Why is my waist getting bigger after working out my abs?

ZaCkOX

You are gaining muscle in your abs - that is what ab workouts do. It will make your midsection bigger. Once you get the layer of fat off your midsection there is probably a very nice set of abdominal muscles under there!

^ This. Abs are muscles just like anyother. Endless sets of crunches, side crunches, etc. build muscle... so you are essentially adding muscle where you want to be nice and small. You don't need to train abs to lose fat in your midsection. My profile photo is me, and I train abs exactly 0 times per week. None.

Clean diet and lifting heavy.

But I am sure you do exercises that work your core and that is like doing ab exercises. For instance squats actually works the abs anyway.

usmcmp

Everyone here is spitting total bs. First if all if you want to lose weight, you MUST do high intensity cardio for short periods of time. This in return burns more calories and decreases your overall body. Second, you CAN NOT spot remove fat from single areas. If you want to lose belly fat, you need to decrease your overally body fat percentage. Lift heavy weights with light reps if you want mass or lift light weights with heavy reps to tone up. KEEP LIFTING!!! If you eat clean abd get some good cardio the abs will come out, they're just covered in a layer of fat now. The reason your waist is bigger is because your abdominal muscles have gotten bigger so that's actually a good thing. Just keep cutting down your body fat. Good luck and happy training!

Correct that you cannot spot reduce and that adding core muscle under the fat increases waist circumference, but the rest of it is garbage.

<---No cardio, no direct ab work, I don't eat clean and I use all the ranges of sets and reps.

Mikkimeow

usmcmp

You are gaining muscle in your abs - that is what ab workouts do. It will make your midsection bigger. Once you get the layer of fat off your midsection there is probably a very nice set of abdominal muscles under there!

^ This. Abs are muscles just like anyother. Endless sets of crunches, side crunches, etc. build muscle... so you are essentially adding muscle where you want to be nice and small. You don't need to train abs to lose fat in your midsection. My profile photo is me, and I train abs exactly 0 times per week. None.

Clean diet and lifting heavy.

But I am sure you do exercises that work your core and that is like doing ab exercises. For instance squats actually works the abs anyway.

You are correct that compound lifts engage the core for stabilization. Most people think you have to do core/ab isolation to build nice abs and that isn't always necessary thanks to the work the muscles get from heavy compound lifts.

SanteMulberry

Try HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) to burn off the fat (in addition to heavy lifting, of course). In several studies, it has been reported that HIIT burns 500-700% more body fat than ordinary cardio does. I have discovered that to be true for my own body. HIIT is pretty easy--well, on second thought, not exactly easy, but it is not complicated. You go all out in a "sprint" (going as fast as you can go) for 30 seconds, (in whatever exercise you want to do--I swim) for 30 seconds. Just when you feel that you are going to collapse, your thirty seconds are done and you get to "rest" with aerobic exercise for the next 90 seconds. This is an "interval". Most people do 6 to 8 intervals per exercise session. I started with 6 and am now up to being able to do 8 each time. My waist got bigger too, at first, because I was building muscle and not losing the stubborn fat that was on my abdomen. Then I started doing HIIT and lifting heavy. My shape has totally changed. I'm still wearing the same jeans that I wore over a year ago but they fit me in an entirely different way now. They were tight around the waist and baggy in the thighs and rear before (had an "old lady's physique). Now they are baggy over my waist and abdomen and fit in the rear and thighs. I'm back to the shape I had in my youth.