Ah, the elusive lower abs.
These muscles are notoriously hard to target, which makes it especially important to pay close attention to your form when doing moves that focus on the lower core. Otherwise, you know, you won’t get the results you’re looking for.
Thanks, muscle overcompensation!
This happens when larger and stronger surrounding muscles pick up most of the work and don’t really give the smaller, supportive muscles a chance to participate. In the case of lower ab exercises, our hip flexors have a tendency to take over. And our hip flexors already tend to be super tight from sitting a lot, so we don’t want to make extra work for them.
But when done properly, lower core exercises will strengthen those muscles to better support the hip flexors and lower back.
So as you follow along with this lower core workout from Shannon Nadj, founder of Hot Pilates, listen to her cues, and be especially mindful of the muscles you’re activating.