Hey All,

I just joined here after finding this board through a link somewhere. I just wanted to introduce myself and maybe get some advice on where I should go next with my training. To start off, I'm 22 in good shape. I did the Body For Life plan and gained a good amount of muscle. My arms, legs, chest, abs...everything is now nicely toned EXCEPT for my lower abs. I can't get them flat no matter how hard I try. It's SO annoying. I do cardio 3-4 times a week, and do crunches everyday. I do my crunches with the proper form but it dosent seem to target my lower abs. I dont know if maybe I should just keep doing cardio, and change my diet to lose a little bit of weight in lower ab region, or is it a matter of excercise? Should I try some other excercises that target just the lower abs? I have a 4 pack but those lower two just wont come in...very very frustrating stuff. I'm not looking for those huge abs like those guys have on the cover of Muscle Media, I just want my stomach to be completely flat with a nice 6 pack. My 4 other abs are great.

If anyone has some advice for me, I'd appreciate it. Oh, and I eat pretty well...I dont do the BFL plan anymore with eating 6 times a day, but I normally have at least 1 or 2 protein shakes a day. One for lunch and I normally eat a healthy dinner. Maybe I'm having too many carbs? Would cutting down on the carbs help me lose the extra weight in my lower abs? Thanks for the help.

Sal

Welcome Sal, and congrats on your 4 pack

As I'm sure you've heard, muscle definition, particularly ab definition, is a function of body fat - the less you have the more you'll see. Lowering your BF a bit further might solve your problem. If its a matter of targeting the lower abs better (as in, you can see them but the need more definition) there are a few exercises you can try. But remember, there is no such thing as spot reducing - you lose fat all over and no particular exercise will make it come off faster in one area.

Check out the following two links:

Best weight training exercises This is a thread by Dan identifying the best exercises as tested with electromyography (EMG). Abs are about halfway down.

Ab Bootcamp This is a link I posted from Muscle Media magazine - it's a tough circuit program that a lot of BFLers use in their last 4 weeks to really target the abdominals.

Here's to the those last two popping up sometime soon!
Nat

Thanks for the links, Nat.

I've been looking for some good lower ab excercises. Those seem really good, I'll try them out.

How about diet wise? Should I cut my carbs to try and lose some weight? I really don't need to lose any weight though, just the stupid lil fat in my lower abs...lol. For the next few weeks, I'll try to stick to a high protein, low carb diet. Like I said before, I havent really been dieting since I finished the BFL program. And I've noticed I've gained some fat in that lower ab region. I've been cheating more than I should be. I'm really gonna stick to my deit for the next month and see how it goes.

Thanks for the help.

Sal