Tips for flatter stomach?

[Lindsey]

I started working out last year. Never was a big physical person (ever, hated sports and everything!) but my sister convinced me to sign up for a 10 week intense course. I weighed over 150, my heaviest ever and with a family history of obesity I didn't want to get any larger. In the 10 weeks I lost 9 pounds and 10" - 4 of those off my waist. I continued with the program and am eating well 90% of the time. My arms and legs are toned and look great but I'm still struggling with my mid-section. I'm down to 133 lbs and love working out now. My stomach is better than it ever was but I'm wanting to figure out a way to work on that area more. Any good suggestions?

[Hazyhead]

Crunches and sit ups are great for general, easy-to-maintain stomach muscles and I find that working on them with a medicine ball extends them even further. Also, try using your legs - raising them just off the floor during crunches works well. If you combine cardio with stomach exercises you should see results.

[2sure]

Yep, lifting the legs while doing several forms of crunches is what got rid of mine. Also, holding your med. sized exercise ball between your ankles while lifting your legs makes me feel it.

[cuppa]

For me personally, I am only able to get rid of the pouch (back love handles and lower abs pouch) through lifting weight (heavy). My fave moves are deadlift, Overhead Squats, and Front Squats.

 

The other movements (other than old school sit ups or crunches):

 

-> Mountain climbers

-> Leg Raisers with a hip thrust

-> Planks (all kind of variations with 30 secs hold - regular planks, One leg raise planks, planks with weight, side planks, etc).

-> Scissors or butterfly

-> Fire Hydrant drill

-> Squats, squats, and squats (with weight)

-> Burpees

 

Good luck

[Lindsey]

So basically just keep doing what I'm doing? We do a lot of abs in class between crunches, push-ups, planks, medicine balls, etc. I'll just keep going!

[tman666]

Crunches??

 

Here we go again...

 

You cannot spot reduce adipose tissue (fat). That is not how the body works. Otherwise, you'd see a bunch of people walking around with flabby legs, asses, and arms, but sporting rock hard abs.

 

The body tends to store fat deposits starting at the midsection. This also means that it will be the last place that you retain fat as you lose weight.

 

If you want to see abs, you need to remember this: abs are built in the kitchen. This means that your diet has a monumental impact on your fat stores, muscle tone, and just about everything else in your life. This doesn't mean starve yourself. You always hear about people who eat 1000 calories a day but are still flabby looking (and weak). This is because of a few things. One, their metabolisms slow down because they keep their bodies in starvation mode. In turn, their body stores more fat naturally. It's a combination of evolution and biology that is designed to keep people alive in times of famine.

 

Secondly, these people are often too tired and weak from the lack of calories to perform physical activity at an intensity level needed to build muscle and lose fat.

 

Intensity is the key to most facets of athleticism. There are no magic exercises, machines, or supplements that can replace the benefits of hard training. Perform multi-joint, compound movements such as presses, deadlifts, squats, sprints, jumps, etc. and you will be stronger, better conditioned, and most likely burn more fat than if you stick with low intensity, single joint movements (i.e. don't be the person standing in front of a mirror with the little pink dumbbells doing slow bicep curls or tricep kickbacks). If going to the gym to perform such things is not your thing, activities such as cross country skiing, swimming, rock climbing, martial arts, and other activities where you use your whole body are great.

 

Also, have patience and keep working out/eating well. The better shape you get in, the harder it is to progress. Keep a long-term view of your goals while continuing to make forward progress every time you train.

 

Congrats on your lifestyle changes so far!

[Rorschach]

Crunches??

 

Here we go again...

 

You cannot spot reduce adipose tissue (fat). That is not how the body works. Otherwise, you'd see a bunch of people walking around with flabby legs, asses, and arms, but sporting rock hard abs.

 

The body tends to store fat deposits starting at the midsection. This also means that it will be the last place that you retain fat as you lose weight.

 

If you want to see abs, you need to remember this: abs are built in the kitchen. This means that your diet has a monumental impact on your fat stores, muscle tone, and just about everything else in your life. This doesn't mean starve yourself. You always hear about people who eat 1000 calories a day but are still flabby looking (and weak). This is because of a few things. One, their metabolisms slow down because they keep their bodies in starvation mode. In turn, their body stores more fat naturally. It's a combination of evolution and biology that is designed to keep people alive in times of famine.

 

Secondly, these people are often too tired and weak from the lack of calories to perform physical activity at an intensity level needed to build muscle and lose fat.

 

Intensity is the key to most facets of athleticism. There are no magic exercises, machines, or supplements that can replace the benefits of hard training. Perform multi-joint, compound movements such as presses, deadlifts, squats, sprints, jumps, etc. and you will be stronger, better conditioned, and most likely burn more fat than if you stick with low intensity, single joint movements (i.e. don't be the person standing in front of a mirror with the little pink dumbbells doing slow bicep curls or tricep kickbacks). If going to the gym to perform such things is not your thing, activities such as cross country skiing, swimming, rock climbing, martial arts, and other activities where you use your whole body are great.

 

Also, have patience and keep working out/eating well. The better shape you get in, the harder it is to progress. Keep a long-term view of your goals while continuing to make forward progress every time you train.

 

Congrats on your lifestyle changes so far!

 

 

this. If there is one thing I remember from anatomy + physiology class it's that you can't choose where you burn fat from. If the problem is that you have no fat there, but also lack definition, thats when crunches can help, but not if you still have some weight to lose, that's strictly a diet/activity problem.

 

And everybody's body is different, in my case I have arm flab, a large belly, but the legs of a greek god (I wear shorts alot because of this >_>), and I know that my belly isn't going to shrink pretty much at all until I'm down to the very last of the weight I want to lose because it was the first thing that packed on weight when I was younger.

[USMCHokie]

Once again, cuppa and tman666 FTW. There is no need to repeat what they have already said.

 

 

I want to stress two things that tman mentioned, and that "abs are built in the kitchen" and INTENSITY. Everyone knows (or should know) that diet plays the most important role in your body composition. But not everyone knows the importance of intensity plays in your workouts. Only intensity will challenge your body. And you will only see results if you challenge your body.

 

For example, I train with my brother regularly. He has commented that he is getting bored with our regularly workout routines and wanted to change things up. So for the past few weeks, we've entered into a Bosu ball/exercise ball phase (a bosu ball is that exercise ball that is cut in half with one side that is the flat plastic surface that is good for balance). So we've done everything on either a Bosu ball or exercise ball. Basically, if you're standing, you will stand on a Bosu ball. If you're sitting or lying on a bench, you'll sit or lie on the exercise ball.

 

Ever done a barbell deadlift or barbell military press (at almost normal weight) while standing on a Bosu ball...? It's quite challenging and looks f'in awesome to onlookers (another reason I do crazy sh*t at the gym...for that little bit of ego boost ). But a great workout.

 

So increasing challenge can take on really any form...whether it's decreasing stability or increasing weight...but the key is to increase the challenge/intensity...