Flat stomach, nice abs, help!!!!

Elz0301

Full Member
I have lost 2 stone now through diet and exercise but cannot seem to get rid of my stomach fat. Obviously losing weight has reduced it somewhat and I'm not expecting to look like my zumba instructor overnight, but has anyone got any tips for a flatter / more toned stomach?
 
Do you do AB excercises? The only way to really get a flat stomach is by toning and working your core muscles... i.e. your abs, your obliques, your glutes etc. etc. Strength training is as imperitive as cardio to any weight loss regime for two reasons:
1) Muscle mass burns 4x as many calories as fat and studies also suggest having more muscle may raise your metabolism
2) Strength training builds muscle which will reduce the amount of left over saggy skin you have once you're at target.

Here are some excellent excercises you can to help build your core:
4 Great Core Exercises To Help Flatten Your Abs « Don't Eat Dirt
Abdominals » Exercise Encyclopedia » Videos » CoopersGuns Health, Fitness & BodyBuilding
Upper Body Exercises > Arms back chest and shoulders

These excercises are all really good for building your core. There are also lots of really good websites which will build you a strength training regime based on what you want to achieve. Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople is a good one. Build a programme for yourself, then do it 3 times a week with a day inbetween each workout so the muscle can rebuild itself (this is important - not giving the muscle time to rebuild itself can lead to injury). Also make sure your protein intake is adequate otherwise the muscle won't rebuild itself as quickly or as effective as it could.

Hope this helps!
 
What exercise are you doing alongside dieting?

Some good exercises for toning your stomach include...

The bicycle
Crunches (Basic and Reverse)
The Plank
Torso Twists

Pilates is meant to be good for toning too. Don't bother with sit ups though really!
 
What's the difference between crunches and sit ups? Or am I a bit dense? I do 3 classes at gym a week including pump. I think I might try doing extra core stuff at home as mainly cardio stuff at gym. I'll check out those links too thanks guys xxxx
 
No you're not dense at all!! A lot of people think they do the same but they're actually very different. Crunches do your abs but sit ups don't. Sits ups work on your hip flexor muscle because you're not bringing your chest closer to your pelvis, just lifting it from the ground. So it's working on your hips, but not your abs really because all they're doing is keeping your upper body straight. When you do a crunch you're kinda curling yourself, rather than keeping straight and lifting if that makes sense. So you're bringing your chest and pelvis closer together and contracting your abs. So your abs play a bigger part in crunches than sit ups and so get worked out more and so tone more because of it. Sit ups are work while doing but they're for a completely different area, so if you're wanting to tone your stomach/abs, then you'd be better off with crunches. I hope that makes sense!
 
Sit ups, you're actually sitting up. Crunches, you're bring your chin closer to your chest without moving your abdomen or any part of your lower body.

two hundred sit-ups

Even though its called situps, they're actually advocating crunches. There's alot of evidence that situps can lead to painful back injuries and so many places recommend you don't do them anymore as there are other excercises to work your hip flexors.
 
Sit ups, you're actually sitting up. Crunches, you're bring your chin closer to your chest without moving your abdomen or any part of your lower body.

two hundred sit-ups

Even though its called situps, they're actually advocating crunches. There's alot of evidence that situps can lead to painful back injuries and so many places recommend you don't do them anymore as there are other excercises to work your hip flexors.

I think it's because people over work one area without working on the counter balancing muscle, or so I've been told. And it's a lot of pressure on your lower back.
 
I think it's because people over work one area without working on the counter balancing muscle, or so I've been told. And it's a lot of pressure on your lower back.

Yeah, exactly. Its also just down to bad technique as well. Alot of people will try to drag their head up with their hands rather than focusing on using the abdominals to pull the trunk up. They then end up curling in on themselves and tearing the shoulder muscles. It's also alot of pressure on the lower spine if the supporting muscles haven't been developed enough or properly.

I think just a bad idea in general really =s
 
Thanks girlies that really helps I do crunches but call them sit ups! I've got a couple of pilates DVD I'm going to add to my routine. My partner always says it doesn't matter how much u tone u have to actually lose the fat so I've been mainly doing cardio. lots of work still to do x
 
Unfortunately you can't spot reduce (make a part of your body specifically smaller) - crunches etc. will help you a lot but only if there's not a layer of fat covering it and where it comes off is sadly determined by genetics - maybe your tummy is just the last to go?
 
Unfortunately you can't spot reduce (make a part of your body specifically smaller) - crunches etc. will help you a lot but only if there's not a layer of fat covering it and where it comes off is sadly determined by genetics - maybe your tummy is just the last to go?

Unfortunately this is the case for me =(. Damned genetics...
 
Fattack... just wondering, how do you measure your body fat? Is it just with normal analysis scales or have you been somewhere and had it done properly?
 
I use my Omron scales that measure both body fat % and visceral fat, they're good but I'm 99% sure they overestimate the body fat at least. (Or rather, I hope they do). When I get to goal I'll have it done with the underwater testing for an accurate result provided it's not ridiculously expensive! It's called hydrostatic weighing ^^ Or I'll just try to do it myself (I'm qualifying as a Personal Trainer and it's probably in one of the modules because on my online student zone there's a calculator to measure it - I just haven't been told how to use it yet because I'm not on that part of the course yet!). And there's always calipers!
 
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