5 Lower-Body Moves That Also Work Your Abs
5 Lower-Body Moves That Also Work Your Abs
You might even be doing them already.Give it a second to upload the models should move and show you how to perform these moves.
Traditional abs moves typically have you posted up on the floor, crunching and planking for that burn, but that's not the only way to work your abs. Believe it or not, you can actually strengthen them without dedicating a single minute of your workout to abs-only moves. It's all about those compound exercises, or moves that work several muscle groups at once, explains Erica Villani, a master trainer at Crunch. "By nature, compound movements involve the entire body, and the core is the center of gravity in stabilizing all of the muscles in order to perform the movement properly," she explains.
So while you might be focusing on your butt, legs, or back, they're actually standing abs exercises, too—if you're engaging your core properly. The key is to brace your abs during these movements to fire up your core, like you were preparing for a punch to the gut. "Bracing in these movements is absolutely crucial to performing them properly. [Bracing] tightens your abdominal wall, which will force your abs to do a lot of the work, causing the muscles to get stronger," says Villani. No crunches required.
You can tell you're working your abs during compound exercises like these if your core starts to feel fatigued, says Vallani. "If you don't feel it in your abs, try also squeezing your glutes, too. Often times, this puts the hips in place so you can adequately fire up your abdominal muscles." You can also do a form check and make sure you're doing the move right, or check in to make sure your abs are braced. You may also notice that you can get deeper into the moves with your core powering you (which also allows you to move through your hips properly), says Villani. This means your other muscles (like your legs or butt) can get more ut
Here are five exercises that focus on your butt and legs while giving your abs a serious workout, too. Once you've got the moves down, you can even set them up into a workout. Villani suggests doing a set of 10 reps of each move, followed by a set of 9 reps, then 8 reps, etc., until you’re down to 5 reps each.
1
Goblet Squat
- Hold the weight at your chest in both hands and stand with your feet hip-width to shoulder-width apart. "Shoulders down, elbows in, abs tight!" says Villani.
- Drop your butt back and down as you keep your chest up, sitting back onto your heels without shifting your weight forward onto the balls of your feet or letting your knees go past your toes.
- Driving through your heels, come back up to standing. Squeeze your glutes at the top.
2
Dumbbell Deadlift
- Stand tall with your feet about hip-width apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand in front of your body with palms facing your thighs.
- Keep a slight bend in the knees and push your hips back to lower weights down the front of your legs. Keep the weights close to your shins as they lower.
- Then slowly reverse the movement to stand. Make sure your spine is neutral during this exercise, says Villani (so your back isn't arched or rounded).
3
Reverse Lunge
- Start in a standing position with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
- Inhale as you step backwards with your left foot. Land on the ball of your left foot and keep your heel off the ground.
- Now bend your knees creating two 90-degree angles with your legs. Aim to have your back knee hovering about three to six inches off the ground. Keep your shoulders directly above your hips and your chest is upright.
- Now push through the heel of your right foot to return to standing. Repeat on the other side.
4
Warrior Balance
- Stand on your left foot and lift your right knee to hip height in front of your body. Reach your torso forward as you extend your right leg behind you.
- Keep your standing leg slightly bent as your torso becomes parallel with the floor. Extend your arms overhead to help with balance.
- Pause for a second, then reverse the movement.
- Repeat on the other side after you've completed this side.
5
Skater Hops
- Starting at the left of your space, squat slightly then jump to the right as far as you can, leading with and landing on your right foot. Swing your arms across your body to help you jump further.
- Land on your right foot and try not to touch your left foot down as you bend your knee (almost into a mini squat).
- Jump back across left to land on your left foot. Try to jump as far and as fast as you can while staying balanced. Each jump counts as one rep.
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