One of the cool things about working out your abs is that there are a variety of ways to exercise your stomach, and most people try to focus on their lower abs because it’s the hardest area to develop.  These are a few recommended lower abs exercises that really work for me and several people that we’ve helped train.  You can implement these exercises to your daily/weekly fitness routine and use any intensity that you are currently using for your other workouts.

Lower Abs Exercises

Hanging Leg Lifts:
This exercise is done by hanging on a tower and lift your legs while using your forearms and hands to stabilize you.  It’s done by bending your legs and trying to hit your chest with your knees.  This exercise is very effective for developing your abs, but it will not help burn abdominal fat since this kind of exercise does not burn fat. I do about 4 sets of 20 reps each, and sometimes add ankle weights for added resistance (which is recommended for speedy results).  You can do this exercise if you are a novice or enthusiast, very beneficial.

Laying Leg Raises:
One of my favorite exercises for abs, lay on your back and straighten out your legs straight up and then drop them at an easy pace, and raise them when they are just above the ground.  You can do this by yourself or with someone, it’s more effective when someone is throwing down your legs because it really adds resistance and blows out your abs faster than normal.  I do about 20 reps and 4 sets about 2-3 times per week.

Medicine Ball Raises:
A little bit tougher exercise, like laying leg raises you lay on your back, keep legs straight up, holding the ball above and behind your head, then raise and reach your toes with the medicine ball, this works both your upper abs and lower abs. I do 10 reps of 2 sets and then continue on with other workouts, this is my last abs exercise but is a highly recommended workout to rip out your stomach.

These lower abs exercises have worked for me and many others, just remember that like other muscles groups, you shouldn’t work your abs out so much since they are very sensitive and need to recover moreso than other groups.  It’s absolutely vital to eat right when focusing on your abs so eat healthy every day. Getting plenty of sleep also helps regenerating your muscles so 8 hours of sleep per night can prove to be quite important.

Doesn’t it feel like we just get hammered everyday about the new “fat burner pill” that supposedly burns away fat fast? Most fat burner pills are just hyped up scams, and you know what, eventually they go out of business.  Tell me something, if it really worked, would these companies ever go out of business? The short answer is “No,” so if pills don’t work, what does?  There are lots of people who live busy lives and simply don’t have the time needed to dedicate the promotion of a fit body, so they turn to “the next big thing.”  The best way to lose weight in a week is by eating smart, I know we’ve all heard the same story over and over, but can’t we handle the truth?  It’s hard to accept the fact that the food we eat is what shapes our bodies, “You are what you eat” right?

I mention eating smart because it’s not exactly like you are starving yourself, or eating only super healthy food, you can still eat the foods you love only more efficiently.  If you need to lose lots of weight fast (in a week lets say) you must understand that it must be for a special event, as this doesn’t work for long term, but it is an effective way to improve your appearance for that special day.

What we’re talking about here is what’s called Calorie Shifting, ever heard of this? It’s when you eat certain foods at certain times of the day based on how your body is.  So lets say for example I currently weight 190 pounds and I want to lose the most weight possible in one week.  I would then conclude that my body naturally burns about 2,300 calories day, with calorie shifting I can consume 1,400 calories one day then 2,500 the next day and cross alternate throughout the week in certain intervals so that I trick my body thinking that I’m eating over 2,500 calories everyday, forcing my metabolism to burn a lot more than calories than I actually take in. Yup it’s just that simple, to learn everything you need to know about calorie shifting check out Calorie Shifting For Weight Loss.

Another best way to lose weight in a week would be to heat up your body.  Do this by elevating your heart rate daily by either doing 10 minute intense cardio workouts, or 5 minutes of moderate resistance training with simple dumbbells, contracting your muscles and moving light weights at higher intensities yields a lot more rewards than doing “normal workouts.”  These kinds of exercises tricks your muscles and confuses them, forcing them to constantly be adapting  to a “new” behavioral environment. I’m a big of fan of elevating my metabolism, honestly because it really is the only way to get six pack abs, for details look up How To Get Six Pack Abs.

Have you tried that new fad diet for weeks and have yet to see any results? Or how about that new fat burner pill that seems to be all the rage? Guys lets face it, most of those products are geared toward people who aren’t well educated about how the human body burns energy.  Our bodies are very unique, they are driven by energy (calories) and our metabolism is the machine that helps burn away that energy.  When a person successfully loses weight it technically means that person raised his metabolism to a point where it burned off more energy than the body consumed.  Essentially meaning, the higher your metabolism drives, the more (fat) you will lose. This is where High Intensity Interval Training really shines.

Now most people consider training as “going out for a jog” or “pumping some iron” but try to consider training to be much more than.  For me, training is going all out for about 15 minutes, pushing my body to it’s limits, reaching new and unheard of heights.  This is what High Intensity Interval Training is all about.  It’s about working out HARD, for a very short time, and seeing results much faster than if you were to “just go out for a jog.”  How does one go about practicing this? In short, just intensify your workouts.

Instead of jogging for 30 minutes, you have the option to (HIIT) for about 10 minutes and yield higher rewards than simply just jogging.  To perform HIIT, warm up jog for three minutes and then sprint all out for 30 seconds, then repeat for 6 more minutes.  This confuses your body because you’ve never done this before, it’s trying to adapt to this behavior of yours, and it’s doing that by constantly using fat as fuel for several hours after you are done performing the exercise, I like to call it the ’short and sweet’ exercise.

Who is high intensity interval training for? It isn’t for everyone, but most people can benefit from this sort of exercise as it gives you more energy throughout the day and really wakes you up. HIIT is mostly for people that need to shed the weight fast for special events such as weddings, or for people who simply want to transform their appearance in the shortest time possible.  It’s safe and very effective. It’s recommended to refuel your body each time you do HIIT with carbs, proteins, and some fats.  Don’t forget to look up the most important aspect about losing weight: Foods That Burn Belly Fat.