Constant bloated gut

SpaceCowb0y

Over the last 6 months give or take iv managed to get myself down from 14 stone and 22% bodyfat to a much leaner 12.5 stone and 12% bodyfat but for some reason my stomach potrudes almost like im pregnant!

My diet is 90% clean and i train hard usually 4 or more times every week. My stomach is hard to touch, i can pinch a small amount of loose skin but nothing that would suggest that losing another few pounds will suddenly stop this bloated look? If i hold my stomach in it appears flat, i can see my upper abs but a pouch of fat covers the lower abs.

Is there something besides fat that could be giving me this? Im thinking of visiting my GP to see if perhaps its an allergy or something but thought id post up here and se if anyone has any ideas first?:(

Mellor

SpaceCowb0y wrote: »

Over the last 6 months give or take iv managed to get myself down from 14 stone and 22% bodyfat to a much leaner 12.5 stone and 12% bodyfat

Can't help on the stomach fat. It's v.hard to know what its like from a description, could be a lot of things,

But congrats the weight loss. Lookign at the bf% numbers, i'd say it was almost all fat lost. Great work

will56

Check your posture as well. Too much pelvic tilt can lead to the pregnant belly look. Can be a reulst of tight hip flexors and week glutes, also sitting at a desk for long periods can contribute.
Try standing side on to a mirror and check how your belt/top of trousers sits. If its at a slant it might be this.
.

gymsoldier

will56 wrote: »

Check your posture as well. Too much pelvic tilt can lead to the pregnant belly look. Can be a reulst of tight hip flexors and week glutes, also sitting at a desk for long periods can contribute.
Try standing side on to a mirror and check how your belt/top of trousers sits. If its at a slant it might be this.
.

+1 Possible Lordosis

BossArky

Could me many things.

One thing which may help: Psyllium Husks

There is a good thread from a couple of years back on this forum. Try searching by title "loose 2 inches off your waist in a week" (or similar) created by AmazingEmmet.

SanoVitae

It's a longshot I know, but does your stomach look anything like this?

SpaceCowb0y

will56 wrote: »

Check your posture as well. Too much pelvic tilt can lead to the pregnant belly look. Can be a reulst of tight hip flexors and week glutes, also sitting at a desk for long periods can contribute.
Try standing side on to a mirror and check how your belt/top of trousers sits. If its at a slant it might be this.
.

You could definitely be onto something there, im sat at a desk all day infront of a computer screen so perhaps this is partly to blame? Not much i can do about that though really is there? How do i go about correcting posture, im willing to try anything at this stage as its really annoying me after getting into good shape to have this constant bloated look!

Also what would be the best excercises to strengthen my glutes? Is there anything besides dead-lifting as i have a bad lower back?

And no haha, my stomach isnt that bad! Im quite toned everywhere even on my stomach but it protrudes almost like ive a turtle shell under my stomach!

deadlybuzzman

I used to have the same problem as you and not to say that we both have the same cause but mine was a case of lordosis.
Monkey butt was a phrase that I came across and sort of made it click for me and made me realise my arse was out too much and so was my stomach-it was also the cause of chronic back cramp any time I played football.
As well as lordosis also look up psoas stretch as this is very important in allowing your hips to move into the correct position after sitting down all day, Foam rolling is also key in freeing up the area.
I fixed it to stop the pain from the cramp but the upshot was that now when Im leaner during the summer months I dont have that bulging stomach that was there before that I couldnt understand why it wouldnt go away.

SpaceCowb0y

deadlybuzzman wrote: »

I used to have the same problem as you and not to say that we both have the same cause but mine was a case of lordosis.
Monkey butt was a phrase that I came across and sort of made it click for me and made me realise my arse was out too much and so was my stomach-it was also the cause of chronic back cramp any time I played football.
As well as lordosis also look up psoas stretch as this is very important in allowing your hips to move into the correct position after sitting down all day, Foam rolling is also key in freeing up the area.
I fixed it to stop the pain from the cramp but the upshot was that now when Im leaner during the summer months I dont have that bulging stomach that was there before that I couldnt understand why it wouldnt go away.

Hey thats great stuff! Im not sure if my arse sticks out that much though, iv never noticed it and if it does it obviously not noticable enough for others to comment on it but i still think there could be something in what you say! From looking online and from wahat your saying everything is pointin toward tight hip flexors, ive booked an appointment for next wk with my doctor so ill see what they thin and perhaps she'l refer me to a chiropracter?

Burkatron

SpaceCowb0y wrote: »

Hey thats great stuff! Im not sure if my arse sticks out that much though, iv never noticed it and if it does it obviously not noticable enough for others to comment on it but i still think there could be something in what you say! From looking online and from wahat your saying everything is pointin toward tight hip flexors, ive booked an appointment for next wk with my doctor so ill see what they thin and perhaps she'l refer me to a chiropracter?

I wouldn't rely on your Dr. to do this for you. Where are you based, someone might be able to recommend you a reliable physio,physical therapist, Osteopath, NMT or whatever.
Pilates would be a good option if you have a lordosis. You need to balance your core muscles if it is a lumbar lordosis. Your psoas will most likely be tight/contracted & your glutes ,hamstring &lower back muscles will be constantly on stretch. Do you have any knee ankle issues out of interest?

Ash.J.Williams

SpaceCowb0y wrote: »

You could definitely be onto something there, im sat at a desk all day infront of a computer screen so perhaps this is partly to blame? Not much i can do about that though really is there? How do i go about correcting posture, im willing to try anything at this stage as its really annoying me after getting into good shape to have this constant bloated look!

Also what would be the best excercises to strengthen my glutes? Is there anything besides dead-lifting as i have a bad lower back?

And no haha, my stomach isnt that bad! Im quite toned everywhere even on my stomach but it protrudes almost like ive a turtle shell under my stomach!

why have you a lower bad back?
Are you tall ?
Have you strong back muscles?
Do you compensate for your bad back by moving differently?

G86

Everyone's referring to your posture but it could easily just be something in your diet. Is it a permanent thing or are you more bloated in the evenings/after certain meals? Take a look at your diet and try to see if there are any connections.

faceman

OP best to check with your GP, i know anytime my tummy is hard to the touch its usually a bug or something so if you have it prolonged no harm in getting it checked out.

Scanlas The 2nd

Burkatron wrote: »

I wouldn't rely on your Dr. to do this for you. Where are you based, someone might be able to recommend you a reliable physio,physical therapist, Osteopath, NMT or whatever.
Pilates would be a good option if you have a lordosis. You need to balance your core muscles if it is a lumbar lordosis. Your psoas will most likely be tight/contracted & your glutes ,hamstring &lower back muscles will be constantly on stretch. Do you have any knee ankle issues out of interest?

I have a similar problem with a protruding stomach. My left hamstring is tight, I get pains in my left knee and pains in my upper back muscles when doing any activity with my arms out in front of me such as washing the dishes. Also I'm flat footed.

Burkatron

G86 wrote: »

Everyone's referring to your posture but it could easily just be something in your diet. Is it a permanent thing or are you more bloated in the evenings/after certain meals? Take a look at your diet and try to see if there are any connections.

The OP has mentioned he cant do deadlifts because of a bad/sore lower back. This combined with the protruding stomach (& other things the OP has mentioned) points heavily towards postural issues

OP best to check with your GP, i know anytime my tummy is hard to the touch its usually a bug or something so if you have it prolonged no harm in getting it checked out.

I thought he meant it was solid to the touch??

I have a similar problem with a protruding stomach. My left hamstring is tight, I get pains in my left knee and pains in my upper back muscles when doing any activity with my arms out in front of me such as washing the dishes. Also I'm flat footed

Flat footed, knees knocking in (Valgus shape), Protruding belly suggests an anterorly rotated pelvis = an exagerrated lumbar lordosis. Get yourself assessed by a decent practitioner to confirm this. Plenty of things you can do for these problems

TremblingTurnip

Try cutting out wheat from your diet for even a week or so and see if you notice a difference.
Breads, Pasta, Pizza, Biscuits, basically anything that has a large wheat percentage in the ingredients.

Hope this helps.

pietromas

TremblingTurnip wrote: »

Try cutting out wheat from your diet for even a week or so and see if you notice a difference.
Breads, Pasta, Pizza, Biscuits, basically anything that has a large wheat percentage in the ingredients.

Hope this helps.

You've described my belly. Always been round high and hard. The talk of posture here has interested me but like above I'd suggest diet could be the culprit. I cut out booze and in less than a week the issue was not gone but markedly reduced. Leads me to suspect gluten. Shame its so hard to live without

SpaceCowb0y

Just want to say thanks for all the feedback!!!:D Great to see so many people with an input at the same time im still at a loss for whats wrong with me! hopefully my GP can give me more of an idea? I reckon its a posture thing more then anything but you never know i guess!

Burkatron wrote: »

I wouldn't rely on your Dr. to do this for you. Where are you based, someone might be able to recommend you a reliable physio,physical therapist, Osteopath, NMT or whatever.
Pilates would be a good option if you have a lordosis. You need to balance your core muscles if it is a lumbar lordosis. Your psoas will most likely be tight/contracted & your glutes ,hamstring &lower back muscles will be constantly on stretch. Do you have any knee ankle issues out of interest?

North Dublin, theres a couple of physios around i know of

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

why have you a lower bad back?
Are you tall ?
Have you strong back muscles?
Do you compensate for your bad back by moving differently?

Not overly tall 6ft 1",

pietromas wrote: »

You've described my belly. Always been round high and hard. The talk of posture here has interested me but like above I'd suggest diet could be the culprit. I cut out booze and in less than a week the issue was not gone but markedly reduced. Leads me to suspect gluten. Shame its so hard to live without

I havnt ruled diet out at all, infact its something im going to say to my GP when i see him but in saying that i live with a cealiac and she was saying that if it was due to gluten id know about it as she was bloated but was constantly sick from it until she found out what the issue was?

Tonto86

Might be a bit of a hijack but.... im interested in trying to correct my posture, done a bit of research, what ye think of these stretchs? Im tryin to do this without a foam roller... if possible

http://youtu.be/u_alXoZ4774
http://youtu.be/AwSPOPi7gmc
http://youtu.be/2_pr9-LDUSQ

Will these daily plus making a conscious effort to stand/sit properly work?

Hanley

Tonto86 wrote: »

Might be a bit of a hijack but.... im interested in trying to correct my posture, done a bit of research, what ye think of these stretchs? Im tryin to do this without a foam roller... if possible

http://youtu.be/u_alXoZ4774
http://youtu.be/AwSPOPi7gmc
http://youtu.be/2_pr9-LDUSQ

Will these daily plus making a conscious effort to stand/sit properly work?

Vid 1 - Crucial point, you need to know what your specific problem is

Vid 2 - Not great. Stuart McGill constantly goes on about how flexion exercises and stretching just makes things worse over time

Vid 3 - The quad stretch is rubbish. Tight quads won't really contribute to low back pain, it's not exactly great for your knees and there's better ways of stretching your quad if it's really what you're after.

This article is about as good as you're gonna get when it comes to a primer on back pain and how to deal with it - http://www.acefitness.org/pdfs/LowBackStabilization.pdf

cmyk

I'll echo what Hanley said, completely scrub the second video.

In terms of the quad stretch, rec femoris crosses 2 joints, hip and knee, so it is responsible for hip flexion. (IIRC only to 90degrees, at which point the other hip flexors take over) So I wouldn't rule it out as a possible contributor to back pain/pelvic position. As Hanley said though, there are better ways of stretching it, as the one shown clearly only stretches it over the knee.

SanoVitae

Hanley wrote: »

This article is about as good as you're gonna get when it comes to a primer on back pain and how to deal with it - http://www.acefitness.org/pdfs/LowBackStabilization.pdf

Cheers for that - great stuff.