K. Olsen

So I am 28, 6'2" and around 145-150lbs depending what time of the year it is. I am pretty active in several areas not just cycling, I regularly play pickup games of basketball, soccer or volleyball. My diet is pretty balanced I think, I on occasion have fried food just because(like once or twice a week). My legs are pretty muscular from all the cycling and running, my arms are like Andy Schleck's, but I have this flabby pooch protruding from my waist line. What gives???

reducedfatoreo

Are you doing any other sort of cross training? Pushups, planks, pull-ups...all bodyweight exercises that can be done at home without any, or at least minimal, equipment. Besides all the great aerobic exercise it sounds like you're giving yourself, you need some toning and anaerobic exercise, too, to tone muscle on the rest of your body.

If you're interested, I've found rock climbing to be an incredible all-body toner. The Iron Gym door bar, by the way, as cheesy as all the commercials are, is great for the price. I've got one on the door to my kitchen.

Also, spend a week actually counting your daily caloric intake. You might be surprised if you end up snacking here and there.

jimxyz

6'2" and 150? no way you have a gut - your waist must be 28. I'm 6'2" and 230, and I know why I have one, ha ha

Sixty Fiver

You are six foot two and weigh 145 pounds ?

K. Olsen

My pant size is 32" waist 34" inseam

chandltp

Food allergies can trigger bloating.. but I'm not sure that would be flabby.

himespau 

did you used to weigh more and now have loose skin?

K. Olsen

No, I was 135 in high school and on into my early 20s. My job has changed to a desk job, but I have been making an effort to eat lighter and healthier and exercise. I just seems odd the only thing expanding is my gut.

Machka 

Do you own a scale, or are you estimating?

K. Olsen

I have a scale

jbrow1

I'm 6'1" and generally weigh 165 and while it's not a 6-pack there's no flabby belly going on. At 160 pounds I almost look anorexic. Not sure how you could have any flabby going on at 145-150... You sure it's not in your head? I just read yesterday that anorixia is becoming quite common in young males..

kbro1986

This might be weird, but can we see a photo? It's probably a little bit of bloating, not necessarily fat... At 150 lbs, it may possibly be psychological

anotherbrian

You compared your arms to Andy Shleck; he's ~6'1" and around the same weight, so you're probably just missing some of his muscle mass and have poofier hair. A stick of butter only weighs 0.25 lbs, and if you had two of those stuck to your belly it'd be pretty flabby.

Bill in Houston

do situps and planks and such to tighten up those muscles. you can be pretty thin but still flabby in the middle.

nkfrench 

Pregnant?
High-fiber diet?

socalrider

forget worrying about the pooch, you need to see someone about your body dysmorphic disorder.. at 6'3 when I was racing at 170, I was super fit, at 150lb you are very slim.

Richard Cranium

There is current research that supports the idea that certain adipose tissue deposits (fat cells) are only mobilized as a result or particular variations of hormones.

This theory explains why two women who are similarly obese will lose adipose tissue from differing parts of their frame at different rates and quantities. For instance, one women will lose most of their weight from their boobs before losing any weight from their thighs or butt. While another women may apparently lose most butt tissue while maintaining big boobs. (yeh :-) )

In your case, you may not be able to "lose the fat" until you have started to damage your muscle tissues. The only alternative is to invest time in performing specific abdominal exercises that will tension nearby tissues and "hide" most if not all of your paunch.

Closed Office

I've had a bit of tummy flab since somewhere in my 20s. It just seemed completely natural, a bit of an energy reserve for hard times. I have no idea why anyone wouldn't want it, unless one of my favorite quotes explains it. "Want to get your head screwed up? Watch a movie."

There have been at least 2 studies I've read about that found a few extra pounds added to your life expectancy. Here is one of them.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...udy-finds.html

abdon 

It may be that your body just likes to stash the fat there. Some will have more on their butts, some on their tights, yours just happen to be where you don't want it.

chet31

I don't know the answer, and nobody does. However, you are asking advice and I'll give you an opinion. Three potential problems. 1.) You are genetically pre-disposed to store fat in your gut. Most males have this problem, including me, but some more than others. 2.) You may be overly self-critical. True anorexics truly believe they need to lose weight, when anyone else that looks at them thinks they look too skinny. Ask a friend who'll tell you straight or post a pic and have a 3rd party assess your "gut." Seriously, you can't always trust yourself. 3.) It looks like all you do is aerobic exercise. You need to do some weight training also. Work the abs, pecs, back. I am like you, I bike, play soccer and basketball, probably 5-6 days per week. Forget working the legs, they get plenty of work-out and you'll just make yourself useless on the soccer field if you do a bunch of squats. Focus on the upper body. Sometimes you can't lose the last bit of fat from the abdomen, but if you build the abs enough, they'll still show through. Building the pecs and back will stretch the skin a bit over the abs, and proportionally make the gut look smaller.

kbro1986

This is actually an interesting point, minus the "stretching of the skin" idea. It is quite possible that your chest is rather small/undeveloped when compared to your abdomen. I am 6'3'' and 188 and I look as if I have a big belly compared to my chest (to myself). Could be a body portion issue due to having a small chest/pectoral region.

Don in Austin

Hey, what's wrong with a big booty?

Don in Austin

eugenek

Based on the info above, my best guess would be that you have a broken scale There's absolutely no way a 6'2" man with muscular legs and arms and 32" waist size can weigh 145 pounds. I am 5'6", moderately muscular, 33" waist pant size (the actual circumference is closer to 35" - considered overweight for my height), and I weigh 170 lbs.

Andy Schleck is unusually slim. I doubt that he has much upper-body muscle mass. Compare with Lance Armstrong instead: 5'10" and 165 lbs.

eduardo76

with your height and weight, i wonder if you actually have a gut, or just think you have a gut...

anyways, the two best types of exercise (besides general cardio) that i know to work on your gut are plank exercises and leg raises...give those a shot...of course, nutrition and genes play a huge role...

eugenek

I have plugged your numbers into this calculator

home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/

Assuming the 32" waist, it gives me the body fat percentage of 15%. (This is very approximate, because the tool is very sensitive to the waist circumference. Pant sizes can be off by as much as 4". It's best to measure your waist directly with a tape.) 15% would be consistent with small but definite gut. You'd start seeing the six pack at 8-10%.

This also means that you have very little muscle mass for a person of your height. A fit, well developed all-around athlete with your height would weigh closer to 210 lbs. Obviously, if you value cycling speed, getting that much mass would be counterproductive, but I would recommend to hit the weight room and to try to get at least to 170 before you try to burn off the remaining gut.