How can I attain firm lower abs?

Nerdphiliac

Hey!

I'm a little new to MFP and I'm still getting the hang of things, so please bear with me.

I've been doing nightly exercises for the past year and I've noticed a massive improvement in my body shape.
However, although my upper stomach and upper body is quite lean and firm, my lower stomach refuses to tighten!

I battled with being overweight for the first few years as a teen and thankfully, I've lost at least 10kg over the course of managing my diet and doing exercise. Each night, I do 50 sit-ups and a minute of planking, followed by 15 minutes of stretches. I'm a bit of a workaholic, so it's usually difficult to find the time to do more exercise other than on the weekends (either by doing half an hour of walking or skipping). Also, I'm a strict vegetarian.

Can some please, please, please help me!
Thank you so much!

Nerdphiliac

Bump.

_stephanie0

this is me exactly. spare tire. and i mean semi truck tire. hahaha.


you may not want to hear this, but it's a problem area. it will be the last place you lose it.

DIET DIET DIET!!!

and lift HEAVY! HEAAVVVYYYY!!

you can't spot reduce, but it WILL come off if you stick to it.

good luck!

Nerdphiliac

A problem area?! Noooo!!! D':
Yes, I know!! It never leaves no matter what I do!

Thank you so much for your advice!
What sort of excercises/diet do you follow? Mine always falters because I snack on food (which is low-fat, believe it or not). :O

Capt_Apollo

try intermittent fasting.

hkry3250

you do sit-ups, but do you do any type of lower ab and oblique exercises? Instead of sit-ups try this. Lay flat on the floor, hands behind your head, and legs straight out together. Now bring, do a normal sit-up at the same time bring your knees to your chest. The point is to try to get your knees to touch your elbows. this works both upper and lower abs at the same time.

amann1976

you have to get leaner...

your core strength is probably amazing but 350lb football players have amazing cores and monster guts to match...

mamasmaltz3

Based on your pics you look pretty little so I am assuming you don't have a lot of fat to lose you are just wanting to tone the muscles in that area. So, I would say to do more ab exercises for the lower abs. Planks work the entire abdomen but, full sit-ups are working mostly your upper abs. Reverse crunches, hanging knee/leg raises....just google abdominal exercises and you get a ton of great suggestions. YouTube also has a bunch of people actually demonstrating the exercises. I have heard good things about Jillian Michaels 6 Week 6 Pack. Videos are good because you can see the proper form and breathing to get the optimal results. You look great, keep working hard and I am sure you will see results quickly.

fallonrhea

Here's a great exercise for lower abs (although it works all of them!!):

Lay down on your back with your legs out straight and flex your feet. Raise one leg STRAIGHT in the air (toe pointed toward the wall behind you) - no bend in the leg, keeping the foot flexed. Raise the other leg a couple inches off the ground, foot still flexed so your legs are scissored. Hold for as long as you can, then switch legs. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

I got this exercise from P90X. If you google search for "ab ripper x" you can find the 16 minute ab workout that the program has you do several times a week. It's killer!! (Provides GREAT results too!)

californiagirl2012

Hey!

I'm a little new to MFP and I'm still getting the hang of things, so please bear with me.

I've been doing nightly exercises for the past year and I've noticed a massive improvement in my body shape.
However, although my upper stomach and upper body is quite lean and firm, my lower stomach refuses to tighten!

I battled with being overweight for the first few years as a teen and thankfully, I've lost at least 10kg over the course of managing my diet and doing exercise. Each night, I do 50 sit-ups and a minute of planking, followed by 15 minutes of stretches. I'm a bit of a workaholic, so it's usually difficult to find the time to do more exercise other than on the weekends (either by doing half an hour of walking or skipping). Also, I'm a strict vegetarian.

Can some please, please, please help me!
Thank you so much!

I had a tummy. I've had two kids full pregnancy and natural birth (no C-sections). The only thing that makes the fat go away is eating at a calorie deficit. For me that meant simply eating less, then the tummy went away. I do have stretch marks and some lose skin that mainly shows up when sitting or lying down. If I stand up straight it tightens up the lose skin.

I am currently almost 52 years old. I'm 5'1" tall and very tiny. My muscles only look big because I'm lean. They are not big. My lean body mass is only 104 lbs. If I gained some fat I'd look more soft and toned. If I gained fat more I'd be hefty and bulky like I've spent most of my life. You can have whatever you want, it's all dependent on developing muscle with exercise and losing fat by eating less at a calorie deficit.

Ab exercises only develops the muscles. Specifically doing ab work for me meant it INCREASED the ab muscles making my waist thicker in circumference, even under 12% body fat. My DXA scan shows ZERO body fat in my torso, and up to 14-16% body fat in my arms, legs, and gynoid region, and yet I could increase my waist circumference by 2-3 inches by adding in ab specific exercises.

THE BOTTOM LINE, the only way to lose the tummy fat is to eat less on a calorie deficit.

I've developed abs by lifting heavy in an ALL BODY workout designed for women. I don't do ab exercises every day, I followed a well designed routine and the ab exercise appear to be random and varied as far as the sets, more reps with a single exercises or varied with less reps in a combo or super set, but they are planks, side planks, swiss ball pikes (because stability ball curl ups are too easy for me), and barbell roll outs (or use an ab wheel).

Here are pictures to show my points:

Me at 171lbs


Me at 150lbs


Me at 133lbs



Me at 109lbs (just at or under 10% body fat) and NO AB EXERCISES for 6 months (but heavy weight lifting otherwise)



Me at 120lbs (still at 11% body fat), adding in AB exercises (listed above) and my waist is about 3 inches thicker.

Nerdphiliac

Thank you for the brilliant tips everyone!! Those routines sound amazing, I'll try out some of those exercises tonight!

CaliforniaGirl, you are an inspiration!! :'O

Nerdphiliac

Bump.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

It probably IS tight, there's just a bit of fat over it. That's one of the stubborn areas a lot of people have, the last few places we lose fat. Keep going. Moderate calorie deficit, cardio if you want, lift weights. However, keep in mind that you might have to get to a lower than desired bodyfat percentage to get there and you might decide it's not worth it.

Sarauk2sf

It probably IS tight, there's just a bit of fat over it. That's one of the stubborn areas a lot of people have, the last few places we lose fat. Keep going. Moderate calorie deficit, cardio if you want, lift weights. However, keep in mind that you might have to get to a lower than desired bodyfat percentage to get there and you might decide it's not worth it.

^^this.

Sarah0866

CLEAN DIET and resistance training/cardio...when you work abs, make sure you're targeting them from a variety of angles too (working obliques, stabilizers, etc.) and incorporating resistance as you get stronger..you got this!

zebisis

I really like this video- 10 min, and you will feel the burn. I second the calorie deficit as well, and all that everyone else said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7kcKvtcziI

Nerdphiliac

Thank you for the comments and advice everyone!! They're brilliant ideas.

Although, I'm a little uneducated on a few of these tips... I'm still new to this community. ^^
I'm sorry if I seem to be a pest, but I have a few questions:

- What is a calorie deficit?
- What does a clean diet consist of?
- What is a body fat percentage?

If you could help me, your assistance would be much appreciated.
Thank you so much once again.

@BusyLady404: Yes! That is so true! :') I can feel/see the muscles developing and I'm fairly flat, but they just won't tone. Contrasting, I can see and feel my more toned upper abs.

Nerdphiliac

Bump.

EvgeniZyntx

Read these two threads, they will answer your questions and get you going.

TDEE, BMR, etc...
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/512956-tdee-what-is-it-and-why-you-should-not-eat-below-your-

Road map
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/512956-tdee-what-is-it-and-why-you-should-not-eat-below-your-bmr

Welcome on board!

eatrainsmile

Hanging leg raises. Yes diet is really important to have visible abs but you should also strengthen them. Hanging leg raises gave me good results.

Imanido

I really like this video- 10 min, and you will feel the burn. I second the calorie deficit as well, and all that everyone else said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7kcKvtcziI

Really nice workout