Stomach/core exercises that don't make your stomach stick out

lbride
lbride Posts: 248 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm at a reasonable weight (for me), 130-132, 5'6 and pretty good amount of muscle. But since kids (c-sections) I've always had a weak core and I'm starting to work on those muscles. Been doing planks (on forearms, hands and med balls), and some floor ab exercises (whatever they do in classses). Not looking for a flat stomach from increasing muscle (I'd have to lose prob 5 lbs to do that, and frankly, don't care that much). But I'd like to increase core muscles WITHOUT having the muscles make the fat I have on my stomach "stick out". (I am saying this un-scientificaly I know, but whenever I work on stomach muscles, the new muscles seem to "push" out.) Any thoughts? ideas?

Replies

  • h7463
    h7463 Posts: 626 Member
    edited January 2019
    Out of personal experience...there are no exercises that train a muscle..not just abs...and not make the developing muscle proudly trying to bulge out.. Abs are muscles just like any other. You work them, they'll grow. The belly bulge can only be attacked by reducing the bodyfat. Sadly, that's not possible 'on the spot', it only works allover-body. We women seem especially genetically challenged, as Mother Nature seems convinced, it's best for us to have the most protective padding right around our hips...bummer...
    However, on any lift or move you do, you are engaging your abs anyway. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but it's working. In your case, best to ask advise from a certified and experienced PT.
    Good luck!
  • lbride
    lbride Posts: 248 Member
    Thanks for the comments. I"m not trying to spot train to reduce fat anywhere. But trying to increase core strength generally.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    I'm one of those people who loses belly fat last, so I'm sort of at the point where I can kind of see the bottom of my rib cage and a hint of my pelvic bones—nothing that looks like I'm starving, just that I'm not shaped like a grape or sausage. My routine now is:

    3 sets of 20 waist-side crunches (one set=20 left/20 right)
    2 sets of 15 waist crunch-and-twists with 5lb dumbbell on stability ball. (Weight is held lying on my sternum while my mid-back is supported on the ball, then I do 15 reps of raising my left shoulder and point it toward my right hip and 15 of raising my right shoulder and pointing to my left hip, then repeat)
    10 deadbugs with 10-second holds (one rep=1 left/1 right)
    15 deep-abs ball transfers with 10lb pilates ball. (I lie flat on my back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor, arms behind my head, holding the ball in my hands. I tighten my abs, bring my arms and bent legs up, pass the ball from between my hands to between my knees, lower arms and legs to start position, then raise again to pass ball back from knees to hands and repeat another 14 times)
    2 sets of 20 planks with knee bends (1 rep=1left/1 right)

    I've had a couple of bladder surgeries in the last 14 months (Nov 2017 and April 2018). After the first one, when I was able to sit up in the recovery room with no difficulty, the nurse complimented me on my trunk muscles. After the second one, the same nurse was there and remembered me as "the one who works out". Again, I don't have visible abs, yet. But clearly, there's something strong under the flab...

    I can't point and say "Oh, this is the exercise that does it!" and truthfully, I use a stability ball for a number of upper and lower-body exercises that don't specifically target the core. But I've been told that the ball does involve a mild core-strengthening component, so it's likely a combination of things.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,210 Member
    lbride wrote: »
    whenever I work on stomach muscles, the new muscles seem to "push" out.

    Might you have diastasis recti?
    lbride wrote: »
    But since kids (c-sections) I've always had a weak core

    How are you determining that? Since you've been doing planks & ab exercises, it's unlikely your core is weak.



  • lbride
    lbride Posts: 248 Member
    edited January 2019
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  • lbride
    lbride Posts: 248 Member
    edited January 2019
    -
  • lbride
    lbride Posts: 248 Member
    Cherimoose wrote: »
    lbride wrote: »
    whenever I work on stomach muscles, the new muscles seem to "push" out.

    Might you have diastasis recti?
    lbride wrote: »
    But since kids (c-sections) I've always had a weak core

    How are you determining that? Since you've been doing planks & ab exercises, it's unlikely your core is weak.



    [ignore the blank posts above - I'm not the best at this!]

    I have never looked into whether I have diastasis recti and no dr has mentioned it but could be possible (I'm MANY years post-partum - like over 8!)

    And I assume my fyll core is weak - I base it on the fact that for several years, I really couldn't even sit up from a laying down position without using my arms to prop myself up. Now, I have REALLY bad balance (when I do the group classes, anything requiring me to stand on one foot, kick one leg, pull up one knee etc). For the first time now, I can hold a plank for 30 secs max, but that took at least a full year of working out to get to that point

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