possibly a very dumb question...

jeneferphillips89

OK, so I don't know what everyone else has heard/been told but somewhere along the way I have been told this and was wondering how true it is. I was in the gym and a gentleman told me that if you have a larger stomach then you should wait until your closer to your goal weight before you start abdominal exercises. He stated that his reasoning was that if you work your abdominal muscles while your stomach is larger then you will simply end up with a larger 'solid' stomach. Not sure where this came from, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask...

GradatimFerociter

I think he was messing with you.

MinnieInMaine

That doesn't even make sense! How much fat you have in your belly area has nothing to do with your abdominal muscles being bigger or more solid.

P.S. Prime example of "bro-science"

concordancia

I don't necessarily think he was messing with you, a lot of people believe in old wives tales.

Most people in the general public, and even a lot of people focused on strength training, believe that it is best to lose weight THEN exercise. They will even say that they don't see the point of overweight people exercising. Well, I exercise the same reason healthy people all over the world exercise - because it feels good and it is good for me.

tyrsnbdr

That doesn't even make sense! How much fat you have in your belly area has nothing to do with your abdominal muscles being bigger or more solid.

P.S. Prime example of "bro-science"

This is pure Broscience. Thinking is that your pumped abs will make you look fatter. But, as we know now, it is hard to gain muscle mass while cutting, so it isn't a problem.

bcattoes

I suppose he was referring to building muscle under the fat pushing the fat out???

But abdominal muscles don't really grow that big, especially on women. And even more especially on a woman eating at a calorie deficit. Work your whole body and keep to your calorie goals. A strong core is a very good thing to have, even if you can't see the muscles yet.

Chieflrg

He is half way telling the truth.

Since fat sits on top of muscle. If you have stomach fat, & you are eating at a surplus and you are doing any exercise that builds your abs, your stomach will appear larger as your muscles are growing and pushing the fat out more.

If you just want your abs to show, you must lower your body fat % by eating at a deficit. Eating at a deficit will not build muscles for most people in general. You can gain strength on a deficit though.

You certainly won't have a "solid" stomach if you have a high fat %.

meshashesha2012

if you're eating at a calorie deficit then nothing on you will get bigger as a result of working out.

but really if you have a lot to lose, there are better ways to work out your core AND work out the rest of your body at the same time to help preserve your lean body mass : turkish get ups, deadlifts, squats, pullups and other compound movements all work the core as well as pretty much everything else