not doing right excercises or just extra stretched skin?

Jessie__86
Jessie__86 Posts: 71
in Fitness and Exercise
Okay where to begin? I had two babies back to back 13 months apart with the youngest being a year old. My question is what can I do about my lower abs. My stomach is so out of proportion I have upper abs and obliques with this overhang on my lower belly! Its driving me nuts! I am currently training for my first halfmartathon. I also do kickboxing, tabata and bootcamp classes at my gym weekly and I also do insanity in between and daily ab work and nothing seems to be working! I just want to know if there is any lower ab work I can be doing. Or do I just need to come to terms with the fact that its just stretched out extra skin that will never go away? Thanks for any advice!

Replies

  • Halleeon
    Halleeon Posts: 309 Member
    Sounds like you are doing a lot. Do you know what your body fat percentage is? I believe women have to be under 20% for their muscles (including in their abs) to shine through. Maybe you need to decrease body fat and continue focusing on building those muscles?

    I've heard that some oils and moisturizers (like coconut oil) have wonderful healing properties for stretch marks and the like, are you keeping the skin moisturized? And on that note, drinking enough water for your weight?

    You may just be at the stage of fitness where these changes take the greatest amount of time to show, and where endurance will really pay off.

    If you can afford it, maybe one day you can have it surgically removed.

    But...all that being said, I would still work on learning to love you regardless of the extra skin.
  • katiegregory23
    katiegregory23 Posts: 26 Member
    Without seeing or touching it, I would say it's just extra skin. I had my last two kids 11 months apart and the youngest is also almost one. However, my first child is the one who actually destroyed my stomach. He's five now, but I had angry red stretch marks and tons of amniotic fluid, so I was stretched to the max. The stretch marks have since turned flesh-toned, but they are still there. I'm not to goal yet, but I was right before getting pregnant with my second (2 1/2 years later) and I still had a saggy lower tummy. The way I could tell it was extra skin was by how thin the skin was when I pinched it. There wasn't any fat on that portion of the skin, and I could pinch it completely flat between my fingers. I hope that isn't the case for you, but it's mine. Give it some more time, but it may be something you just have to live with. I will personally be getting a tummy tuck in five years, and my husband has already given me the ok :). Keep working, and good luck to you!

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