Ab work .... What do I need to do???

tinabell153

I'm at my goal weight, but I didn't lose fat in my belly. I'm not overweight! I just store fat on my belly. I don't want to lose pounds anymore. I want the belly fat gone!!! Please help me and give me tips on how to lose the belly fat and not lose anymore weight. I've tried circuit training for 4 months and no results on my belly. I only lost inches on my arms legs and now I have no boobs left to lose. Its so frustrating!!!!


HELP ME PLEASE!! Am I destined to having a 35 inch belly for the rest of my life?!

Acg67

You can't spot reduce, so either continue to lose weight or keep the belly fat

imthelobster

Strength training/weight lifting!

selenametts

i'm interested in this too. I'm having the same issue, inches lost everywhere but waist. I do kettlebells twice a week plus cardio (either elliptical, running, stationary bike) at least 3 times a week. And of course the various types of sit ups, leg lifts etc... that are supposed to help in the ab area I have two kids so i'm guessing that might have something to do with having a hard time in the ab area. do you have kids?

MFPBONNIE

Leslie Sansone and Jari Love say to do the bicycle, lying on the floor, hands behind head, and reach your left elbow towards right knee, right elbow towards left knee, in a bicycle motion. It's too hard for me, but they say its better than average ab exercises. Wish I was able to say for myself that it works, but my back is shot.

catshark209

But what if losing more will put her underweight?

ScottRy76

You need to drop your body fat percentage, which is pretty much diet. Stomach always seems to be the last part of the body to shed body fat sadly.

selenametts

Leslie Sansone and Jari Love say to do the bicycle, lying on the floor, hands behind head, and reach your left elbow towards right knee, right elbow towards left knee, in a bicycle motion. It's too hard for me, but they say its better than average ab exercises. Wish I was able to say for myself that it works, but my back is shot.

yes, i too have read that bicycle is the best. I do those nearly every night

Brunchstress

Are you eating processed foods? Lots of sodium? Sugars? Diet sodas? Cutting out these things has helped me lose some of my belly fat. I also do the bicycle exercises on my back, which is great. TRX training is wonderful if you have it at your gym or can get a system in your house. It's all core work. Just keep eating healthy and exercising the area. You'll sure to get where you want to be if you keep at it. It's a journey.

donaldphussey

You're probably in very good company. Belly fat is the last to go. I believe that you don't get defined abs until you hit a BMI of somewhere in the 4-8% range. I have no idea at all how that's possible, but...

Here are some ideas (although if you list in more detail what you've been doing, that might help folks to have additional ideas).

One way or another, you must burn calories.

You might consider interval training. Idea is to do short bursts of exercise to get your heart rate up to ~90% of maximum, hold briefly, then rest/slack to get heart rate back down to ~60% of max. You do a number of these intervals (6 to 10). Another version is Tabata. There are a lot better descriptions online than what I could offer. This is mostly effective in generating a higher metabolism.

Another would be to do long stretches of low-intensity exercise, aiming for a heart rate of 60-70% of your max. In that zone, about 85% of the calories burned are fat... you just burn cals at a much lower rate.

Most important thing is to mix it up; keep your body guessing. But if you've been doing circuit, you're prob already doing that.

Hope some of this is helpful.

DPH

Jjmcgaffey

I can't say for sure for you - but for me, I have a pouchy belly if I don't work on it directly. I used to do a lot of crunches and situps - which worked well, when I would do them, but they were such a pain I seldom did them for long. So I'd get belly-dimples (the sides of my pouchy belly would start to dent in and show muscle) then I'd get tired of crunches and slack off and it would relax and pouch out again.

What works for me - fun and good core+arm exercise - is Shovelglove. Basically get a sledgehammer (I use an 8-pound one - started with that and see no reason to move up yet) and move it around like you're doing real work with it. I "shovel snow", "pound fenceposts", and "chop wood" (respectively, underhand up and to the side as if dumping a shovelful; overhead down in front of me and a big circle back to overhead; and overhead down and straight up again until my belly feels it). I do a few others for my arms - various lifts - but those are the three that work my core. I can feel it, and I can see it - the dimples are there and not going away, getting bigger. www.shovelglove.com for more info (not me, the guy who thought this up).

Find something you _enjoy_ that works your core, is the best advice I can give. I don't know why the circuits didn't work for you (not sure what's included in your circuit) - if you're still a member of a gym, you might ask a trainer. But the circuits I've done have worked arms, legs, and whole body as much as abs and 'core' - you might want to choose something more targeted, since you've got a particular aim.

kierstin1976

They are hard to get and I had to get down to low body fat.

trojanbb

They are hard to get and I had to get down to low body fat.

This, it is only about bodyfat levels. You simply arent lean enough to see them.

I've worked out abs maybe twice in my life. You can change the size of your abs from working them out, but the visibility is simply from diet.

xMonroeMisfit

You can't spot reduce, so either continue to lose weight or keep the belly fat

^ that. you still have some BF % to get rid of. i read that you should be anywhere from 7-12 percent BF percentage in order to see some ab definition.

xMonroeMisfit

But what if losing more will put her underweight?

^ she needs to lose body FAT not just "weight"

Josie_lifting_cats

I had crazy awesome results in my waistline and measurements with 30 Day Shred and Ripped in 30. For a half an hour a day, I love it!

Capt_Apollo

dead lifts and squats. and lift heavy.