• Lie on your back on an exercise mat.
• Raise your legs to create a 90 ° angle with your shins being parallel to the floor.
• Put your arms behind your neck (you can clasp your fingers together).
• Alternately bend one leg bringing the knee up towards the chest while the other leg extends (like you are riding a bicycle).
• At the same time, lift your torso so that it almost touches your knee with the opposite elbow.
• Do the operation in reverse.
• Repeat the set about twenty times.

If this exercise seems too difficult at first, you can also just lie flat on the mat for the first few days, keeping your hips still with your hands, while imitating the pedaling motion with your legs in the air. Go on for as long as you can, even if you pedal slowly.

Raising the legs

Video tutorial via Fitwirr/YouTube

• Begin by lying on your back on the exercise mat with your arms at your sides, palms on the ground.
• The legs, initially extended with the toes extended, must be raised as much as possible, pivoting precisely with the muscles of the abdomen and groin, without lifting the pelvis or torso from the ground.
• Bring your legs together as high as you can, slowly. The ideal is to create a 90 ° angle with the torso, bringing the legs to a position vertical to the floor.
• As soon as you reach the maximum height, return to lowering your legs: all these movements must be slow and measured, without sudden jerking movements.
• Repeat 20 times.

Scissoring

Video tutorial via iri4fitness/YouTube

• Start on your back and with your arms outstretched on the floor for more stability.
• Bring your legs up as for the lifting of the previous exercise, but then lower only one of them to form an angle of about 45 ° to the floor.
• Meanwhile, the other leg should be raised a little.
• Reverse the movement, to imitate the two blades of a pair of scissors that are opened and closed.
• Repeat this set 20 times.

Raised legs hold

Video tutorial via Bobby Maximus/YouTube

This is an isometric endurance exercise:

• Begin as for the lifting of the legs exercise: this time, however, the feet are to be held suspended above the floor.
• Keeping your legs straight, lift them slightly off the floor, without moving your torso off the ground.
• Maintain this position by using your abs muscles for as long as you can, then slowly put your legs back on the floor.
• After some seconds of rest, you can try to replicate the movement, without overdoing it at the beginning and then gradually increasing the periods of resistance as you get fitter.

These are simple exercises but they are effective, and after a month, the results will be noticeable.

Always take care to perform any exercise very calmly and slowly, stopping if you feel any unwanted pain or discomfort.