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Flatter Stomach
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Over the past few months my stomach has started to get fatter after being pretty flat all my life. I would like to know how to get it flatter as I want to make it slim for my gf.
I know it's exercise and the right food but what exercises should I do and what foods would be best to eat?
Any info welcome.
I know it's exercise and the right food but what exercises should I do and what foods would be best to eat?
Any info welcome.
Post edited by JustV on
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Other types of exercise will reduce general body fat, but i'm guessing you want "flat" rather than "skinny".
Along with sit-ups you need to do back - stretchs, otherwise you end up with a weak back and its very likly you'll hurt yourself doing every day tasks.
Both sit-ups and the back stretch's can damage you if not done properly, so it's prolly best to go to a gym and ask a fitness adviser to demonstrate.
My mother is a KFA trainer, so i got the info a lot easier.
For referance i started doing these in sets of 20 every day. 1 set a day for the first week, 2 sets in the second 3 in the third etc etc. after sitting on 5 sets for a few weeks i moved upto sets of 40. for a while i was doing 5 sets of 40 a day!
I think that lasted a month or so before my natural laziness took hold again
I now exercise depending on how much free time i have. :rolleyes:
So you do want to do situps, crunches, etc, but in combination with enough aerobic exercise to cause you to go into "calorie debt", ie, burning more than you take in. This will cause you to lose fat all over your body, including the area you want.
There is no magic way just to lose the fat around your waist, unfortunately.
While crunches, situps and the like are great for working out your abdominals, I think that what you're looking for are better obliques, the abdominals on either of the six pack. Look for machines in your gym that let you work them, or ask Alistair or myself and we'll give you some that you can do at home.
It even includes the revolutionary Alistair's Absercize
if i start doing running will it effect my programme on bulking myself up more? also i dont think i have a very strong back, sit-ups hurt my back at the bottom, any tips on back excursuses i can do at home?
and Alistair thanks for your help on bulking up, if ur wondering on how im getting on, its great, because i have really skinny and small arms so i can see and improvement allready, i plan to keep it up.
Running shouldn't hurt your goal of bulking up, if you continue to lift weights regularly. The problem is some people get too tired after their run to work out. So start off small, maybe two miles the first time, and gradually increase. And make sure to keep on eating lots of protein.
Do you have access to a gym? Because the machines at the gym (Stairmaster, eliptical runner) will burn more calories than running in the same amount of time.
As for lower back exercises, try back extentions. They work best with an exercise ball, which you can get at any shop that sells sporting goods. One of the best selling brands is called TheraBall or something like that. Basically you put your hips on this ball and extend your back.
Like this
Situps do work your back, although they do so less directly than this does.
Hopefully Alistair can think of another one you can do without a gym or buying the ball.
1. Crunchers - on your back with thighs perpendicular to the ground and feet parallel to the ground (legs are suspended), hands behind head and use your abdominals to move upwards.
2. Right over left & left over right - on your back, on leg bent with foot on ground, the other crossed over so that the ankle area rests on the knee, hands behind head and move your opposite elbow towards the knee of the foot on the ground. 30 reps on each side.
3. Streamliners - lay completely flat on your back with your feet crossed and your arms extended straight over your head (ears tight between your shoulders)...kindof like a position to dive into water, but on your back. It can be hard but same motion as crunchers, keeping your arms tight against your ears and as straight as possible.
4. ABC's - arms and legs in same position as crunchers. A: right elbow to left knee. B: left elbow to right knee. C: both elbows to both knees. Do 10 rounds. Better if you can do it balancing on your rear. I can't.
5. Heeltouchers - balance yourself on your ass with your legs extended above the ground and your hands hanging around near your rear. bend your legs and bring your heels to your hands. it can be hard to balance, but practice makes it easier.
6. Chinups - on your back with legs flat and arms behind head. Start in 'up' position. you don't really lift your back for this...just your head and neck, keep your face facing straight up at the ceiling. Hold for 1-2 seconds release and come right back up. your abdominals should feel tight in both phases, not just the up position.
7. Cockroaches - on your back with legs in position for crunchers and arms in streamline, but pointing between the legs. dont try to keep your head between your shoulders for this. basically, just push your hands foward through your legs as far as you can 30 times.
8. Sidesitups - upper back flat on ground and twist at the hips with knees bent so that bottom half of body is laying on its side. same movement as crunchers.
9. Pikes - body flat and arms extended over head. move arms and legs simultaneously towards each other and try to touch your toes. kindof like folding your body in half. I'm awful at these.
10. Kneeups - on your back with hands near the rear or behind head (harder to do, but more beneficial). curl your legs up until your knees are over your abdomen and your bum is off the ground. extend the knees out parallel to the ground until completely extended. dont let your feet touch the ground.
11. Bicycles - lay on your back with arms behind head. move your feet in a bicycling motion, moving your opposite elbow to the knee that is closer to you. Do 25 slow and small radius, 25 medium speed and med radius and the last 25 full speed with full extension of your legs. with this one, the legs move in an elongated oval shape rather than circular.
12. Twisters - balance yourself on your ass with your legs bent and ankles crossed suspended above the ground. keep your arms relaxed and hands together. twist from side to side, touching your hands to ground or coming close each time. Up the ante by using a medicine ball. 4kg is what I use.
I guess that's more to develop muscle. I would highly suggest swimming to burn the fat. Try doing long aerobic types of swims that get your heartrate up, but you don't get tired too easily. Short and fast won't do anything but tone up muscle underneath fat, so what's the use. If your not that great a swimmer, running is good. Anything that you can keep in constant motion for long periods of time should help.
Nothing is a sure solution. I swim 12-14km a day and I still have that lower section that could be a little flatter (my friends tell me I'm imagining it), but otherwise, I'm very proud of my stomach.
12-14k a day! I'm VERY impressed.
(What's your #1 stroke?)
Anyway . . .
I agree, swimming can be a great way to generally 'tone up' but you have to be careful.
I would say that the kind of swimming training needed to actually make a noticable difference is beyond many people. Just splashing about won't get you anywhere.
Plus swimming hard will make you hungry and the mistake lots of people make is to then eat loads of crap.
Diet (but not A diet) and proper, useful exericise are the key.
Trust me - I have a stomach of solid granite.
(Don't worry, I am speaking metaphorically)
Oh good, you had me worrying
Jeez.
Are you a national level swimmer? The only people that I ever knew that did that kind of yardage were here at uni, and they are Olympic medalists!
And I think that they usually don't do more than 10-11000 day, although they lift weight too.
When I used to swim I was an IM/freestyler/butterfyer. The IM, I must say is the worst out of all of them. I would rather fo a 200 fly than a 200 IM.
And I miss the perfect stomach I used to have. And the big shoulders, and the excellent cardiovasular fitness.
What are your times?
My times suck balls. (meters)
free: 30, 1:02, 2:21
fly: 1:09
back: 1:13
breast: haha
IM: 2:36
these are all from well over a year ago. had a medical issue and couldnt swim for a while. ive got a meet next weekend that i dont feel ready for. coach says im in shape and ill surprise myself. we'll see.
In a word: YES
For a girl those are excellent times! They don't suck.
I never did long course that much (not many high school pools in the US are long course) but in short course I went:
100 free 52.4
100 fly 52.8 (I was actually faster in the 50 fly than 50 free, go figure)
200 IM 2:10 ( The backstroke killed me! If it was under 40 secs I would be happy)
Then I came to USC and realized that I wouldn't even be able to make the practice squad. Very humbling.
I think they claim they've had forty Olympic medalists go here, so I didn't feel that bad, though.
Are we machines?
Yep - I agree with most of that. (Apart from the bit about turning into a prostitute).
As with most sports, it's only when you take a step back that you realise how much your life is geared towards training, PBs, anaerobic thresholds, T20s etc.
And as you were asking (?!) my times are:
50 back - 28.92 (SC) 30.07 (LC)
50 free - 24.7 (SC)
I never swim more than 50s - too much like hard work!
Alex and I :mad: god, your grammar. And you'll have to demonstrate Alistair's absercize to me when yuo get back from cornwall... you'll be horrified about how unfit i am and i'm not saying i'll actually DO them... you just need to demonstrate