Stomach Exercises > Lower Stomach Exercises > Antomy of Your Lower Stomach
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So what does all of your exercising accomplish? What muscles are you trying to build and tone?

Let's take a look at how your stomach is structured and what your target areas are. Below you will find a diagram that shows the main stomach muscles that you should target.

Pectoralis Major

Is a thick muscle that lies at the front of the chest area. It comprises the bulk of the chest muscles. It is where the common term 'pecs' come from. This isn't really part of the stomach area, but it is often affected by routine stomach exercises.

Rectus Abdominis

This is a group of muscles that runs vertically down the human abdomen. These are two parallel muscle groups that run downwards. These muscles together comprise the "six pack". These are the muslces that you will have to build and tone in order to show visible ab muscles. But remember that you must first lose the extra fat that covers these muscles before they can be seen.

External Abdominal Obliques

This is the outermost and largest muscle of the abdomen. It comprises much of the side muscles of your stomach and allows for torso rotation. Often when extra fat hangs off these muscles it is reffered to as having 'Love Handles'.

Internal Abdominal Obliques

This muscle lies beneath the external oblique.

How Does this Help You?

Each stomach exercise will work most of these muscles, while some are more specifically targeted. If you are looking for six pack abs or to get a ripped and toned stomach, then you should work your primary ab muscles (Rectus Abdominis) and your whole upper body. If you have trouble with 'love handles', then you will want to look into exercises that tone your obliques. But most important of all is that you need to lose the fat that covers these muscle groupings or regardless of how toned your muscles become, they will not be seen because of the excess stomach fat.