How can I get rid of my lower belly fat?
jaina08
Posts: 561 Member
I've always had belly fat for about 6 years now. It's mostly on my lower stomach and I really want to get flat firm abs. Would it be a better idea to do lots of cardio and healthy eating first to at least get a flat stomach? Once I get a flat stomach should I then start doing ab workouts? Or should I do both even though I still have some flab? I am actually at a plateau right now and it's about to be 2 months with no weight or inches lost... Pretty frustrating.
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Haha
I would like the answer too.:laugh: 0 -
i tend to store fat in my lower belly as well. i dont have a before picture but this is now
it took a while. i lost it everywhere else but my lower belly until it started falling off. you just have to be very good about keeping a deficit. cardio = deficit creator. i recommend strength training too. just do the ab workouts now. use those muscles or lose them. and another thing - your body gains and loses fat wherever the heck it wants to unfortunately. keep at it and you will eventually lose that belly fat.
that pic was after i stopped doing cardio months before and started solely lifting weights, and just making sure i was eating right. also get a food scale if you dont have one so you know exactly how much youre consuming.0 -
i tend to store fat in my lower belly as well. i dont have a before picture but this is now
it took a while. i lost it everywhere else but my lower belly until it started falling off. you just have to be very good about keeping a deficit. cardio = deficit creator. i recommend strength training too. just do the ab workouts now. use those muscles or lose them.
that pic was after i stopped doing cardio months before and started solely lifting weights, and just making sure i was eating right. also get a food scale if you dont have one so you know exactly how much youre consuming.
Wow really nice abs, how long did it take you to get it flat?0 -
i got rid of my pooch before by doing lower ab exercises like laying down on the floor, lift both of my legs straight and hover about 2 inches above floor, lift til legs were straight in air, and repeat. that did it for me0
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i tend to store fat in my lower belly as well. i dont have a before picture but this is now
it took a while. i lost it everywhere else but my lower belly until it started falling off. you just have to be very good about keeping a deficit. cardio = deficit creator. i recommend strength training too. just do the ab workouts now. use those muscles or lose them.
that pic was after i stopped doing cardio months before and started solely lifting weights, and just making sure i was eating right. also get a food scale if you dont have one so you know exactly how much youre consuming.
Wow really nice abs, how long did it take you to get it flat?
started this journey on july 4th 2012, started losing the belly fat around november/december0 -
Ab workouts won't give you a flat stomach. Losing body fat will. It can be one place women tend to store fat - genetics plays a big role.0
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unfortunately, you cannot target fat loss. It has to come off from overall fat mass.0
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Wow what an amazing stomach..
I believe its all about eating clean! Eat clean all week and just have one cheat meal per week..0 -
i got rid of my pooch before by doing lower ab exercises like laying down on the floor, lift both of my legs straight and hover about 2 inches above floor, lift til legs were straight in air, and repeat. that did it for me
Thanks! ! !:flowerforyou:
I am doing pilates and have noticed my transverse and oblique muscles are quite noticeable. But the lower belly is still there. I will do the leg raise along with pilates now.
It will be very tough for me, but I will find a way.0 -
YOU CAN'T SPOT REDUCE!!!! Stop telling people you lost any part of fat by doing an exercise in that area. It confuses them. If you lost weight in that area, you lost it because you created a caloric deficit through eating and/or exercise in general and your genes were PREDISPOSED to move more fat from your stomach than some other area. Just like you might see a lady who is well over weight, but still holds a nice shape, or has a flatter stomach, or better shaped but. Some girls are more jiggly than others in different places. Some have more muscle in other places. Some have bigger boobs. Do you think you can target Boob-fat? If so how? Do more chest work?
AGAIN...LETS REVIEW....
Lower ab work will NOT help you get rid of lower ab fat.
Same thing with arms.
Now you can do a butt load of ab work so that it burns more calories to help you have a higher caloric deficit. But that would be ill advised.
You just need to keep burning fat. You can't target it. Don't forget that it's harder for females and you guys are BURDENED with the tendency to store belly fat for this crazy little idea of CHILD BIRTH!!! Sorry that a little extra fat isn't in the medias lesson of what's acceptable.
Learn how to squat. Way better exercise than ab work.0 -
i got rid of my pooch before by doing lower ab exercises like laying down on the floor, lift both of my legs straight and hover about 2 inches above floor, lift til legs were straight in air, and repeat. that did it for me
of course you did0 -
Wow what an amazing stomach..
I believe its all about eating clean! Eat clean all week and just have one cheat meal per week..
<--- eats really rather grubbily. (pic taken 10lbs into a bulk also)
Its all about genetics, a caloric deficit, with some strength training thrown in preferably.0 -
You may not be able to target fat, but strengthening the musculature goes a long way toward attaining the goals of looking "toned".
Weight lifting is key. I can't do much, because of a bad arm injury, but I know strength training is the way to go. I do unweighted squats, too.0 -
^ Exaaaactly. You can eat "clean" (whatever that means to each individual person) and do ab exercises until you're doubled over with cramps - you'll have some really nice abs that are still hidden under a layer of fat until you remove the fat via caloric deficit.I believe its all about eating clean! Eat clean all week and just have one cheat meal per week..
<--- eats really rather grubbily. (pic taken 10lbs into a bulk also)
Its all about a caloric deficit, with some strength training thrown in preferably.
Fat is inert. It has no contractile fibers. You can't exercise it. Leg raises, sit-ups and/or any other abdominal exercises work the ab muscles, but do absolutely nothing to the fat atop them.0 -
^ Exaaaactly. You can eat "clean" (whatever that means to each individual person) and do ab exercises until you're doubled over with cramps - you'll have some really nice abs that are still hidden under a layer of fat until you remove the fat via caloric deficit.I believe its all about eating clean! Eat clean all week and just have one cheat meal per week..
<--- eats really rather grubbily. (pic taken 10lbs into a bulk also)
Its all about a caloric deficit, with some strength training thrown in preferably.
Fat is inert. It has no contractile fibers. You can't exercise it. Leg raises, sit-ups and/or any other abdominal exercises work the ab muscles, but do absolutely nothing to the fat atop them.
Ok so does that mean for someone like me who has reached goal I have to lose more weight cause I really don't want to, i think my mothers apron is some what loose skin.
To the op. I did cardio and ate healthy while losing and my lower belly did shrink quite a bit but I still have enough where I wouldn't wear a bikini. I have been strength training and doing like 20 different types of crunches ones specifically said to work lower abdomen and I am not getting the results I want. I know u cant spot reduce but wont stop me from trying.I guess my stomach is not too bad compared to how it used to just hang on the bottom. Just keep trying despite all the negative responseses what do u have to lose nothing but your tummy if not u gain ab muscles even if u can't see them0 -
^ Exaaaactly. You can eat "clean" (whatever that means to each individual person) and do ab exercises until you're doubled over with cramps - you'll have some really nice abs that are still hidden under a layer of fat until you remove the fat via caloric deficit.I believe its all about eating clean! Eat clean all week and just have one cheat meal per week..
<--- eats really rather grubbily. (pic taken 10lbs into a bulk also)
Its all about a caloric deficit, with some strength training thrown in preferably.
Fat is inert. It has no contractile fibers. You can't exercise it. Leg raises, sit-ups and/or any other abdominal exercises work the ab muscles, but do absolutely nothing to the fat atop them.
Ok so does that mean for someone like me who has reached goal I have to lose more weight cause I really don't want to, i think my mothers apron is some what loose skin.
To the op. I did cardio and ate healthy while losing and my lower belly did shrink quite a bit but I still have enough where I wouldn't wear a bikini. I have been strength training and doing like 20 different types of crunches ones specifically said to work lower abdomen and I am not getting the results I want. I know u cant spot reduce but wont stop me from trying.I guess my stomach is not too bad compared to how it used to just hang on the bottom. Just keep trying despite all the negative responseses what do u have to lose nothing but your tummy if not u gain ab muscles even if u can't see them
If it is loose skin, then time is your best ally tbh.
Your best approach really depends on how much muscle mass you want. You can continue to lose weigh as some is probably still fat, but you may not be comfortable getting leaner, depending on how the rest of your body composition is, or you can recomp, where you eat at maintenance, do a progressive loading strength routine, and slowly gain some muscle and lose some fat, but stay at the same weight.0 -
When I was 88 lbs at 5'4", I still had a little bit of a pooch. Yay genetics!0
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[/quote]
If it is loose skin, then time is your best ally tbh.
Your best approach really depends on how much muscle mass you want. You can continue to lose weigh as some is probably still fat, but you may not be comfortable getting leaner, depending on how the rest of your body composition is, or you can recomp, where you eat at maintenance, do a progressive loading strength routine, and slowly gain some muscle and lose some fat, but stay at the same weight.
[/quote]
Oops top part was the quote I must have messed it up deleting the other stuff
Man losing weight was the easy part this all gets so confusing. I am adding more protein, staying at my maintenance cals and lifting doing crunches more often like 3-4 times a week while trying to increase the weights I use and doing more minuites of crunches with different styles. Hope that's what u meant and I only started this a week ago after realizing after 3 months tat I was getting no where. Well that's a lie been taking bikini pics and I see a bit of a differnce but at this rate I will reach my potential in 3 years.0 -
Oops top part was the quote I must have messed it up deleting the other stuff
If it is loose skin, then time is your best ally tbh.
Your best approach really depends on how much muscle mass you want. You can continue to lose weigh as some is probably still fat, but you may not be comfortable getting leaner, depending on how the rest of your body composition is, or you can recomp, where you eat at maintenance, do a progressive loading strength routine, and slowly gain some muscle and lose some fat, but stay at the same weight.
Man losing weight was the easy part this all gets so confusing. I am adding more protein, staying at my maintenance cals and lifting doing crunches more often like 3-4 times a week while trying to increase the weights I use and doing more minuites of crunches with different styles. Hope that's what u meant and I only started this a week ago after realizing after 3 months tat I was getting no where. Well that's a lie been taking bikini pics and I see a bit of a differnce but at this rate I will reach my potential in 3 years.
Fixed the quotes (I think)
Are you doing anything else except crunches? What strength training are you doing?0 -
i got rid of my pooch before by doing lower ab exercises like laying down on the floor, lift both of my legs straight and hover about 2 inches above floor, lift til legs were straight in air, and repeat. that did it for me
I will be trying that0 -
Flat stomachs are made in the kitchen!0
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I have the same issue with lower belly fat. It has started to go away but I guess after three kids I have some major work to do. I would recommend eating right, doing your cardio and your ab exercies, squats etc. It is true you can not spot reduce but what you can do is while you are working on loosing the fat you can build those muscles. Once the fat is gone your abs will show with out the saggy skin. At least that is my humble take on it.0
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To everyone still yappin about ab work let me ask you a question since we seem to think that "ah it's better than nothing" What happens when one set of muscles is overtly stronger than it's antagonist?
Everyone is an expert around here it seems. I mean I'm certainly not but it seems that we have a few.0 -
Ok so does that mean for someone like me who has reached goal I have to lose more weight cause I really don't want to, i think my mothers apron is some what loose skin.
To the op. I did cardio and ate healthy while losing and my lower belly did shrink quite a bit but I still have enough where I wouldn't wear a bikini. I have been strength training and doing like 20 different types of crunches ones specifically said to work lower abdomen and I am not getting the results I want. I know u cant spot reduce but wont stop me from trying.I guess my stomach is not too bad compared to how it used to just hang on the bottom. Just keep trying despite all the negative responseses what do u have to lose nothing but your tummy if not u gain ab muscles even if u can't see them
I would post to you this question: What are you hoping to accomplish by eating at maintenance?
Also I'm willing to bet 100% that your issue is inadequate protein intake/nitrogen balance. Females never want to eat enough. Thus why you still want to eat at maintenance. When you're trying to do what you're trying to do, your protein intake needs to be high enough on a CONSISTENT basis to keep your nitrogen balance in a surplus while keeping your caloric intake at an appropriate level whether that be surplus or deficit or maintenance.
Welcome to the world of bodybuilding Whether you like it or not. That's what you're trying to do now. And no, getting bulky is a matter of caloric intake. You're in the second parallel universe. You know the experience of the importance of proper caloric intake. Now you need to experience the importance of proper macronutrient consumption, thermic effect of food, Thyroid, etc.0 -
To everyone still yappin about ab work let me ask you a question since we seem to think that "ah it's better than nothing" What happens when one set of muscles is overtly stronger than it's antagonist?
Everyone is an expert around here it seems. I mean I'm certainly not but it seems that we have a few.
I doubt anyone thinks that only doing ab work is good. But as a part of a full workout plan I see no harm in isolating sets of muscles. I mean those with large biceps and triceps have to work them one at a time but also do other sets to make it look right.0 -
To everyone still yappin about ab work let me ask you a question since we seem to think that "ah it's better than nothing" What happens when one set of muscles is overtly stronger than it's antagonist?
Everyone is an expert around here it seems. I mean I'm certainly not but it seems that we have a few.
A greater possibility for injury... This is why to train with balance... This is one reason why i mostly recommend compound lifts. I think isolation exercises will create more imbalances. I don't follow my own advice on this right now...got to make money..
Indeed. I was about to reply with "just learn how to squat"
I do/will do that enough though.0 -
Indeed, but I have NEVER in all of my 37 years on this planet seen ANYONE telling someone to "just keeping working your lower back...just keeping working your lats girl you'll get there" Lets face it...this is an issue about sex.To everyone still yappin about ab work let me ask you a question since we seem to think that "ah it's better than nothing" What happens when one set of muscles is overtly stronger than it's antagonist?
Everyone is an expert around here it seems. I mean I'm certainly not but it seems that we have a few.
I doubt anyone thinks that only doing ab work is good. But as a part of a full workout plan I see no harm in isolating sets of muscles. I mean those with large biceps and triceps have to work them one at a time but also do other sets to make it look right.
What we view as sexy, attractive, acceptable, etc. When will a person be satisfied with themselves? (never) When they feel like they look like so and so or fit in a pair of jeans when they were younger and sexier. Belly fat is a keyword to sell products. It's never been talked about as much as the past 5 years on this planet. You can ask Google. God....
lol...nah, I'm just....serious.0 -
unfortunately, you cannot target fat loss. It has to come off from overall fat mass.
if I had a quarter...0 -
Ah I love watching the industry's brainwashing and general years of total B.S. manifest before my eyes. It's like a constant confirmation when simple logical truth destroys even the most vividly imaginative conjectures of nonsense. A whole thread about spot reduction, in 2013.5 ...equals...
Job security
: )0 -
i got rid of my pooch before by doing lower ab exercises like laying down on the floor, lift both of my legs straight and hover about 2 inches above floor, lift til legs were straight in air, and repeat. that did it for me
of course you did
Hahahahaha:laugh:0
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