Friday, December 5, 2008

Lower Ab Exercises Made Fun

By Gerard Lanzona

The legions of fitness men all over the world will agree that developing a well-defined midsection can be the most challenging part of working-out. Stored fat around the belly tends to be the most stubborn when trying to trim down and lose body fat. The effort of trying to get rid of love handles and a cushy tummy can get very frustrating at times and a lot of people give up.

It's the human body's natural tendency to store excess calories in the form of body fat mostly around our bellies and thighs. Having visible flab on one's physique can be quite undesirable for most folks. Henceforth, trimming-down and toning-up are the main reason professional models, actors, office-workers, and even housewives hit the gym.

Workouts can get boring quickly because most exercises require countless repetitions which become monotonous when done over long periods. This problem is even more pronounced when it comes to lower ab exercises for men because of stubborn belly fat concentrated around the lower part our midsections.

The lack of visible progress in terms of forming a six-pack is a major source of consternation for fitness buffs since time immemorial and lower ab muscles are usually the last to appear. It would make sense then for some people to do exercises that target the lower abs.

Contrary to what some may think, the upper and lower abdomen are really just one muscle, so doing lower ab exercises doesn't really isolate the lower part of the six-pack. Exercises for the upper (crunches) and lower abs (leg raises) actually develops the whole midsection. Leg raises and its different variations however, put a little bit more stress on them.

Since the monotony of exercises are the main hindrance to sticking to an ab workout program (or any exercise program for that matter), the key to developing abdominal muscles then is eliminating the boredom factor. Changing-up these lower ab exercises every now and then would be highly effective in helping you stick to your workouts by increasing the fun factor and preventing your abdominal muscles from getting 'bored'.

When our bodies adapt to a certain type of exercise, the muscles get 'bored' after a while and development slows down. We can either add more reps, or better yet, switch to other types of lower ab exercise when we start to notice lack of progress.

Choosing fun variations in lower ab exercises will make it easier to stick to a workout regimen and get the desired results in shorter amount of time.

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