If you want to thicken your abs and bolster your abdominal muscles, you need to work on each muscle of the core, especially the lower abs.
Lower abs are hard to reveal as they lie under the stomach, where the fats are stored. Revealing lower abs requires you to reduce body fat percentage and train consistently.
You can lower your body fats by consuming a calorie-deficit diet. Excluding highly processed and high-calorie foods and including low-calorie foods into your weight loss diet program can help you shed some kilos.
Moreover, doing some isolation core exercises that primarily hit the lower abdomen can help you achieve a better abdominal shape.
In this article, I’ve shared the best lower ab workouts to help you bolster your core and build six-pack abs.
You can do most of the exercises at home using your body weight.
14 Best Lower Ab Exercises for Men to Build Six-Pack Abs
- Crunch Kicks
- Lying Leg Raises
- Reverse crunches
- Hanging Leg Raises
- Ab Wheel Roller
- Mountain Climbers
- Toe Tap Crunches
- Flutter kicks
- V-up crunches
- Knee to elbow touching plank
- High Knees
- Static Leg Raise Hold
- Air plunge
- Bicycle crunch
Let’s see how to perform each exercise step-by-step:
1. Crunch Kicks
Level: Beginner
Benefits: Isolate the lower abs and deepest abdominal muscles, the transverse abdominis.
How to do it: Sit upright with your arms straight at your sides and legs extended before you. Slightly lean your torso back and lift your legs off the floor. Bring your knees toward your stomach until your abs are engaged. Pause for a moment, then return to the start.
Reps and sets: Three sets of 15 to 20 reps.
2. Leg Raise
Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Benefits: Bolsters the lower abs and build a firm core.1 Park DJ, Park SY. Which trunk exercise most effectively activates abdominal muscles? A comparative study of plank and isometric bilateral leg raise exercises. J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil. 2019;32(5):797-802. doi:10.3233/BMR-181122
How to do it: Lie on your back, keeping your body straight and your hand just under the butt. Lift your legs while your back on the floor. Pause for a moment, then return to the start.
Reps and sets: Perform two sets of 10 to 15 reps.
3. Reverse Crunches
Level: Beginner
Benefits: Strike the lower abdomen effectively without putting too much stress on the lower back like the standard crunches do.
How to do it: Lie on your back with your legs straight and arms lying on the floor under the butt. Lift your legs, bend your knees, and bring them as close as to your chest while ensuring that you feel the tension in your abs. Hold for a second, then extend your legs to return to the start.
Reps and sets: Shoot for three sets of 15 to 30 reps.
4. Hanging Leg Raises
Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Benefits: Forges the entire abs, including the rectus abdominis, obliques, and transverse obliques. It also helps build up grip strength and chiseled forearms.
How to do it: Grab the pull-up bar firmly and hang on it with your arms shoulder-width apart. Brace your abdomen and lower body, and raise your legs until they are parallel to the ground. Hold for a brief moment, then return to the start.
Sets x Reps: Aim for two to three sets of 8-10 reps.
Alternate exercises: The best pull-up bar core exercises.
5. Ab Wheel Roller
Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Benefits: The wheel rollout provides an excellent stretch to the abs when you roll the wheel forward and elicits decent activation in your core when you roll it back. Adding it to your core workout routine may help you build ripped abs.
How to do it: Grab a wheel, sit on your knees, and keep your arms straight below your chest. Roll forward as far as possible, pause for a second, then roll it back.
Sets x Reps: Aim for two to three sets of 5-8 reps.
6. Mountain Climbers
Level: Beginner
Benefits: Strengthens the core, enhances cardiovascular fitness, and helps flatten your stomach. You can also do it as a warm-up exercise to increase the body temperature and heart rate before lifting weights.
How to do it: Start in a high plank position, arms below your shoulders and body straight from the top to the bottom. Bring your knees in alternatively at a moderate pace.
Sets x Reps: Perform for two to three sets of 15-20 seconds.
7. Toe Tap Crunches
Level: Intermediate
Benefits: Toe-touch crunches bolster both the upper and lower abs and help build a firm core.
How to do it: Lie on the mat with your face up. Lift your legs until they are straight over your hips. Keep your arms straight and lift your torso to touch your toes.
Sets x Reps: Perform for two to three sets of 8-12 reps.
8. Flutter Kicks
Level: Beginner
Benefits: Reinforce the abdominal muscles, especially the lower abs, strengthen the lower body, and help burn quick calories.
How to do it: Lie on your back with extended legs and keep your hands down under the glutes for support. Flutter your legs alternately at a moderate pace until you feel the burn in your abs.
Sets x Reps: Aim for two to three sets of 15-20 seconds.
9. V-up Crunches
Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Benefits: V-up crunches strike all the abs muscles, including the lower abs, upper abs, and obliques. It also increases explosiveness and mobility and helps thicken six-pack abs.
How to do it: Start by lying on the floor with your legs extended and arms straight behind your head. Raise your legs and arms until they meet over your hips. Hold for a second, then return to the initial position. That’s one rep.
Sets x Reps: Perform two to three sets of 5-10 reps.
10. Knee Cross Plank Crunches
Level: Intermediate
Benefits: The cross knee plank crunches elevate heart rate, improve aerobic fitness, and strengthen and tone the stomach.
How to do it: Get into a high plank position with your arms straight underneath your shoulder. Brace your core and bring your right knee toward the left elbow, return, and then repeat on the other side. Do it at a medium pace.
Sets x Reps: Aim for two to three sets of 15-20 seconds.
11. High Knees
Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Benefits: High-knee is an aerobic exercise that works the entire body, including the lower abdomen. It is also good for torching calories at a quick pace and enhancing cardiovascular fitness.
How to do it: Stand upright with your feet together. Raise your knees alternatively as high as possible and do it for the desired times.
Sets x Reps: Perform two to three sets of 10-20 seconds.
12. Hollow Body Hold
Level: Intermediate
Benefits: The hollow body hold is an isometric exercise that bolsters the abdominal strength, increase core muscle endurance, and improve the appreance of your abs.
How to do it: Lie on the floor with your legs extended and arms straight behind your head. Brace your core, lift your legs and arms off the floor, and hold in the position for as long as possible.
Sets x Reps: Perform two to three sets of 10-15 seconds.
13. Air Plunge
Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Benefits: Air plunge is an advanced exercise that reinforce the core, improve mobility, and helps shape the abs.
How to do it: Lie on your back with your arms resting on the floor and legs straight over your hips. Bring your knees toward your stomach until your abs are fully engaged. Pause for moment then extend your legs back to the start. That’s one rep.
Sets x Reps: Perform two to three sets of 8-12 reps.
14. Bicycle Crunch
Level: Intermediate
Benefits: It engage both the upper and lower abdominal muscles and help strengthen and tone the entire core.
How to do it: Start with lying on the floor with your legs extended. Bend your elbows and keep your hands behind your head. Lift your legs off the floor with your knees above your hips. Now, bring your knees alternatively in (pedaling motion) toward your chest for as many times as possible.
Sets x Reps: Aim for two to three sets of 10-12 reps.
The Best 15-Minute Lower Ab Workout for Men
Example 1
- Crunch Kicks (15 seconds)
- Lying Leg Raises (10 reps)
- Reverse crunches (15 reps)
- Hanging Leg Raises (8-10 reps)
- Ab Wheel Roller (5-6 reps)
- Perform as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes
Example 2
- Mountain Climbers (15 seconds)
- Toe Tap Crunches (8-10 reps)
- Flutter kicks (15 seconds)
- V-up crunches (8-10 reps)
- Knee to elbow touching plank (15 seconds)
- Do as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes
Example 3
- High Knees (15 seconds)
- Static Leg Raise Hold (10 seconds)
- Air plunge (8-10 reps)
- Bicycle Crunch (8-10 reps)
- Forearm Plank (45-90 seconds)
- Perform as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes
Final Thoughts
Having six-pack abs and maintaining them is a difficult task. Firstly, You need to lower your body fat to reveal your six-pack abs. To achieve this, you should mainly focus on diets.
You can’t have visible lower abs if you have a high body fat percentage. But with a proper diet and the above exercises, you can forge your lower abs and build a sturdy core.
References
- 1Park DJ, Park SY. Which trunk exercise most effectively activates abdominal muscles? A comparative study of plank and isometric bilateral leg raise exercises. J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil. 2019;32(5):797-802. doi:10.3233/BMR-181122
