Sorry Ledom, I forgot where I was typing. 14 1/5stone is 203lbs. And just for being patient I will do the oblique abs (tummy flatteners).

First let me paint you a mental picture. Remember the science here isn't perfect, I just want to give you the general idea of what I'm about to get you to do!

Imagine you have made a bowl of jelly (jello?). Let it set and then turn it out on to a plate. Take a piece of string and lie it across the middle of the jelly. Now pull the string taught. Can you see the edges of the jelly bulge out a bit and wobble a lot? Only a little bit of the jelly is captured by the string! What the jelly needs is a Playtex 24-hour girdle!!!!!!!!

When you do normal crunches you are working the string, strengthening your major stomach muscle. What you need is a way of building your own 24-hour girdle to pull in and control the wobbliest bits! You have these muscles called obliques. They run diagonally across your abdomen, deep down. If you work them properly you will be growing your very own lifetime guaranteed girdle!

Obliques
1. Assume the same starting position as the normal sit up, as already described. Lie parallel to one wall (you'll see why this helps in a minute).
2. Have your hands at your temples elbows out wide.
3. Slowly raise your body up onto one elbow, twisting until you can see the wall you are lying parallel to. Aim to twist up until your upper body and wide elbows are parallel to the wall.
Repeat on the other side.
Do this 8 - 12 times on each side.

To increase the workload instead of raising your body weight onto the elbow keep the elbows off the floor (and wide) and twist each shoulder towards a point 4 inches to the side of and 4 inches higher than the opposite knee.

The twist should be felt right through your belly button. Like you are a damp cloth being wrung out dry!!!!!!!!!!

Keep the speed down so you can feel every inch of the raise and lower yourself down slowly so's you can feel every millimetre of the return.

The first way allows you to get a lot of twist, engaging the obliques well, without putting too much stress on these muscles or your back. The second way reduces the twist you can get but adds resistance, making the muscles work much harder through a smaller range of movement.

Why not try doing 2 sets, one of each?

Add this to your existing sit-ups and back work and you'll really notice some improvement, both in your stomach and waist. Try abs 1, back, abs 2.

Remember to come back to me if any of this doesn't make sense. Happy wringing out! Stef

Do you know any good excercises that will delete the round tummy obtained from having children via cesarian section? I have tried alot of things and still haul around a paunch! Any ideas would be wonderful! Thanks!!!

Lori

Lori,

Presuming you had your kids more than a year ago, you should do the exercises I posted here. If you have only recently had them then you should await your all clear (about 3 to 6 months, from memory) and start gentle exercises. You may have been given some exercises to do by your neonatal nurse(?) those are normally specific exercises for women with c-sections.

I'll check up in my info and get back to you tonight, but I cannot think of anything right now!

If you already do a similar abs routine then you might need to increase other types of exercise. E-mail me if you want to, I'm always happy to help.

Stef

[email protected]

Thanks for the reply Stef!!!! I had my son in September and during surgery they cut a muscle so the recovery was a tad harder. My previous pregnancy was July 2000 and that a re-surgery in November due to errors they had made and an infection that set in. Needless to say its been a long road!! The nurses at the hospital did not give me any excercises to do. I basically have been on my own. I am doing a tae bo kickboxing routine which I enjoy, ab wheel which seems to be working on the uppers and push ups for my back. When my oldest was born in July, the size of my belly during pregnancy gave me what I like to call a done flop..it done flopped over my waist!! I need to tighten the abs and I am hoping that gets rid of the flap of excess skin! If you know of any other excersises or if I need to change what I am doing..I would greatly appreciate your input!!! Thank you!!!

Lori

Thanks for all the great advice Stef. I have copied all your exercises to a word document and I will be trying out the exercises that suit me best.
Keep up the good work

Hi Lori,

Hold on in there. I'm searching my literature for you. I am pretty sure that you should be able to do all the exercises I posted quite safely. But I just want to check that there aren't any others you would get more benefit from.

LineDancer - I'll get cracking on the next set shall I?

I'll be back ASAP with another set of mid-section exercises!

Stef

Lori,

www.fitnessfind.com/pregnancy

Try here. It has a list of links to various sites some of which may give you some peace of mid re exercise. One of the best bitsof info is how to tell if you're abs are healing!!!

I hope this is of use to you, Stef

Yes Stef - I am eagerly awaiting your next set of exercises!
If I stick to your advice I will get rid of this tummy once and for all - I can't keep blaming it on my last baby as she is now 16 years of age!
I go to weightwatchers and I think the heaviest weight that they advice for my height (5'6") is 155 pounds. At last weigh in I was 168 pounds so that means I have about 13 pounds to loose although I don't think they take into account the weight of clothes and footwear which can be about 4 pounds. I walk at least 2 miles every day - sometimes 4. I go linedancing twice a week and use the abslide every other day and now I have started to do your tummy exercises so surely I will finally get rid of this mound of flab sitting around my tummy? Is there any other way to do it?
You are our exercise agony aunt now Stef!

Linedancer,

There is only one thing you are missing - TIME!!

It takes a while to get rid of tummy bumps and as you are probably finding out the last few pounds are the hardest to shift. So you need to be more patient with your body. Give it lots of time to respond to your on-going diet and exercise programme.

I hear you when you say they don't take into account your lothes at weigh-ins - but hey! Everyone wears clothes at the weigh-in. You know it doesn't make any difference what they say you weigh it's the progress that you make!

The exercise you do sounds great. I'll get back in a couple of days with another exercise. You should get to double the reps I posted before you take on any more. I'll mix and match the body parts you can work from now on. Stef

How about some standing work!

It still targets your tums and back but also works your calves and thighs. And its quite easy to do whilst being a very intense workout!

1) Stand straight. Knees soft. Squeeze your buttocks tight. Squeeze inyour tummy - get your belly button as close to your spine as possible. Lengthen your spine - up tall. Shoulders down and relaxed. Know relax your buttocks!
- That's your neutral position!

2) Now shift your weight so's you are standing one one leg. Keep good neutral position.

You are going to work by moving one leg. You will wobble, don't worry. All you have to do is stay straight, try not to lean back or front, left or right, to compensate for the moving leg. The straighter you stay the more work your tummy and back get.

3) Raise the knee to hip height, now extend the leg. Bend the knee and return the foot to the floor. Thats in 4 separate moves - raise, extend, bend and lower. Repeat 4 times.

4) Raise the knee to hip height and pulse, up and down, 4 times.
5) Extend the leg and pulse from the hip, 4 times.

Repeat 4 + 5) 4 times. Bend and pulse x 4 and extend and pulse x 4.

6) Rest and stretch. Take the moving leg behind you, bend both knees to 90 degrees and push the back leg's hip forward. You'll feel the stretch across the hip joint.

Repeat 3,4,5 + 6 on the same leg!!! Then do another 2 sets on the other leg!!!

This is a bit like Pilates in that it concentrates on one joint and is slow moving!

PLease be reassured. I know that this one feels very strongly in the hip and calf, but it is a really good full lower body exercise. Stef

Stef. You are great with your info and I totally agree with your answer on weight training and cardio combo. I am 5 foot 2 47 and menopausal (surgical). After my sugery I gained weight and hormones did not help either. Also I have a hypthyroid. I lost 25 lbs and got to my goal. The combo of weight watchers counting calories as points and exercise did it for me but very slowly. I do not lose quickly at all. Here is my current problem. Since the birth of my second child 18 years I have been doing sit ups all kinds at home at the gym etc. My stomache has no change whatsoever except it is hard. I lost all the weight I want to lose and with exercise my body looks pretty good for a 47 year old. But my tummy mission impossible. I have literally tried every machine, floor exercise, video, personal tips know to man and nothing. I still have a poochy tummy. thick in the middle. I really feel that only surgery ie liposuction is the answer for some people after they have tried everything and are at a goal weight. I can't afford that at present. It is so exasperating to work so hard and get nowhere in this area. Incidentally I have no stretch marks and had two cesareans.

Rickyshot - I know where you are with that tummy problem. I think that, as you are now comfortable with your weight, you have probably gone as far as you can, reasonably, with diet and exercise.

I say reasonably because you probably could get the tight tum you want, but you would have to be prepared to let calorie counting and exercise regimes rule your life. At 47 all bodies thicken. There are good medical reasons for this, it is natural and can actually be beneficial.

Sound odd? Think of it like this:
1) As we get older our bones thin (osteopenia leading to full blown osteoporosis in some people). One way to prevent this is to ensure that our bones are subject to some stress - weight bearing exercise - this helps to prevent and even reverse some osteopenia. One easy way to do this is to weigh more!

2) The extra fat covering provides more insulation and protection to older slower moving bodies. As we get older and slower we are more prone to cooling in our core temperature (abdomen and its vital organs). Carrying more body fat provides insulation, slowing down the cooling process and sealing in more heat (like a thermos flask).

3) Also, as we get older, thinner boned and less strong and less steady on our feet, there are occasions when extra fat covering protects us from bumps and bruises which could lead to broken bones etc.

Now I wouldn't advise anyone deliberately gain body fat cos that's silly, but I personally wouldn't fight to get rid of it all. I know I can never get back my teen figure, and I am happy just being able to stay fit and healthy. BUT I know that not everyone feels this way. So you could continue the exercise you do along with a controlled diet, eventually you will reduce body fat and replace it with lean tissue (muscle) - eventually!!!

Or you could try the liposuction. If your tummy has skin sags and folds of empty skin left after weight loss I believe that the surgical route does have it's place. As you say some people have no other course and tummy or upper arms are often the areas that need skin tucks.

I hope the info helps! Stef

Thanks for the info Stef. This is a thing that I know but many people do not understand that as we get older and our body changes that sometime we can only go so far in what we can do about it. I feel that I am at my personal best. I am at the wt I want to be and am toned. I am also in good shape. But there is the tummy the round hard basketball that won't go away. I have no saggy skin or stretch marks so I think I am a good candidate for lipo. I know I have some rock hard abs under this with all the exercise I have been doing for years. I will continue with my program for life as I am very satisfied with it. But I want people to be aware that there is no such thing as spot reduction and that fat, skin and muscle are different things.