I'm not sure if anyone has asked this, I am new to the program, on week 2, and have already been seeing results. My biggest problem is that stubborn lower belly area! I have been doing good cardio workouts and can already see a difference in my upper abs, however, my lower abs are just horrible. If anyone has any ideas on how to focus on this area, I'd appreciate it!

I would love to know this too -- after my weight loss so far, the tummy is still there & I work it to death!

I feel as though nothing I do has any significance. I have been doing around 250 crunches a day in addition to my normal workouts. However, these do not target lower abs!! It's crazy as to why they even exist!

Crunches won't work-You should try some of the core workouts with the balls. Like core secrets, or some pilates . . .

Hello, and welcome!

I do the crunches & tons of reverse crunches. I will have to try the core secrets -that works? I have the ab pilates and I personally don't care for it. I was thinking turbo jam abs -- anyone know if that works too?

mrust, I am in the middle of week 3 and altho I've only dropped 8, my belly is where I see it missing, (I was hoping for a&$ and face). I can actually see my c-section scars. However, I have to give tons of credit to Bikram yoga. It is a major core workout, 90 minutes, 105 degrees F. But after doing it a year, I see the real changes these last few weeks. Crunches will not work, you need to breathe, stretch and strengthen the middle of your bod. Good luck.

Thanks ladies.. I'll try out some of the suggestions. Hopefully something works! Good luck to all of you as well

Reverse crunches are good, but Im afraid even at my goal weight, I have loose skin there that will never be the same without surgery and I go several hours of cardio/toning per week ive had three kids, thats got a lot to do with it, but there are plenty flat ab'ed moms out there...who knows

I just got Core Secrets today, so I don't know if it works or not yet. I bought it for my lower belly area and my thighs. I need help on both. I have been doing Turbo Jam for about 3 months now and I love it. I'm not sure I really like the Ab Jam very much, but the Cardio Parties are a blast. Ab Jam does work if you do it. I just don't care for the dvd very much. All of the workouts from TJ work the abs though. Ab Jam concentrates just on abs throughout the 20 min workout. I'm going to combine TJ and Core Secrets and see if I can get my body where I want it to be.

One thing I can say is that since I've been doing Turbo Jam, I have lost at least 2 pounds a week. Before TJ, I was losing about 1 pound or so a week. My average was low. It has helped to really boost my metabolism. I highly recommend it.

Hello!

Crunches are wonderful, wonderful exercises-but they are meant to work the upper abdominal muscles-basically the "top half" of the "six pack" muscles. (Where if you have lower body fat in this area and really really work for months, a definition "line" can be made from under the chest down to the naval area.) They will work you from your diaphragm area down to about the naval. Crunches are not bad-keep on doing them, or variations of them!

What you want to do though, is to start doing an abdominal workout that also incoprorates the other areas of the abdominals-the lower abdominals below the naval, and also the obliques, which are the muscles that wrap around your waistline and go "into" the upper/lower abdominals. If you do videos/dvds and find something specifically for abdominals-then they should incorporate exercises for all of the areas. A really good traditional abdominal workout is "I Want Those Abs!" by Tamilee Webb. There is a beginner workout (which is HARD!!) and when you have mastered that, you can go advanced. I like to alternate them abck and forth. She very thoroughly gets all three areas.

Pilates is another workout where the variations in position and the different exercises also get the three different areas-so you may like that as well.

You also need to be doing some sort of cardio workout (areobics, walking, etc.) to burn off body fat all over. The cardio burns body fat, and the strength training works and firms those muscles-so the result of them together is wonderful.

What I would like to add-is that if you have been pretty heavy and stored a lot of fat in the belly area, or you have had children-that some of the excess in the lower belly area may also be stretched skin/excess skin-and you really cannot do a lot there to change that. No matter what I did after my two kids, and this one when it is here, there will still be a little excess skin between the naval and pubic area. It will flatten out with the exercise-but the skin there will never be "tight" again. If this is the case, just keep exercising to make it look the best that it can, and use a good skin lotion all over to keep the skin more supple looking/feeling. It makes a world of difference.

Good luck to you,
Aphil

I also wanted to add here, that it depends on heredity (the elasticity in your skin...) and on your babies. My former dance instructor had a little 6 pound baby with no stretch marks or anything...and was flat ab'ed in a couple of months. I, on the other hand, had 9+ and 10+ pound babies...and I also had larger than average amniotic fluid/placenta-so my tummy had to (and currently has to) stretch much more than hers. No matter what I tried, there was no amount of cocoa butter or oil in the world that was going to prevent stretched out skin in that area.
We can't really control the sizes of our babies, and we can't control heredity and how naturally prone we are to stretch marks/loose skin...just make the best out of what you've got.

I was afraid of that. I have baby belly stuff too. I got huge around the middle with all 3 of mine. Since I am so short, my babies had no where to go but straight out. I swear, my stretch marks had stretch marks! Thanks for the exercise tips Aphil, I need to start really working my abs over. Since I have had 3 C sections, it feels like I have no muscles in my lower abs.

In time, it will really improve. It really will. We will never look like we have "never had children" like some of the moms who have had teeny babies and no marks, but it can and does get better.