Ask a Trainer

The first thing is—there’s no such thing as lower abs. The rectus abdominus, the muscle that people separate into upper and lower abs, runs from your sternum to your pelvis, and it’s one complete muscle.

Yeah, it’s kind of a myth. When the abs contract, upper and lower, they’re all working. So you can’t really isolate that one part. It’s like the caboose on a train: If the engine moves, the lower half of the train moves. The ab muscles all function as a group.

And unfortunately, sit-ups don’t reduce overall body fat. They help develop core strength and stability and balance, but don’t target body fat overall, so diet is probably the number-one inhibitor of what you’re trying to do.

Well, it’s also genetic. If you go look at pictures of your mom and dad when they’re your age, do they have six-pack abs? If they don’t, you probably won’t, either. I mean, did you see the movies Fight Club and Snatch? They both have Brad Pitt in them, and he was frickin’ ripped. You either have the genetic predisposition to get them, or you don’t.

I think it really depends on diet. You should probably sit with a nutritionist and a trainer, and iron out an eating lifestyle. Fat around the stomach is generally because of lifestyle, and cardio and weight-training are a large part of this, as well. Cardio will burn calories, and lifting weights will boost your resting metabolism—anytime there’s more muscle on your body, you’re burning more calories, even when you’re doing nothing.

That said, there are about 9 million things you can do, from the ab bench to crunches to the Roman Chair. If you want to boil it down to one exercise, do crunches on the ball. Position your rear end higher on the ball, and it will target your lower abs.

Reverse crunches will work, too. I have my clients lie on their backs and hold onto a railing above them, with their legs straight up at the hip, at a right angle. Lift your rear end and pelvis off the floor, tuck your knees into your chest, then straighten them and lower your pelvis to the floor. But remember, there’s no such thing as spot reduction.