TUMMY TONING

Dreamerlove

Tummy toning!?!? What should I do? If i get down to 125 from 150.5 will my tummy be tone, or do I need to tone it?

xxjessikatxx

bump...any you'll need to tone it lol..

Jourdan_Rystrom

P.I.L.A.T.E.S. oh yeah P.I.L.A.T.E.S. (sing to the tune of teenage dream - "you...make...me...feel like I'm living a...teen...age...dream...." lolol

limestar

if you slim down it will help your tummy to go down. I suggest cardio and ab workouts. i do jillian michaels 30 day shred and 6 week 6pk and it has helped a lot in toning my tummy.

PhoenixFire975

You definately need to tone your tummy if you want it to look awesome. Actually, until very recently, I didn't know that when you do sit ups and stuff, you aren't burning fat. You can build up all you want with your muscle, but unless you actually do aerobic exercises and burn fat, you'll never see your buff muscles.

ShelleyBowman

If part of your weight loss routine includes ab toning exercise, you will tone as you go. And this is the smart way to do it. You may notice the "pounds" come off a bit slower but that is because muscle weighs more than fat. You'll want to be sure to incorporate exercises that focus not only on your lower abs but your upper abs & obliques as well. Best of luck to you!

_Lisa_

Lots of good ab moves here...... and yes pilates are great!


http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/abs/express/ab-toning-stability-ball-workout/?page=1

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/abs/exercises/top-10-abs-exercises/?page=1

Dreamerlove

I was wondering because my friend said she did ab workouts and then stopped bc it was making her stomach poke out more. I thought muscle would burn fat, but I don't know if it would take awhile first? What do you think?

KourtneyLee

When exercising, you should be incorporating workouts that tone and strengthen your whole body, as this is most productive. When losing weight, you cannot expect your body to simply look tight because you've lost some poundage, so yes, you should probably incorporate toning exercises into your plan. If you really want to focus on the belly, I suggest picking up a few Pilates DVD's targeting your abs. They work really well, and should only cost you about $10 each. Or if Comcast is your cable provider, you can search and perform routines for free from there. Basic workouts that will tone your stomach include your regular ol' crunches, sit-ups, and bicycle kicks. However, I'm sure if you just searched online, you could find a bunch of videos on Youtube or articles containing other specific workouts.

KourtneyLee

I was wondering because my friend said she did ab workouts and then stopped bc it was making her stomach poke out more. I thought muscle would burn fat, but I don't know if it would take awhile first? What do you think?

Also, not to offend your friend, but toning your tummy does not give you a gut. Drink plenty of water and avoid salty foods, as they will cause bloating and retention of water.

Dreamerlove

THANKS!!! **goes and does crunches**** lol

TaraMaria

Let me say this. For ME, time was a huge part. I started out running, doing kickboxing, zumba and ab routines to get the perfect stomach. I hit a sick rough patch this past January and I've been just running. My stomach is flat as can be. I dropped from 185 to 115. I thought for sure my stomach would need crunches and situps and everything else. But honestly? It took some time for it to kind of just suck in and mellow out. Do I have PERFECT definition? No. Do I have lines where my 6 pack starts and a flat stomach? Yes. My skin tightened up after a while and finally looks healthier and more vibrant! Not wrinkled and flabby. I still have stretch marks but they are more taunt and I don't half mind them now with my stomach being flat! ) Maybe when I'm 100% better I'll go back to working on the 6 pack but its nice to know I still have a flat stomach without killing myself with workouts for the time being.

just4peachy

I was wondering because my friend said she did ab workouts and then stopped bc it was making her stomach poke out more. I thought muscle would burn fat, but I don't know if it would take awhile first? What do you think?

Also, not to offend your friend, but toning your tummy does not give you a gut. Drink plenty of water and avoid salty foods, as they will cause bloating and retention of water.

Not entirely true. If she's ONLY doing crunches & such the building muscle can cause the layer of fat to be more prominent. You need to burn the fat to be able to show off the muscle you're building. Kick boxing is a GREAT way to work on both.

Ally_Clare

If only it we could spot reduce *sighs*

I agree that cardio is the best option to tone up. Cycling works your stomach muscles and also your butt and thighs so that's a triple bonus! Swimming can also be used to tone up also, so try incorporating laps (if a pool is available) plus it is also good as it doesn't cause any strain on your body

Dreamerlove

I was wondering because my friend said she did ab workouts and then stopped bc it was making her stomach poke out more. I thought muscle would burn fat, but I don't know if it would take awhile first? What do you think?

Also, not to offend your friend, but toning your tummy does not give you a gut. Drink plenty of water and avoid salty foods, as they will cause bloating and retention of water.

Not entirely true. If she's ONLY doing crunches & such the building muscle can cause the layer of fat to be more prominent. You need to burn the fat to be able to show off the muscle you're building. Kick boxing is a GREAT way to work on both.

Wouldn't the muscle burn the fat? I'm just guessing here

PhoenixFire975

I actually just read something where muscle does burn more cals vs. fat, but it is only a slight difference. Also, if you really want to burn fat, it has to be cardio because strength training won't burn NEARLY as many cals as cardio (there's like a 300 cal diff. in general). You can try researching trusty worthy websites (maybe try WebMd.com) to look for tips on exercises to build up muscle tone and workouts you can do to burn off the fat.

_Lisa_

You need to do exercises that focus on your WHOLE core..... crunches are good but they don't work everything. You need to strengthen your back muscles and everything too...... so more then just crunches.

backinthenines

Wouldn't the muscle burn the fat? I'm just guessing here

It's not quite as simple as that. The more lean mass you have, the better you metabolise. Basically people with more muscle have a faster metabolic rate than people with less lean mass.

When I weighed about 123 pounds I was 17% body fat and definetely had the beginnings of a visible outline of my abs and obliques. But the reason I had 17% BF was because I had a lot of lean mass from lifting hard!

But core strength & stability training goes way beyond sit ups. There is a plethora of fitball exercises, squats on wobble boards, work with a BOSU, reverse curls, planks, overhead sit-ups with a medicine ball, dorsal raises etc etc. If you have poor core strength and just go out to do a lot of crunches, it's likely that all you'll do is hurt your back and train your hip flexors. Do you have a gym near you where you could ask a PT to show you some core strength exercises?