Buff up your lower abs

Get a beach-ready body

Buff up your lower abs

If you intend to bare your wares in board-shorts this summer then you need the perfect obliques (think the ‘v' above Brad Pitt's waistband inFight Club) for them to hang off. While the upper abdominals are easily reached with crunches and sit-ups, getting a grip on the elusive muscles below your belly-button takes a twist, a drop and a chop. ‘Chairman of the Washboard' and MH fitness adviser Ray Klerck tells you how to get obliques that will make women wonder what they point to...

Decline Russian twist

Sit on a decline bench and hook your feet beneath the pads. Sit with your back at a 45-degree angle to the floor. Hold a weight plate in each hand at arms length in front of you. Keep a slight arc in your elbows. Rotate your arms and trunk from your left side to your right side while keeping your legs still. Your head and spine should stay in the same position while your core rotates around them. Perform 4 sets of 8 reps.

Knee raise with a drop

Lie on your back, with your hands behind your ears, hips and knees bent, and feet on the floor. Hold a medicine ball between your knees. Keep your lower back on the floor throughout the exercise. Contract your abdominals and pull your knees to your chest. Lower your knees to the left so they touch the floor, then bring them back to the centre. Return to the starting position. Drop your knees to the right on the next repetition and alternate sides for each repetition. Perform 4 sets of 8 reps.

Cable woodchopper

Stand feet shoulder-width apart with the side of your body toward a cable stack, rope attachment on pulley. Keep your arms straight and abs tight. Pull the rope out in front of and across the body in an arc, as though you were chopping wood across the body with your "rope axe". Finish with your hands at knee level, legs slightly bent and weight transferred to your far leg. Repeat to the other side. Make the movement explosive as you rotate down, control as you release the weight back down and hands up. Perform 4 sets of 8 reps.