Flat abs? (I'm a girl) page

[GuitarGirl]

I want to work on getting superflat abs. I'm a 21-year-old female, but every time I try to do situps or crunches my back hurts. What can I do for great abs, especially the pouchy lower belly?

[Leida]

Crunches and sit-ups will likely make the problem worse since they grow the muscle you are contracting and it's prone to buldge out if not trained to stay tight (pulled in). If you search the net you will likely find lots of articles about crunches being not the shit for the flat belly. What you might need to do is to learn to hold your abd tight and concentrate on the transverse abdominals. Along with losing more fat - which is the principal thing, as abs are made in the kitchen.

The things that will be helpful are:

Core strengthening: serious squats and deadlifts with a barbell
Planks: straight and side and push-ups - done properly they teach your muscle to stay in, and address a women -specific issue of losing the 'V" shape when thy start lifting
for transverse abs, Turkish get up with a KB and kneeling cross-body chops and lifts on the cable machine will work.
Kneeling on all fours, than expelling forcefully all air and holding it like that for 15-30 sec, for about 10 reps will help with contracting the muscle (Cat Vomits).

from the crunches family, you can try the crunches that support your back on the BOSU and make you extend and lean back, rather than crouch into a full sit-up or knees to elbows crunch.

Hope this helps

[RichMahogany]

Abs are made in the kitchen. I'd recommend you get a copy of a book by Mark Sisson called The Primal Blueprint

[ragwort]

"Abs are made in the kitchen. I'd recommend you get a copy of a book by Mark Sisson called The Primal Blueprint"

I agree! But you could read "The New Rules of Lifting for Women" (Google same name for website), a lot of very useful info on workouts for women with reference to abs.

[14emom]

Read this:
Body Composition: That ‘Last Five Pounds’, and How to Deal With ‘Problem Areas’ | Go Kaleo

She's not primal/paleo, but she has a lot of smart things to say. (Wow, that sounded like I was saying that only primal/paleo ppl can say smart things, I wasn't!!) I noticed that you have 3 lbs until your goal weight, so I think the things in this article would be very helpful. Let me know what you think!

[RichMahogany]

You can't spot-reduce fat. Get your BF% under 20 and your tummy will be flat.

[gorski]

I want to work on getting superflat abs. I'm a 21-year-old female, but every time I try to do situps or crunches my back hurts. What can I do for great abs, especially the pouchy lower belly?

Crunches will not make your stomach flat, you do not loose fat from crunching and you cannot target fat in any particular area of your body it all looses evenly and depends on your genetics! They might actually make your stomach bulge out as you are thickening the muscles you are crunching. Also crunches are bad for your lower back (spine).

To get a flat stomach you need to loose the weight through what you eat.

I suggest intermittent fasting if you haven't tried already.

» Introducing Bulletproof Intermittent Fasting: How to Lose Fat, Build Muscle, Stay Focused & Feel Great The Bulletproof Executive

I did this last year for 2 months lost about 6kg of fat.


G

[BeatlesFan]

squats, deadlifts, and chins. how bad do you want it ?

[Wanderlust]

A nice write up on NOT doing crunches: Nunn's Performance Training: Jason, why don't we ever do situps or crunches?

[TwinkiesnKetchup]

I want to work on getting superflat abs. I'm a 21-year-old female, but every time I try to do situps or crunches my back hurts. What can I do for great abs, especially the pouchy lower belly?

I would recommend as stated above making sure your diet is excellent--then I would introduce high intensity interval training into your routine. Probably the easiest to do is running. Warm up, run as hard as you can for one minute, rest two minutes = 1 set, repeat 6-8 times 3-4 times a week. Burpees (search youtube) is another good HIIT, this site has some good moves: TOP 5 FAVORITE AB MOVES & NUTRITION TIPS FOR A FLAT TUMMY! | Bikini Body MommyBikini Body Mommy