In the search for ultimate performance, Weekend Warriors and Elite Athletes are becoming more and more aware about the importance of training the core. Although training the core itself is a complicated and very debated subject, one group of core muscles tends to complicate things even more. In addition to that, this essential part of the core is often completely forgotten: the lower abs.
Upper Abs & Lower Abs
A lot of people just don't know that they need to train lower abs. This is mostly due to this huge misconception that upper abs and lower abs are one unique muscle, with the same functions of flexion of the spine. Although this is true in part, it is also very false. Lower abs (LA) and upper abs (UA) form the rectus abdominis (RA), which is in fact ONE muscle. But what people forget is that RA has 8 different sources of innervations. This means that 8 different nerves can individually send a different message to these muscles. In simpler words, your LA can be, for example, activated concentrically (moving) while the UA can be activated isometrically (not moving) and vice-versa.
So even though LA & UA are parts of a same muscle, they can be used in different tasks. Both are used concentrically to create flexion at the spine, but the LA will flex the spine by moving the pelvis and the UA, on the other side, will flex the spine by moving the rib cage. LA will therefore affects mostly the lumbar spine (lower back) and the UA will affect mostly the thoracic spine (upper back). With that said, you can easily see how these two parts have different functions and therefore need to be trained differently.
Hip Flexion & Lower Abs
This brings me to my next point: even though some people know that there is a difference between these two distinct parts of the RA, not too many people actually know how to work lower abs effectively and safely. Most people think of hip flexion exercises, such as leg raises, to be lower abs exercises. Again, this is true in part, but then again it is so false. Leg raises, for example, are hip flexion exercises, as I have mentioned before, so they work mostly the hip flexors. But then, why do you feel your abs when performing a leg raise? Well, simply because your abs are working! I'll come back to this later on. For know let's focus on why hip flexion exercises can be a bad way to work your lower abs.
The main reason is simply that most people's lower abs are weak and often they are not even active at all. This can be due to many reasons. The two most common reasons are untreated scar tissue and poor nutritional habits, which causes bloating of the intestines. For further information on bloating and gut inflammation, check out my nutrition articles.
As I mentioned previously, lower abs control movement of the lumbar spine, not of hip flexion. Hip flexors are, as you can guess by their name, are those that control hip flexion. Now here's an important fact: the psoas (one of the major hip flexors) is attached directly on the lumbar spine. So when you are performing a hip flexion exercise, this muscle pulls and extends your lumbar spine, which puts stress on the spine and might lead to injury or chronic pain overtime. So how do you resist this extension of the spine? Simply with flexion of the spine; flexion + extension = stability. It's like when looking at the pH of a pool. If its too alkaline, make it more acid and vice-versa; acid + alkaline = neutral.
So which muscle creates flexion of the spine to counterbalance the extension created by the psoas muscle? You guessed right! Lower abs! So when performing hip flexion exercises, you are in fact working the LA at the same time, that is if they are activated at all.
And now, knowing all of this, can you figure out why performing hip flexion exercises with weak or inactive LA can be very bad for your back? It creates excessive extension, which will inevitably lead to pain, whether it is acute or chronic. And let me tell you that from my experience, only a very rare percentage of people actually have good, functional and strong lower abs.
How to Work Your Lower Abs
So how can we work the lower abs? Before exercise, two things must be taken care of: scars (if there are any) and nutrition. For a scar, simply massaging it a few minutes every night will do the trick. This will reactivate sensitivity of the area, strengthening the connection with your brain. As for nutrition, you must cut out all foods that could create bloating of the abdominal area (see in another article).
Once this is taken care of, a simple coordination exercise will help you relearn how to use this muscle.
· Lay down on your back, directly on the floor ideally, or on a mat if you are uncomfortable.
· Place both hands under your low back. Both major fingers should touch each other directly under your belly button.
· The first level is to flatten out your low back to apply pressure on your hands (you don't need to squeeze the blood out of your hands). This is done by tilting your pelvis backwards. Imagine if your hips were a big bowl of water, you would want to pour the water towards the floor.
· Once you are able to do this without any problem, move on to the second level. You must now keep the same pressure on your hands and lift one leg up and then bring it back down. The pressure on your hands must remain exactly the same at all times.
· If you are able to perform the second level with perfect control, move on to the third. You must now do the same thing as level two, but you know have both legs up and you bring down one at a time, always keeping constant pressure on your hands.
· The fourth level is then to move both legs up and down, keeping perfect control of your low back by applying pressure on your hands.
You must master each of these levels before moving on to the next. For each level, start with the legs completely bent, then move to legs bent at 90°, then with the legs straight.
Once you can perform level four with excellent control, you can say that you have good lower abs coordination. Once you can perform level four with the legs completely straight, you can say that you have strong lower abs. Once this is achieved, you are pretty safe to perform any exercise, including hip flexion exercises. As long as you focus on keeping a neutral curve in your back, you will work the lower abs during a hip flexion exercise.
So start practicing at the level that is appropriate for you and enjoy a strong and stable back. You can practice level one, two and three everyday, because it focuses more on the coordination aspect. Level four, on the other hand, focuses more on the strength aspect, so it is better not to perform it more than three times a week. Make sure that it is the lower abs that you feel during the exercise, so it is the abdominal muscles below the belly button.
With strong lower abs, your core will be much stronger and much more stable, giving your body a strong foundation from which you can create power and strength in the extremities (arms and legs). Strength and power from the extremities without a strong core is like a Ferrari engine in a Lada! Make sure your car can handle a big motor, train your lower abs and core.
Once you understand exactly how to use your lower abs, you will be able to use them in almost any upper abs exercise, since the hips are almost always involved in the movement. But if you can't control your hips because you don't know how to use your lower abs, these exercises will only be dangerous and will only work your upper abs.
Enjoy Ultimate Performance!
Andrew DeVyne
Andrew DeVyne is a personal trainer and an athletic development coach who specializes in performance enhancement, whether you are a beginner who never trained or an advanced professional athlete. He will make sure you achieve your ultimate performance level. To ask questions or receive weekly articles, exercises and nutrition tips for FREE, visit http://www.devyneperformance.com or [http://www.devynecode.com]
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