core stomach

[bfloyd]

Ok, with all the home stomach exercise gadgets, machines, exercises, etc., what seems to work the best for decreasing the famous stomach buldge? Thanks.

[crtreedude]

Losing weight

[ModoVincere]

Losing weight

+ 1Million

[Hobartlemagne]

Eat a little, Ride a lot. Repeat.

[Eatadonut]

You can't just burn stomach fat, you burn fat wherever it wants to come from, and you have to burn enough for your body to decide to take from the stomach area, and that's different for every person.

If you're looking to build ab muscle, then learn some good crunches. Free and portable.

[crtreedude]

To expand a bit - you can have the strongest abs in the world, but that won't remove the fat - fat doesn't leave from where you are excercising (sadly) but generally based on your own physical body. Some people gain weight all over, some around the middle.

Eat less, excercise more. Use excercise to burn calories, and resistance training to build muscles.

[slowandsteady]

My rock hard six pack abs can only be seen on an MRI.

[GuitarWizard]

Defined abs are made in the kitchen....

With that being said, for conditioning I use a series of ab exercises that are favorites of SEAL Teams. They are quite effective.

As weird as it may sound, I actually miss doing 2+ hours of calisthenics :(.

[bfloyd]

You can't just burn stomach fat, you burn fat wherever it wants to come from, and you have to burn enough for your body to decide to take from the stomach area, and that's different for every person.

If you're looking to build ab muscle, then learn some good crunches. Free and portable.

Thanks. Yes, looking to build stomach muscle to help burn off some of the fat (I should've specified more in my original post). Aeren't there lower and upper abs workouts? I believe that crunches will work the upper abs (??), but what works the lower abs (my main problem) . . . ?

[ericgu]

Losing weight

Agreed. And note that for many people, the fat around the middle is the last to go. Many people would label me as "gaunt" - you can see the fat I'm missing on my face, but I still have a little bit over my abs.

Ab workouts that work lower abs generally involve resisting against leg weight.

[slim_77]

[QUOTE=bfloyd... but what works the lower abs (my main problem) . . . ?[/QUOTE]

There are a bunch of different crunches for various parts of your abs. You can lift your knees to your chest; you can roll your legs to one side or the other while keeping your shoulders flat on the floor, then crunch away on your obliques; leg lifts; point your legs straight up into the air and push straight up with your toes from your gut...I suppose they all have names, but I know none of them.

But yeah, to echo every one else: a reasonable calorie deficit is the best long term solution to (achieve/loose) a six pack.

[sfrider]

This may seem contradictory, but strengthening your lower back muscles will reduce frontal flab. They fill out under the fat and stretch it out. Strengthening your abs will make you look a little pudgier unless accompanied by lower back muscles. Running is good for both. Both can be resistance trained at the gym, too. If you opt for the latter, don't forget the lower obliques and sides. (Someone at the gym I'm sure would be happy to show ways to hit those.)

[CdCf]

Another thing - if you have "flat" abs and a little fat over them, bulking your abs up can make them show through your fat. You'll look fatter, but you'll get the shape! Won't happen in a week, though... :D

[Greg180]

As weird as it may sound, I actually miss doing 2+ hours of calisthenics :(.

What two hour program did you follow? Was it military?

[BloomBikeShop]

Get one of those ab wheels. That's one of the few gadgets I can recommend.

[madprofessor100]

This may seem contradictory, but strengthening your lower back muscles will reduce frontal flab. They fill out under the fat and stretch it out. Strengthening your abs will make you look a little pudgier unless accompanied by lower back muscles. Running is good for both. Both can be resistance trained at the gym, too. If you opt for the latter, don't forget the lower obliques and sides. (Someone at the gym I'm sure would be happy to show ways to hit those.)

That's very true. Exercising that core area doesn't make you lose weight, but the fat around your stomach will redistribute itself.

[bfloyd]

Thanks all. I'm not looking to loose overall weight, just that extra around the middle. I am one of those with a low body weight but still have that buldge. I am 6'1", 158 lbs. I am called very skinny but I still have that extra middle.

[bobby c]

I remember reading an article on weight gains on men and women and how it differs in terms of where it is gained first and lost. In general (as I recall), men first gain weight around their belly, then arms & legs, butt & face. Women go to the hips first, then to belly, arms & legs & face.

When it comes time to losing weight or fat, it comes off opposite of where it went on first. So for men & women, it comes off the face first. The last place men lose weight/fat is around the belly, for women the last place is the hips. So many people give up trying to get rid of that fat because it doesn't go away at first. For me when I recently lost 15 lbs., it was my face that my wife first noticed, my belly still had that slight beer belly look. I've whittled it down some, but it takes time & effort....and biking!

[race newbie]

Thanks all. I'm not looking to loose overall weight, just that extra around the middle. I am one of those with a low body weight but still have that buldge. I am 6'1", 158 lbs. I am called very skinny but I still have that extra middle.

Try Pilates, it's all about core building. Here is an example of lower ab workout that we do in class. We hold a small ball under our knees.

http://www.prevention.com/article/0,5778,s1-2-171-742-4323-4,00.html

[sep999]

Second (or third) lose weight! This will get rid of a stomach bulge. All the stomoach exercises in the world won't give you six-pack abs until you lose the fat over them. Plus, there has been no evidence that any of the abdominal exercise machine will work your abs better than ordinary ab exercies on the floor. On the otherhand, if getting an ab machine motivates you to work your core muscles then go for it.

[aham23]

+5 on the dropping weight thing. i had no idea i even had stomach muscles until i dumped 70 lbs around my waist. later.

[stormchaser]

My local YMCA has a 30 min ab class 5 days/wk. Before I lost weight I went and could hardly move for a week. I lost 25 lbs from my waist with the Nexagen fat loss patch and have been going to the class and have had very little soreness. I suggest loosing the weight first and go to a class for ideas. In the Y class they use the ball and use step platforms to elevate legs for some moves. Helps also to work the back as mentioned already.

[balto charlie]

At 6'1" 158 you don't need to lose weight. Pilates as mentioned earlier will tighten it up. Here are some I do for rock climbing. I also recommend rock climbing for core strength improvement. Beats the hell out of exercise. The first link is quick and simple. The 2nd one is a little more difficult.
http://www.athleticadvisor.com/Weight_Room/core_strength.htm
http://www.powerathletesmag.com/pages/frontlever.htm
In the 2nd link they show a full front lever....Once you can do this properly you'll have the abs you seek. Charlie

[Hermes]

+ 1Million

+ 10 million. Exercise specific reduction of the midsection is impossible. Forget about it! Strengthening the midsection or core, absolutely! Liposuction is a proven (but may be temporary) surgical technique to reduce the midsection without weight loss.

[bfloyd]

At 6'1" 158 you don't need to lose weight. Pilates as mentioned earlier will tighten it up. Here are some I do for rock climbing. I also recommend rock climbing for core strength improvement. Beats the hell out of exercise. The first link is quick and simple. The 2nd one is a little more difficult.
http://www.athleticadvisor.com/Weight_Room/core_strength.htm
http://www.powerathletesmag.com/pages/frontlever.htm
In the 2nd link they show a full front lever....Once you can do this properly you'll have the abs you seek. Charlie

Thanks for the links. I know I don't need to loose any weight, I am already a rail . . . just a rail with a little extra stomach bulge. Is there a more technical word for those exercise balls? I have seen them more and more but don't really know the technical term. LOL, it's probably just "exercise ball" . . .

[ldesfor1@ithaca]

Yes, at 6'1" 158, you do not need to lose weight. Do you know what your body fat composition is? If it is below 11 or so percent and you still have a pot belly, then you are unlucky, my friend. If you are 14% bodyfat or more then you really should begin increasing overall muscle mass through 3 times a week resistance training.

A caveat: if you have a bulge in the stomach, but little fat there, then it is possible that you have very weak hams and ab muscles and tight quads and low back. Tight quads on a cyclist!?!? Strengthening the abs and hammies and stretching all formentioned muscles would help to correct this possible pelvic tilt which results in a poochie looking stomach. if this makes sense, i can elaborate

[ldesfor1@ithaca]

Also, i recomend an exercise called a Plank for overall core strength. this is a yoga move and if done correctly is great at strengthening the entire Rectus Abdominus. Do a google search of "yoga plank" and check images. really focus on flexing your abdominals durring this pose. this can be done by imagining you are trying to touch the bottom of your ribcage to the top of your hips. this among other static core strenght exercises are valuable.
Crunches are fine, but we as cyclists are holding our upper bodies quite still, this is why training the abs in a "still" or static position may be valuable.

[balto charlie]

Thanks for the links. I know I don't need to loose any weight, I am already a rail . . . just a rail with a little extra stomach bulge. Is there a more technical word for those exercise balls? I have seen them more and more but don't really know the technical term. LOL, it's probably just "exercise ball" . . .

here's a link, called stability balls
http://tinyurl.com/32la66

[Bob_Chase]

Thanks all. I'm not looking to loose overall weight, just that extra around the middle. I am one of those with a low body weight but still have that buldge. I am 6'1", 158 lbs. I am called very skinny but I still have that extra middle.

The ONLY way to burn fat is through a sensible diet and cardio. That being said you can draw attention away from your midsection by working out your upper body to create that "v-shape". The best way to do this is through pull-ups. If you're struggling at first, a few weeks of military presses, bent-over rows, and good ol' push-ups will help.

[Bob_Chase]

Ok, with all the home stomach exercise gadgets, machines, exercises, etc., what seems to work the best for decreasing the famous stomach buldge? Thanks.

I don't put much stock in a lot of the gimmicky gadgets you find on the market. Best course of action--keep it old-skool.

Aside from the obvious--losing weight--get yourself a pull-up bar and do hanging knee raises.

Hang from the bar with a wider than shoulder width grip. Slowly raise your knees to your chest. At the top of the motion focus on curling your hips up toward your chest. Once you build up your base strength you can add some difficulty by turning your hips and knees to the side and performing the motion above. This will place more emphasis on your obliques (the sides of your abs).

As someone else mentioned you should also focus on working your lower back which will balance your core. As with everything it's about balance and symmetry.

Another helpful gadget/exercise: jump rope.