The lower stomach has a tendency to build up excess fat, causing frustration. Desperate people in this situation often hit the deck and crank out numerous reps of crunches as a saving grace. Unfortunately, the theory of spot reducing is a myth. Lower-stomach crunches, or reverse crunches, do serve a beneficial purpose, but they cannot whittle away fat. Any time you do ab exercises, you strengthen your core, which helps improve your spinal stability and balance.
Function of Exercise
The rectus abdominis is a large muscle that starts at the base of the chest and runs down to the pelvic area. Lower-stomach crunches work the entire abdominal area --- which includes the obliques on the sides --- but they place the most emphasis on the lower rectus abdominis. These fit well in an ab workout designed to target the entire midsection. Often, people only do one ab exercise, but it is best to do several exercises to maximize muscle fiber recruitment.
Motion of Reverse Crunches
A basic crunch involves moving the torso toward the thighs with your knees bent and legs stationary. A lower-stomach crunch is performed the opposite way. Instead of moving the torso, the thighs move toward the stomach. This not only activates the lower abs, but also the quadriceps and hip flexors. The quads are on the front of the thighs, and the hip flexors run from the lower stomach to the top of the thighs.
Proper Execution
Using proper form is important to ensure you maximize your progress with lower-stomach crunches. Begin in a face-up position on the floor with your legs lifted, knees bent 90 degrees and arms out to your sides. Keeping your shoulders tight to the floor, lift your hips and move your knees close to your chest. Squeeze your abs for a second, slowly move your legs back to the starting position and repeat. To increase the intensity, extend your legs out straight as you lower them down and do not let them touch the floor.
Variations
Performing lower-stomach crunches on the floor is a basic abdominal exercise. To increase the challenge, perform these while hanging from a pullup bar or other stationary object. Grasp the bar with a shoulder-width grip and let your legs hang straight down. Keeping your upper body as still as possible, raise your legs, bend your knees and pull them into your chest. Slowly lower your legs back down and repeat. To make this exercise even more challenging, keep your legs straight and move them up toward your chest.
Added Resistance
Using the weight of the body sufficiently works the lower abs, but you might reach a point where reverse crunches become too easy. To increase the resistance, strap ankle weights to your lower legs. These are small weights that slide into pouches that can be wrapped around the ankle, and they can be adjusted from 1/2 lb. to 10 lbs.
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