Tip Chisel Your Lower Abs Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip Chisel Your Lower Abs Here' s a twist on CrossFit' s toes-to-bar exercise but without the whole kipping bit by Gareth Sapstead August 1, 2020June 25, 2021 Tags Training No matter how you want to justify it, swinging erratically and kipping your toes up to the bar you're hanging from isn't an efficient way to build six-pack abs. Here's a modification to CrossFit's classic "toes-to-bar" that'll actually chisel your midsection. The original exercise is done hanging from a bar. Most who do them have performance goals in mind and are wanting to smash out the reps. If that's your thing, fine. But if you've got six-pack goals in mind, your focus should solely be on placing maximal tension through the abs. Since the rack toes-to-bar is done on the floor and in a more stable environment, it allows you to place max load through those tissues. The best part about strict toes-to-bar and hanging leg raise variations is that they're brilliant lower-ab builders. While you can't isolate your lower abs, focusing on exercises that load a posterior tilt can help recruit more of these lower fibers. You can achieve some respectable external oblique activation from strict hanging positions, too. That said, your abs are not hip flexors! So a large portion of the strict toes-to-bar (and hanging leg raise variations) – where you lift your legs from full-hang to around 90-degrees of hip flexion – aren't doing much for your abs. It's that wink of your butt towards the top that you're mostly after. Sitting down allows you to work that portion of the movement the hardest, allowing you to hit your lower abs even harder. The regular toes-to-bar can actually tear up your hands too. And bloody calluses aren't really a sign of a good workout. Ruin your hands and you won't be hanging from the bar for sometime afterwards. Rack toes-to-bar doesn't tax your grip so much, which is good because you're probably wanting to keep your hands fresh for whatever else you want to do with them. Programming Just treat you abs like you would any other body part. If you want to bring them up faster, then make them a priority within your workouts. Aim for sets of 10-15 (quality) reps. When you're hitting 15 reps easily, then start adding some weight. It's one of very few exercises when those light ankle weights are actually a good purchase. Here's what the loaded version looks like: Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Ugly Ab Training Forget about trying to build pretty abs with crunches. Instead, build nasty-strong abs and they'll look great too. Here's how. Abs, Training Christian Thibaudeau April 14 Training Strong Mind Stronger Body The difference between a high-performance body and a slow, chubby body is all in your head... literally. Motivation, Training Joe DeFranco December 20 Training Progressive Overload is Overrated Most lifters are obsessed with adding weight to the bar – one form of progressive overload. That could be holding them back. Here's why. Bodybuilding, Opinion, Powerlifting & Strength TC Luoma May 23 Training In Defense of Overhead Lifting Everything you need to know about the benefits and the risks of overhead lifts. Overhead Press, Shoulders, Training Charles Staley & Keats Snideman September 5