Bottoms Up is a killer ab exercise for your core. Especially for your lower abdominal region. While you focus reaching the ceiling with your feet your abs are being worked hard. This ab exercise is a great progression to continue developing lower abs once Reverse Crunches have bocome way to easy. This exercise is more challenging and tougher because of added resistance and muscles being under tension for longer period of time as well.
Main Target: Lower Abs
Equipment needed: none
How To Do Bottoms Up
The following steps will describe how to perform this ab exercise correctly to get the most of it.
Step 1: Get In a Starting Position
Lay flat on your back with your arms at your side. Bend your knees in 90 degree angle and raise your thighs until they are perpendicular to the floor. Keep your legs closely together.
Step 2: Begin the Exercise
To begin the exercise tuck the knees toward your chest. Continue by elevatating your pelvis to raise your glutes from the floor. Then extend your legs directly above you so that they are perpendicular to the floor. Pause for a second. Then reverse the movement and slowly return to the starting position. Exhale on your way up and inhale on your way back. Perform it as one fluid movement.
Repeat the movement until you reach the prescribed amount of repetitions or you can’t perform any more quality repetitions.
Modify the Difficulty
To make the exercise lighter decrease the length between your heels and buttocks.
The straigher and closer to the floor you will lower your legs, the more difficult the exercise will get. Also you can use resistance bands or ankle weights to increase the resistence.
Extra Tips For Bottoms Up:
- When extending your legs in the air, don’t go beyond your eye level with your toes.
- Make sure your lower back is flat against the floor and it’s not arched at all times.
- Raise your shoulders and upper back off the floor if you have lower back issues.
- Perform the exercise slowly and contolled to avoid creating the momentum.
- Don’t use the assistance from your hands to lift yourself up.
Common Mistakes:
- Extending legs diagonally not paralell to the ground.
- Toes going further the eye level.
- Creating the momentum therefore reducing the efficiency of the exercise.
- Arched lower back causing too much stress on the lower back.
- Lifing yourself up using hands.
About Matiss Bartulis
Matiss Bartulis is a sweets and pizza addict, certified personal trainer and a founder of AbsExperiment.com. When he's not baking pizza, he's helping others to transform their bodies.
