Can I tighten the skin on belly without surgery?????

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Please help....after having 4 beautiful children I have a rather, what I would call, saggy belly when bending over. Its awful...when I plank it just hangs there!! Is there anything exercise wise I can do to help it???

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  • p4ulmiller
    p4ulmiller Posts: 588 Member
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    Afraid not. Skin will usually snap back in time, but there are no exercises that will do it quicker.

    Some ladies use oils and stuff, but results are unclear.
  • briprzy
    briprzy Posts: 10 Member
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    I think you just need to give your body time to get rid of the excess itself. I know ab exercises did great things for my sister in law, like crunches and air bike.
  • rosemary98
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    I think time is the most relevant. be careful with ab workouts if you have any separated muscles due to your pregnancies...such workouts can worsen the separation. I had one baby 19-months ago. I have some of that stretchy skin, but I think it is getting better with weight loss and time.
  • BenjaminMFP88
    BenjaminMFP88 Posts: 660 Member
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    There's no exercises that'll help tighten skin. What most would suggest is to drink plenty of water, and apply certain oils regularly.. After that, just give it time.
  • momofthreesons
    momofthreesons Posts: 162 Member
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    Please help....after having 4 beautiful children I have a rather, what I would call, saggy belly when bending over. Its awful...when I plank it just hangs there!! Is there anything exercise wise I can do to help it???

    Me too... I plank ALONE
  • sevsmom
    sevsmom Posts: 1,172 Member
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    My "baby" is 7 1/2 years old. My belly still is less than lovely when I bend over or hold plank. I'm pretty much at maintenance weight, but I'm working on strengthening my core so that my abs at least look good when I'm standing or lying down! LOL

    How much your belly stretched, your genetics & time are all factors that will influence the "bounce back" potential of your tummy. I have a short friend who popped out 6 kids (6 pregnancies). She's a BEAST at CrossFit....like amazing! She's actually a coach now....I wish I had her guns...oops I digress. Anyway, she allways looked like her belly stuck as far out from her body as humanly possible when she was pregnant. SUPER stretched out skin. In her case, she needed surgery. And trust me, she was NOT overweight. Just stretched that skin out too far to get it to go back.

    Hopefully yours just takes a little time & TLC.
  • Boogage
    Boogage Posts: 739 Member
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    Don't give up hope! I've had 5 big babes and after number 4 my belly skin spread half way down to my knees when I sat down but it got better on its own although I never dieted and was still a big lady. Since dieting and exercising for a year after number 5 my tummy now only flops/spreads (for want of a better word lol) about 2 inches and I'm hoping for a nice flat tummy one day.
    I did have 6 sessions of non invasive laser lipo in the summer which is meant to break down the fat and I found it made my tummy a lot tighter but I don't know if everyone would have the same result. I was told derma rolling would be better for tightening and reducing the appearance of stretch marks but I don't like needles so I won't be going down that path anytime soon.
    FYI I have more stretch marked skin than normal skin and I think thats making it harder to get rid of the baggy flappyness but I don't think its impossible!
    Also, I heard that after dieting/exercising consistently it takes about a year for your skin to catch up a bit to your new body so don't make any drastic decisions.
    Circuit training and planks etc are all great exercises as are reverse crunches but I've found the biggest improvement has come from doing compound lifting moves. I can't lift heavy as I have other health problems but even with lighter weights it seems to be helping. Deadlifts/squats etc should all help strengthen your core. I limit ab exercises as I find that they make my tummy look bigger and if I can't look good naked yet, I at least want to look good in clothes :D