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Old 02-02-2017, 08:25 AM
 
Location: MA
865 posts, read 1,480,615 times
Reputation: 1897

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I lost a lot of weight over the last year and a half, and I am 128 lbs today, with a natural waist of 25 inches. However, I still have a bit of the pouch in front by where I buckle my jeans. It isn't too puffy, but it is not washboard either. My waist is really skinny on top, but I still have a bit of this middle age pouch. I already do a lot of ab work, like sit ups, crunches, scissor-kicks, and the 100 wave thing. I do cardio everyday, and other exercises that has targeted other areas very well (my calves are nothing but pure muscle - all my other targeted exercises have seemed to work over the year, but abs are responding slow).

Any other suggestions for specific exercises to target abs would be greatly appreciated, that I can do in my home without equipment. Is this just excess skin that will never go away, or maybe is it just my age working against me?
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Old 02-02-2017, 09:12 AM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
13,440 posts, read 15,384,782 times
Reputation: 18959
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluemonday View Post
I lost a lot of weight over the last year and a half, and I am 128 lbs today, with a natural waist of 25 inches. However, I still have a bit of the pouch in front by where I buckle my jeans. It isn't too puffy, but it is not washboard either. My waist is really skinny on top, but I still have a bit of this middle age pouch. I already do a lot of ab work, like sit ups, crunches, scissor-kicks, and the 100 wave thing. I do cardio everyday, and other exercises that has targeted other areas very well (my calves are nothing but pure muscle - all my other targeted exercises have seemed to work over the year, but abs are responding slow).

Any other suggestions for specific exercises to target abs would be greatly appreciated, that I can do in my home without equipment. Is this just excess skin that will never go away, or maybe is it just my age working against me?
Like you, I've lost a large amount of weight (60+) lbs and am "middle aged". (42 years old this year). I do a lot of core work and a fair amount of cardio (four times per week, 35-40 minutes per session). I'm pretty lean and muscular all over but my abs are not washboard flat and it is mostly excess skin. The core work I do enables me to have a "four pack" and my stomach doesn't protrude but the loose skin still remains and probably the only solution at this point would be cosmetic surgery. I don't care enough about it, though, to want to do that. I've come to accept that after two kids (including a "big un" that really stretched my tummy ), genetics (the women in my family never had flat abs after childbirth despite being small), and age, I'm not going to have the perfectly flat stomach and I don't lose sleep over it.

From my experience, cardio really doesn't target problem areas, so doing more of it won't make much of a difference. Continued core training will help with the underlying muscle so that it looks defined but it's not going to make the skin become more taut. I'm not saying it's impossible because it probably isn't, but again, I've come to accept my limitations and it's not due to lack of effort on my part. It is what it is, I gained a lot of weight and at this stage in life I can't pretend that never happened. I just keep doing my thing and improving my overall appearance as best I can and health.
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Old 02-02-2017, 09:56 AM
 
3,271 posts, read 2,175,810 times
Reputation: 2458
The consensus is that you cannot spot train to eliminate fat. You can isolate muscles if you choose to do that, but you will not eliminate fat from the area that you are attempting to build muscle in.

Honestly, if you want to lose the remaining fat you have, you could simply fast for a few days and it will disappear, leaving you with a ripped stomach, assuming you have muscle underneath that fat.

I suppose you should consult your doctor to see if it is safe for you to fast. And when I say fasting, I'm referring to non-caloric water fasting.
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Old 02-02-2017, 09:59 AM
 
Location: El Paso, TX
32,968 posts, read 26,205,863 times
Reputation: 16131
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluemonday View Post
I lost a lot of weight over the last year and a half, and I am 128 lbs today, with a natural waist of 25 inches. However, I still have a bit of the pouch in front by where I buckle my jeans. It isn't too puffy, but it is not washboard either. My waist is really skinny on top, but I still have a bit of this middle age pouch. I already do a lot of ab work, like sit ups, crunches, scissor-kicks, and the 100 wave thing. I do cardio everyday, and other exercises that has targeted other areas very well (my calves are nothing but pure muscle - all my other targeted exercises have seemed to work over the year, but abs are responding slow).

Any other suggestions for specific exercises to target abs would be greatly appreciated, that I can do in my home without equipment. Is this just excess skin that will never go away, or maybe is it just my age working against me?
I don't know if the loose skin will go away or not, but as to suggestions for other specific ab exercises, the abdominal plank is a great exercise. I like windshield wipers as well.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fuccu9GFO6g
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Old 02-02-2017, 02:50 PM
 
3,670 posts, read 7,143,865 times
Reputation: 4269
I noticed significant improvement in my abs a few months after incorporating planks and side planks daily (for 30-90 seconds each, a couple times a day). Like you I had also dabbled in some other ab stuff before that. This is going back all the way to June of 2016 for me. I continue to see improvement in my abs the more consistent I am with my routine.
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Old 02-02-2017, 03:55 PM
 
Location: Chicago
2,225 posts, read 2,387,088 times
Reputation: 5848
How much weight did you lose? I know that losing a large amount of weight can sometimes lead to loose skin that you can't get rid of without surgery. But if you are looking for exercises that will help define you abs more, I suggest dead lifts.. If you lift pretty heavy (probably at least 80 or 90 lbs), you may see more definition in your abs after a while.. This is because dead lifts work your entire core.. I've seen more definition in my stomach from doing dead lifts than crunches or other standard ab exercises..
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Old 02-03-2017, 09:46 AM
 
2,867 posts, read 1,529,330 times
Reputation: 8651
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluemonday View Post
I lost a lot of weight over the last year and a half, and I am 128 lbs today, with a natural waist of 25 inches. However, I still have a bit of the pouch in front by where I buckle my jeans. It isn't too puffy, but it is not washboard either. My waist is really skinny on top, but I still have a bit of this middle age pouch. I already do a lot of ab work, like sit ups, crunches, scissor-kicks, and the 100 wave thing. I do cardio everyday, and other exercises that has targeted other areas very well (my calves are nothing but pure muscle - all my other targeted exercises have seemed to work over the year, but abs are responding slow).

Any other suggestions for specific exercises to target abs would be greatly appreciated, that I can do in my home without equipment. Is this just excess skin that will never go away, or maybe is it just my age working against me?
Sadly there is not much you can do. A natural waist of 25 inches is very trim and you probably have very good ab muscles underneath but the pouch of middle age is just fat that will not move. Your age doesn't help. If you have $10,000 sitting around you can try Cool Sculpting. It is made for people like you who are in very good shape but have that tiny layer of fat that just will not move.
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Old 02-03-2017, 10:11 AM
 
Location: Wine Country
6,103 posts, read 8,776,916 times
Reputation: 12324
Quote:
Originally Posted by brocco View Post
I noticed significant improvement in my abs a few months after incorporating planks and side planks daily (for 30-90 seconds each, a couple times a day). Like you I had also dabbled in some other ab stuff before that. This is going back all the way to June of 2016 for me. I continue to see improvement in my abs the more consistent I am with my routine.
Planks and variations of them are really effective. They aint fun, thats for sure.
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