Your lower abdominals, including your pelvic floor, and obliques both function as a stabilizer to protect your spine and organs from damage during exercise and as a mover to move your body in different directions. Proper weight-training exercises will both strengthen the muscles and improve movement patterns.
Diagonal Ball Chop
This exercise uses a medicine ball which is a weighted ball made out of a strong, non-elastic rubber. Use a ball that is between 6 and 10 lbs. Stand with your left leg in front of you and hold the ball over your left shoulder with both hands. Swing the ball down and across your body toward your right hip without moving your body. You may rotate your shoulder girdle as you swing down. Reverse the movement by bringing the ball up and diagonally toward your shoulder slowly with the ball held close to your body. Perform 10 swings, switch leg position and perform 10 swings from your right shoulder to your left hip. The emphasis of this exercise is to swing down.
Diagonal Ball Lift
The diagonal ball lift emphasizes moving up and diagonally across your body quickly against gravity. Stand with your left leg in front of you, and hold the ball by your right hip. Swing the ball across your body quickly to your left shoulder without moving your body or losing your balance. Reverse the movement gradually with the ball held close to your body. Perform 10 swings, switch leg position and perform 10 swings from your right shoulder to your left hip.
One-Arm Dumbbell Squats
This exercise forces your obliques and all of your abdominal muscles to stabilize your body as you squat. You may feel that one side of your body is stronger than the other side. Stand with your legs about shoulder-width apart and hold a 25-lb. dumbbell with your right hand with your elbow close to your body. Squat down as low as you can while keeping your torso upright. You will feel a shift of weight toward your right foot. Thus, shift your weight more toward your left foot as you squat. Exhale and stand straight up without moving your spine or sticking your buttocks behind you. Perform five squats, switch the dumbbell to your opposite hand and perform another five squats.
Misconceptions
Many people believe that by isolating your lower abs and obliques, they will improve their abdominal and full-body strength and get rid of their abdominal fat. First, your body burns fat for fuel throughout your body and doesn't draw energy from any one specific area, according to dietitian Ellen Coleman, author of "Ultimate Sports Nutrition." Fat loss occurs when you expend more calories than you consume by eating small, frequent meals throughout the day.
Since your abdominals and obliques work with other body parts to produce different movement patterns in sports and activities, such as throwing and running, doing isolated ab exercises will not improve athletic performance and may increase your risk of spinal injury, according to Coach Vern Gambetta, author of "Athletic Development."
References
- "Athletic Development"; Vern Gambetta; 2006
- "Ultimate Sports Nutrition"; Ellen Coleman; 2004
- "NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training"; Michael Clark; 2007
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