megan12 started this discussion ·
Does anyone have good ideas for lower abdominal exercises? I have this little pooch of my lower abdomen and it's so annoying! I am very physically active but it won't go away. I'd love any suggestions.
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I have that pooch too! And honestly I'm starting to think it'll never go away, so I'm all ears!
Megan, when I was your age I had that too! I went on a huge diet and exercise plan. I got down to 92 lbs, and STILL had the pooch. Really the only way to get rid of that, is a tummy tuck, which I had. But you could get by with just a tad of liposuction. It is a little fat pocket. This doesn't have anything to do when I told you to get your little fat roll on the pole the other day you were over and we were working on the no-hands cradle does it? I thought about that after you left....hoping you didn't take it the wrong way.
megan12 ·
Haha! No, I didn't take offense to that at all! That reminds me to work on my no-hands cradle though. :P I was working on my Iron X today and I was watching my videos. I just kept noticing that little pooch and it's annoying. I wish I could get rid of it.
Veena ·
Soooo many of us hold our body fat in that area and its totally normal. Unless you're going to be in a figure competition I wouldn't stress about it too much. My pooch comes and goes, depending on what I'm eating and if I am working my abdominals. After having kids my abs are always the first thing to go when I don't exercise. Upper abs always stay around but the pooch likes to appear! It takes a strict diet and workout schedule to have really flat abs. Anyway...the transverse abdominal help archive the flat look. These muscle are like a girdle or should I say like spanks. lol I have a lot of exercises in the lessons that focus on proper abdominal engagement and doing them properly really will help. But don't forget about diet it makes a big difference. Here an 8 minute core routine that you may find helpful. https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/50bf696c-332c-43be-8cce-433a0ac37250 ;
I have that too!! It's being a woman :-D learn to love it rather than strive to rid it....x
ofezo ·
I weigh 85 lbs. and I have one too, lol. it is my mortal enemy cause I have no fat anywhere else, so it does bother me, but like Veena said, it depends on how much I'm working out or what I'm eating.... I think you have to get your body fat % down pretty low to get rid of it, like a fitness model.... Which I'm sure is not an easy feat, but it gives us something to strive for, right? :)
megan12 ·
I suppose you're right. I have scars, a keloid, and moles that I've learned to live with because I know I can't do anything about it. But I guess I feel like I could do something about my belly. However, not sure how willing I am to give up wine or ice cream. lol!
Mine is complete opposite after three kids mine is middle by bottom and top fine but mid stomach like I'm wearing an inflatable under my shirt lol starts above where the top of your pants sit up to where ribs start any help for that? Saving up for tummy tuck to fox that and get rid of as much of the stretch marks I can but they tell u to get as close to goal weight before so itllooks better after the surgery so that's what I'm trying to do now. Also for ppl who have had the tummy tuck how long before you were able to get back on the pole and did you have to start at the beginning with training?
I'm not sure it is something to strive for, sorry, it makes me sad that women feel the need to be 'perfect' like the images the media portrays through the use of models who by the way probably have a paunch too but its been airbrushed off! I'm sure as hell not going to cut out all the things I enjoy just to reduce my overall body fat % for a tiny plump of fat on my belly when I am a perfectly healthy individual. I am what I am and if someone else doesn't like it they can bugger off! Look in the mirror and count all the things that you like about yourself, because they are the only things nice people notice about you :-) and if its about that belly when you're poling, then no one is looking at your belly, they are looking at you pulling yourself up a pole!!!! :-)
The only thing that gets my lower abs flat is regular pole work, eating clean and not eating too excessively - just enough to maintain health. However, I find it makes the rest of my body look too skinny.
Hazelnut ·
By all means be as healthy and athletic as you can, of course that's always a good thing. But I gotta agree with ShonaLancs here - if you're generally slim, and fit, and you have a tiny belly in that area, then it's what your body is meant to look like! to get rid of it you'd have to drop some serious body fat percentage, which would also mean your boobs would get smaller and you'd be less healthy overall. Women are meant to store fat mostly around their hips/lower tummy so that tiny bit extra you have is naturally going to go here. I really wouldn't worry about it if generally you're in good shape - just focus on the good!
The only time in my life that I did not have a pooch is when I was totally eating clean and doing cardio 3-4 times a week. While I love the way my body looks when I do eat clean, I just like to party too much and I will never ever ever give up ice cream. By eating clean, I mean no preservatives, as much whole foods as possible, etc. Eating clean has NOTHING to do with anything that says fat or sugar free or diet, as those products tend to be filled with all sorts of chemicals that our bodies have no idea how to process.
Also, Aerial Amy had a blog not too long ago about this. When she started eating differently she saw a huge improvement. I will also say that Pantera keeps her BF in the 18-20% range so no you do not have to have extremely low body fat to have a flat stomach. http://aerialamy.com/blog/2012/09/13/pardon-have-you-seen-my-6-pack/ http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/261437_10151230428993673_1832031554_n.jpg
ofezo ·
I disagree that dropping your body fat low is unhealthy, as long as you're doing it by working out, building muscle, and eating to fuel your body. Think of professional athletes or dancers ...no one would say they are unhealthy even though their body fat percentages are very low. They just are able to workout / be active for a greater percentage of the day compared to those of us with desk jobs or the like. Also, I thing its OK to try to strive for building the best/healthiest body that you can, including one with no belly fat! No, its not easy an it takes a lot I'd hard work and discipline, but that's the whole point! If it were easy, it wouldn't be so coveted. Just my opinion :)
For conditioning, I've always found reverse sit-ups to be the best exercise for the lower abs. By reverse sit ups, I mean the kind where you lay on your back on the floor, and lift your legs and then butt into the air. Try doing them in a straddle, too. You can also do this hanging from a pull-up bar or holding onto your pole. Another possibility is to do triple sit-ups, where you lay on your back on the floor, then do repetitions of three different sit-ups: a tuck, where you lift your upper body off the floor, arms extended at your sides, and tuck your legs up at the same time; a straddle, where you do the same thing, but legs in a straddle (try reaching your arms between your legs on this one), and a pike, where you lift up with your legs straight.
A women's BF should not really stay under 10% for any legth of time. Bodybuilders/fitness competitors will get down into the single digits for comp but do not stay at that level. Typically they will try to maintain above 12-15% off season.
That pooch is for baby making. Leave it there. It's normal and healthy.
Chemgoddess is correct. Bodybuilders will go 10% Figure and Fitness about 12% and Bikini competiors will go about 15 - 16%. Not only is it extremely hard to get to these numbers, its not sustainable at all. Essential Body fat for women is 12%, going lower than that or even staying around that can create many health issues. Average body fat is considerd 25 - 30 with the 18 - 24 being "athletic". If you are low in weight and still have a pooch, then you are carrying a higher rate of body fat and not enough muscle. No amount of dieting will get rid of the pooch until you gain muscle mass. And you dont have to have extremely low body fat to habe flat abs, most women will see the flatness in the 18 - 24 range, depending on how much muscle they have and where they carry their fat. The ladies that i know that compete are never more than 10 - 15 pounds off their stage weight. But even they dont look stage ready all the time.
megan12 ·
But that's what bugs me. I'm 18% bodyfat so it just looks out of place. I don't want any babies anytime soon. Maybe I just need to focus on my diet more.
if your 18% body fat truly, and still have a pouch, then you need to look at posture. and muscle. If you have low lean body mass, then it wont matter how low you go in body fat, you still will not have flat abs. You will start to look stringy and sickly. Instead you will need to build overall muscle mass and bring up lean body mass. I have flat abs at about 23 - 24 % but i have put on about 15 pounds of muscle over the years and i dont carry much fat around my abs, so they show sooner. Like i said, it all boils down to how much muscle you have and where you carry your fat.
Taking a look at what pics you have up, i would say you are higher than 18% and you dont have a whole lot of muscle going on. You look pretty tall, and its harder to put muscle on a taller frame, but its easier to carry weight. You look to be in the lower 20's for body fat, its hard to tell with the pics you have up but that would be my guess. It looks like you carry the most weight in your abs, so for you, it would be the last place for fat to drop off. However, you look like you are at a weight and body fat level where you should be concentrating on putting on muscle and not worrying about the fat.
I carry my weight at my belly so truly the only time my abs are flat is 100% due to diet. I know many girls that have a higher BF than I do that have flat stomachs (they carry it on their hips), so it really is going to be genetics and diet.
In order to determine body fat, what does anyone suggest? I have had multiple caliper tests (mostly because its by far the easiest) but on the same day different people can come up with different numbers. Are calipers the only easy option?
I'm not saying it is for immediate use for making babies. It is from your girly hormones. That little pooch is very feminine and is gonna be highly dependednt of genetics and hormones. I can guarantee that it does not look out of place on you. I see thin girls with it all the time! It's normal and healthy.
