The Lower Abs Secret: Leg Raises DON’T WORK!! Learn the ONLY Science-Based Method That Does! (PPT) 🔥

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Key Timestamps:
0:11 Leg lifts DON’T work the lower abs!
0:24 Rectus abdominis (abs) anatomy
0:43 Leg lifts work the hip flexors
1:37 Posterior pelvic tilt (PPT) explanation
2:07 Lower Abs Technique #1
3:14 Muscle moment (what’s wrong with leg lifts)
4:10 Lower Abs Technique #2
4:45 PPT range of motion & The 90 Degree Rule
5:15 Lower Abs Technique #2 Variations
5:45 Region-specific (nonhomogenous) hypertrophy intro
6:35 Lower & upper abs region-specific activation studies
7:15 Lower & upper abs region-specific hypertrophy studies
8:09 Why people think you can’t selectively work the lower abs
8:54 Dr. Gains Total Core Programs intro

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It IS possible to preferentially work the lower region of the abs MORE than the upper region, and in fact you NEED to if you want to develop your lower core, get that nice v-cut abs shape, and prevent lower back pain. But leg-lifts or leg raise exercises are NOT how you do it! Because guess what - the lower abs don’t lift the legs!!

The lowest subsection of rectus abdominis inserts on the ramus of the pelvis, aka the bottom front of the hips. NOT anywhere on the femur or leg bone. So all of the leg lift exercises in the world will NOT directly engage the lower abs or any region of the abs at all. Instead, it’ll work your hip flexors, while your abs simply function as core stabilizers, which works the upper and lower regions of the abs equally.

Now for all of you doubters out there who are saying to yourself, “The abs are all one muscle and it’s impossible to selectively target the upper or lower abs.” You need to get with the times on region-specific hypertrophy, and in a minute I will present all the scientific evidence needed to blow your doubts out of the water. But first, I’m going to show you exactly how to completely shred your lower abs in a way that I guarantee you’ve never felt before. And nobody who actually does what I’m about to show you, will ever again say that you can’t work the lower abs.

Both of the techniques I’ll demonstrate rely on a single principle. The one and only movement that will directly engage your lower abs and work them more than any other muscle is called posterior pelvic tilt (PPT).

If you think of your pelvis as a bowl full of water. Rotating the bottom of your pelvis backwards so that water would fall out of the front is called anterior pelvic tilt. Rotating the bottom of your pelvis forwards so that water would fall out of the back is called posterior pelvic tilt. And remember that the lower abs attach to the bottom front of your pelvis. So when they contract, they rotate the bottom of your pelvis forwards, performing posterior pelvic tilt. PPT then is the ONLY way to preferentially work the lower abs! And here are the two best techniques that exist for doing exactly that.

How is regional activation possible if the rectus femoris fibers run from top to bottom?

Well for one, the tendinous intersections through the abs make it so that each subregion effectively has its own origin and insertion points. Secondly, different regions of the abs are innervated by different nerves, which allows them to be selectively activated. However, even muscles that are innervated by a single nerve, such as the biceps or triceps, STILL display region-specific activation and nonhomogenous hypertrophy. Studies have shown that a plethora of factors including the specific angle of resistance, the type of exercise, the range of motion used and degree of actin & myosin overlap, the type of contraction used (eccentric vs concentric vs isometric), the muscle moment, speed of the contraction and more ALL influence which region of a given muscle fiber is worked the most - down to the individual muscle fascicles.

One study found that the upper and lower abs fatigued at different rates depending on the exercise performed. With the upper abs fatiguing faster with curl up exercises, and the lower abs fatiguing faster with supine leg raises.

Watch the video for the rest!

[dmitrykochikiyan]

Can we stop overcomplicating the gym? All that there is to undestand is that u have to lift your pelvis, not the legs - effectively curling up - to bias the lower abs. Leg raises do work, you just have to do it with control, slow eccentric and full range of motion. As in completely folding, which will accomplish the PPT. Its just that leg raises are a hard exercise to master, you already need to have strong core to be able to do them without swinging. People either swing and use momentum or cut their rom in half and make it a hip flexor exercise. The only merit to this fancy LEG RAISE VARIATION is better stretch at the end. And you can just use captains chair for exactly that, instead of this cumbersome set-up.

[landongatlin]

“Leg lifts DO NOT WORK”

*Proceeds to do leg lifts

[benderdy]

I have a 6 pack and I'm 44. Leg raises do work.

[NathanBall-hges]

Great info Doc! Love it! Can't wait to do this variation. Who knew I was already controlling my abs with a belly roll when i was kid and I still can do that.

[Cece]

Diagram makes a lot of sense thanks for not only taking about it but showing the actual diagram really informative

[WhatDoubts]

I used to do this in highschool. It was one of the only ways I was able to work my lower abs. Since then every bit of advice has made it seem like you needed to do the hardest exercises to really see progress. Thanks for the reminders.

[acesanders]

Thank you SO MUCH!

Finally a REAL SCIENTIFIC precise concise and strictly lower-abs explanation described in detail!

You've just earned a new subscriber!

You have not one like from me, instead you have TWO likes (two thumbs-up)! and my total trust on your expertise! You DO know what you are talking about!

I have had my entire life exercising and working out and I wish I met an expert like you in my early training days, that would have saved me lots of injuries to my aching lower back! It took me lots of pain and many neurons burnt to achieve a natural way for me to get close to your recomendations, and yet, mine was never this safe and precise!

By then, I used parallel bars to monkey-hang on it, letting my body fall heads-down and legs ups, leaving my legs torched in-between to the parallel bars, then, rise-up my torso up and down to heavily impact on my lower abs... can't describe how painful it was for me the very first weeks... and yet, affter three months of this practice, many of my training partners where giving me the eye of envy for my lower abs looked so much more chisselled, well cut and defined than theirs (me being really younger and really early in practice by that time. I was only 15 yrs old of age)...

A lot of people heavily criticized me for this practice and many more told me I could get a permanent serious lower back injury if I would insist on it... after listening so many complaints I opted to follow people's common sense... so I discarded it off my lower-abs routine...

If I would have had the expert advice of a Doctor like you by then, I guess I would have endured and improved this exercise in a safer way and I would have kept on training it correctly.

Startingt today, I'am including this practice now in my lower-abs routine for good!

Dr., Gains, can not thank you enough!

Redmond (Red) Sanders Brown jr.

[apxsports]

I get the same stimulus by bringing my feet up to where my hands are, controlling my legs both on the concentric and eccentric phase, using my core to stabilise and prevent any of the swing at the bottom. But your barbell method is an ingenious way to get the same work without anywhere near the amount of taxed energy that goes into the stabilising. Thanks for the inspiration!

[paulrayas]

Great explanation, makes sense. Thank you for the
Break down on how it should be done.

[Bringiton]

Thank you for giving us both the method and the explanations. I hate it when I'm treated like a moron and not being told the reason behind things. Well done and keep them coming.

[alejandrotumbeiro]

Tks for sharing, great video! Cheers 👍

[celinreyes]

By following physiotherapy channels, I came across the same method.
It works, from the isometric to the isotonic approach.
Don't be afraid to arc your spine. Just don't overload it. Start with alternating hip retroversion and anteversion. Then add movement with the least bodyweight possible.
When using your whole legs and weighs on your ankles to train your abs, then avoid the lumbar arching, at least while developing your strength, otherwise if you overload too much your abs, you will tense your quadratum lumbaris, your lower back muscle, which are not very big and usually not very strong.
But in order to avoid effectively tending you lower back, you have to train the hip retroversion and anteversion to developed body awareness and muscle memory.

[EroNekoSan]

Thanks for affirming scientifically what I found out by my own. I work on my low abs simply laying on my sofa or bed, butt on the edge. Because the mattress is soft under, my pelvis is able to "drop" but still supported. Then I focus on lifting my hips instead of my legs. Those will go up instead of towards my chest. Works like a charm. Final tip is, when you fatigue, to cross your legs (like sitting/ meditating). So their weight is closer to the pelvis = easier

[chucktrego]

Wow. I am definitely incorporating this. Great info

[one-ddxy]

Honestly I truly can't thank you enough 🙏 ive been training on and off for just over a year now I seen this vid originally about 4-5months back now and fk me the results since then have been amazing 🙏. I always wondered why the bottom 2 were struggling because I'd do standard unsupported leg Raises every week. But once I seen that I was missing the brace I knew this would be exactly what I needed to etch out the bottom 2. Truly thank you and keep helping people because their best 🙏🔥🚀

[everyoneluvsraybeez]

Thank you for clarifying & helping others be the the best version of who they are. Stay strong!

[CF_Joel]

The bench one is HARD but I definitely feel it in the TVA. I have to put my legs straight up or I simply can't do it. My TVA is weak for sure. I've only been doing vacuum cleaners and that one where you lay on the floor and hold one leg off the floor without letting your lumbar off the ground. This is way more resistance! ...Which I need, because the rest of my body is built on strength progressions. I definitely see this fixing my APT! Gotta subscribe!!!

[TM-ztjt]

One of the best NOVEL ideas to isolating a specific muscle I've come across. I kill it when it comes to situps, but I can't even get pass 6 or so of these (bench version).This is now my go-to abdominal exercise. Thank you for sharing!

[starrchild]

Thank you for sharing. I could feel this just tucking my lower abs upward and holding for a few seconds. I could never feel my lower abs working in the past. This is my trouble spot.

[marcusaydelott]

When I do my hanging leg raises, the end of the movement looks exactly like your bar set up. I definitely feel it in my low abs and upper abs. Didn’t know I was hitting that due to the pelvic tilt. I’ll give the chair version a try as well. When I do the hanging version I engage my lats to shift my hips forward and then touch my toes to the bar. Not sure the science behind it but I found it to be the best ab work I’ve ever done