Exercise for a Smaller Stomach Area

When toning your stomach area, it is important to think of it as being made up of three separate and equally important parts; lower abs, obliques, and upper abs. The most effective abdominal workout routines incorporate different exercises that target each group separately.

  1. Lower Abs

    • The lower stomach is the hardest abdominal muscle group to target. Butterfly kicks focus on your lower abs in ways that many other abdominal exercises cannot. To begin, lie on your back with your feet together and your arms at your sides.

      Raise your feet to about 6 inches off the ground. Alternate kicking them up and down, keeping them between 3 and 9 inches off the ground the entire time. Count every group of four kicks as one, and do a set of 30 (120 total kicks).

    Obliques

    • The obliques are the muscles that run down the side of your stomach. They are crucial to sports that require body torque such as golf or baseball. V ups are an exercise that simulates that movement. They are called V ups because of your body's starting position. To begin, sit on the ground with your legs in front of you. With your knees together, lift your feet off the ground, while leaning back and maintaining your balance. Your body should be folded like a capital V.

      Reach to the right, and touch the ground next to you, then turn your shoulders to the left and touch the ground on the other side of your body. Like the butterfly kicks, count each group of four as one. Do the first five four-counts slowly, then the next five quickly. Continue to alternate until you've done 30. When you become more comfortable, replace touching the ground on each side with simply holding a weight plate against your chest and turning from side to side.

    Upper Abs

    • The upper abs are the easiest group to target, as most traditional exercises tend to focus on them. The most effective way to target the upper abs is also the simplest; the crunch. Lie on your back, with your feet flat, and your knees bent. Cross your arms across your chest, touching each shoulder with the opposite hand.

      Once your are ready, lift your shoulders off the ground, while keeping the rest of your back flat. This will force you to use only your upper abs. Do two sets of 25 crunches daily. As you become stronger, hold weights on your chest for added resistance.