Lower ab ball exercises for Beach Body Abs - Abs Part 4

An exercise ball (i.e. swiss ball or physio ball) is a great tool for a variety of workouts, and especially core stability and abdominal workouts.
In this post, following the thread of lower ab workouts, I've included a couple of useful lower ab exercises

Rolling crunches

Great for lower abs, but is also a general ab exercise

Preparation:
Roll onto the ball (on your front) and use your arms to walk yourself into a position where your knees are at the centre of the ball. You should now be in a "press up" style position with the ball under your knees. Keep your hands at shoulder width.

The exercise:
Bring your knees towards your chest in a controlled movement, until your feet are on the ball. Hold the crunch for a second or so and release slowly to get back into your original position.

Repetitions:
Start with 3 sets of 6-8 crunches, building up to 4 sets of 10

Tips:
Try and ensure that your body stays horizontal while doing the crunch phase of the exercise. There will be a temptation to lift your butt, but you want to isolate the leg movement. Again focus on crunching your abs to get the movement, rather than lifting your knees.


Hip Rolls

A nice exercise for obliques an lower abs

Preparation:
Lie down on a floormat on your back and place your feet on top of the exercise ball. Your knees should be bent at a ninety degree angle. Place your hands on the ground by the side of your body.

The exercise:
Rotate your hips to your right, you'll feel the ball move slightly. As you roll your hips be sure to squeeze those abs and obliques in the process. Return to the start position and repeat. After one set, you should then assume the position and perform the exercise to the opposite direction.

Repetitions:
Start with 3 sets of 6 reps (either side) and build up to 4 sets of 10

Tips:
Make sure you keep your spine in a neutral position (you should be able to place a hand underneath your lumbar area). As with most ball exercise, really focus on the abs to get the movement rather than compensating by e.g. pressing your hands into the floor to get more purchase.

I've focussed on lower abs several posts in a row, so its time to put down a few general ab workouts, and combo exercises in the next few. I'll get to other workouts in a few posts, but right now I'm trying to list as many useful ab exercises as I feel aren't commonplace in most peoples workouts.

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