Flat washboard stomach...???

miss.lost

Have searched previous threads, cant find this particular question so here goes!

I would like to know the best way of toning my stomach as quickly as possible, its not particularly flabby but not solid either! Is there a particular exercise I can do? I already run quite a bit but dont do too much gym work as I find my legs get very "bulky" which can look strange, I dont want to lose weight either. asking too much?:(

Im female, 5ft 5 and weigh about 8 stone. Can anybody help?

scquinn

Diet has a more of an effect on the stomach than exercise. However to get stomach defination you need to lose fat all over, you can't spot reduce!

Jimmy Bottlehead

Maybe lay off leg work in the gym then? Deadlifts, squats (though they obviously hit your legs), bench presses, shoulder presses, and even rows all hit your stomach. Add in some specific stomach exercises (I only find planks and hanging knee raises good) and you're set, as long as you're eating quite cleanly.

cowzerp

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Maybe lay off leg work in the gym then? Deadlifts, squats (though they obviously hit your legs), bench presses, shoulder presses, and even rows all hit your stomach. Add in some specific stomach exercises (I only find planks and hanging knee raises good) and you're set, as long as you're eating quite cleanly.

Thats not the best advise.

Train hard and eat right and you will lose fat and eventually have a lean looking stomach..Train your full body too, especially your legs.

Jimmy Bottlehead

cowzerp wrote: »

Thats terrible advise.

Train hard and eat right and you will lose fat and eventually have a lean looking stomach..Train your full body too, especially your legs.

Ok I realise you're a trainer, but how is that 'terrible advice'? Working all the major muscle groups and eating right? Yeah, crap advice right there.

If she's prone to getting bulkier legs than usual, surely it makes sense to limit her leg work a little? I probably should have clarified that I meant limit it, not cut it out.

cowzerp

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Ok I realise you're a trainer, but how is that 'terrible advice'? Working all the major muscle groups and eating right? Yeah, crap advice right there.

If she's prone to getting bulkier legs than usual, surely it makes sense to limit her leg work a little? I probably should have clarified that I meant limit it, not cut it out.

The bold bit is great advise, if the girl is eating to lose fat, weight-she will not gain muscle on her legs-guaranteed!

she will actually firm her legs and burn more calories than the upper body exercise, also the main leg exercises are great ab exercises too, i used to train a lady with massive farmer arms, flabby though! when i trained her they firmed up and looked smaller but she was upset that they looked bigger! it was in her head, she was never going to have small arms but best she have lean big arms than wobbly big arms..

scquinn

Women can't get bulky, nor can they build muscle in a calorie deficit.

miss.lost

scquinn wrote: »

Diet has a more of an effect on the stomach than exercise. However to get stomach defination you need to lose fat all over, you can't spot reduce!

Thanks for the advice so far guys! So basically i need to lose more weight if i want stomach definition?? The problem is I am already quite fit as I play a lot of sports and i honestly dont think that I am carrying much fat anywhere else, my arms, legs etc are very toned and my stomach is already flat its just I would love to have muscles that are visible, almost like two lines down the sides?? Maybe I am just looking at too many celeb magazines...? Are these musles natuarally only visible when tensed?

Hope I am making sense?:D

Jimmy Bottlehead

miss.lost wrote: »

Thanks for the advice so far guys! So basically i need to lose more weight if i want stomach definition?? The problem is I am already quite fit as I play a lot of sports and i honestly dont think that I am carrying much fat anywhere else, my arms, legs etc are very toned and my stomach is already flat its just I would love to have muscles that are visible, almost like two lines down the sides?? Maybe I am just looking at too many celeb magazines...? Are these musles natuarally only visible when tensed?

Hope I am making sense?:D

No!!

You need to lower your bodyfat percentage in order to get a very flat, toned stomach. This means eating extremely cleanly, hitting the heavy weights HARD, and it'd also help to do some HIIT.

catch88

Please dont lose anymore weight!

You are at the low end of the BMI as it is.

Try planks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ar2iRusnnc&feature=related

injured365

It's not about losing weight as you don't weigh much as it is. As for reducing your bodyfat percentage, if the sports you play are contact sports, having a very low bodyfat increases your chance of collision injurys. An example would be, intercounty GAA players, in general, have a bodyfat around 10-15%, premiership footballers would be under 10%.
The plank is a great exercise for your core muscles. If you concentrate on a proper diet and a good weights workout you will have better results than concentrating on losing weight