Hi

Was wondering,i am a size 8/10, i am quite small however my belly seems to of ballooned at times and i want a nice flat toned stomach at the bottom (lower abs) have done sit ups, leg raises and laid on my front with my feet on the floor and arms flat and lifted my body up, i have done all this for almost a year, doing this everyday, however am not seeing any results...

So i was wondering, do these ab machines you put around your middle actually work for toning and getting a 6 pack for women (not a six pack but just toned)? or are they a waste of money, has anyone used them or had experience or know a good (fairly cheap) product?

Tesco direct has an ab-belt for about £25
I've never tried one, but am looking to get one and would not want to spend too much incase they aren't as good as made out to be (or, incase it gets shoved in the back of the wardrobe & not used, like most of my fitness stuff!).

I'll be reading this  thread with interest to see if there are any tried & tested reviews :)

I know Argos does one and its pink my fave colour and thats £29.39, i have read the reviews on argos and its very highly rated, but would it actually flatten my stomach, im not big, and i know they dont make you loose weight but i would like to know how far it goes in terms of making it flat so i dont need to breathe in all the time LOL, does that make sense?

I am glad i am not the only one wanting one of these, some of them are so expensive though!

If you want abs you need to lose the fat on your belly. No matter how slim you are size wise, if you carry weight on your tummy you will never see your abs. We all have abdominal muscles, like we all have bicepts- however if you have a layer of fat covering them you can train them every day and never see any results. I would suggest some serious cardio training, 4 times a week for atleast 30 mins. Cut down on carbs if you can too, I find that the weeks I don't 'do' bread my abs look amazing... the weeks I buy a loaf they just look ok ;-) People are misguided to think that they will 'get abs' by doing sit ups and buying all these ridiculous machines. Until you lose pretty much every ounce of fat on your tummy you won't see your abs! Does this make sense?

PS: A very good friend of mine is super slim- prob a UK size 4, however she always looks 7 months pregnant because she doesn't exercise, just relies on her good genes! It's all about getting your heart rate up and burning fat!

See thats the thing, i am obsessed with exercise, i go running at least 6 times a week, and do walking as well and i go far distances, i eat healthly too, do not eat junk and switched my carbs from white to brown i eat brown rice, brown pasta, wholemeal bread... i do not over eat and i am fit, so why wont the flab go?

How can you not eat bread? I have tried that but i struggle with what to have for lunch at work and stuff.... it is only a wholemeal muffin and carbs are so hard not to eat, they are in everything, how do you do it? lol!?

Thank you for your reply...

Just to add i went on a diet too at one point, which all my friends thought i was crazy and i lost too much weight and went down to a 8 stone, which i looked lean and bony,i try now to keep to 8 stone 3 pounds, and i look healthier, however losing weight does not come off my belly, everywhere else but there...

Hmmmm! Some people are just unlucky- once they have put weight on their mid section, it never goes. You definitely don't want to go below 8stone3- how tall are you? I would still suggest cutting as much carbs and you can and replace them with as much protein as you can eat! Tuna/chicken/meat/cottage cheese etc etc. Even buy some protein powder and throw that into the mix. You will find that the protein stops you getting too hungry, whereas carbs burn fast and you are hungry again. I know what you mean about struggling with lunches when bread is off the menu... maybe try pasta salads (NO MAYO) or pita bread instead of real bread. It might also help to cut carbs after a certain time of day. Like no carbs at night? You need to experiment and see what works for your body, as you seem to be very slim but holding weight just on your tum. For me, running slims me down in a big way. I also train a lot of weights which seems to kick my metabolism into overdrive... you just have to find what works!

I find that the weeks I don't 'do' bread my abs look amazing

have to agree with this i lost 2 stone last year thu giving up bread in any form and i didnt have a car for a while either but on the days i did eat bread i found it slowed my down i would feel tired and bloated and the walk to school was so draining if i'd had toast before i left,
so i cut out ALL bread and the weight just dropped off withing weeks,
sorry to say i have now got a car and am back to eating bread and have put back on all that i lost but now iv admited it to you all and to myself im swear i will try to loss a few pounds :-) ok ok stones lol,

it will by a good thing when my son starts secondary school in september as its up the road from me about a 20 min walk thu the waterless canal you would def not drive to the school as it would take an hour to get thu the traffic so to walk it would be good for me.son and dogs ;-)

Right i am going to try and cut out bread altogether then, pasta salad, but pasta is still carbs? or is brown pasta better than brown bread? confused now... lol

found these online: 'LOSE YOUR BELLY' AMINO PLUS these are tablets that say slim your middle by helping to clear the fat, would these be a good idea? They are very expensive though...

I am determined, i am around 5ft 5 i think in height, just a normal height i would say, its hard, cos i cannot afford to lose any weight but i want to get nice toned abs so i do not need to breathe in, its getting me quite down to be honest and making me stressed, which is not good for your weight around the belly lol!!

Going to cut bread then, maybe try more meat for lunch instead, but what other options are there that are not carbs and how long should i try it for? ill keep running and walking and shall i keep doing leg raises for now and see if it helps to tone it, cos they help tone the lower abs dont they?.... i do not really eat at night, after my tea which is usually around 6 ish, maybe before i do not eat a thing after that...

Does anyone know how to tone your lower abs with weights just to add a bit more pressure than just lifting my legs in leg raises?

Thank you guys btw, really appriciate this, i hate it so much :(

Glad it worked for you chelzeagirl, did you eat any other carbs like baked potato or chips or pasta (i have cut out any form of chips too)? or was it just bread alone you cut out when you lost the weight and ate other carbs, but just not bread?

> Does anyone know how to tone your lower abs with weights just to add a bit more pressure than just lifting my legs in leg raises?

Sit ups.. stick your feet under something for control.. knees bent, hands behind head, and when you sit up, do not come straight up.. bring left elbow over to right knee, or right elbow to left knee.. this will work your Obliques, and at the same time, work lower abs..

You can work with weights for lower Abs, but you would need a pulley

ohh thank you Kay, ill try that maybe again then, been doing those tho for a year now, what i did was put my legs on my bed and me in the floor, hands behind head and lifted partly up but not all the way and then lowered and begun again, trying not to put my whole back on the floor... but it just doesnt seem to work, i am doing everything right, but something is missing as it is not working

Pasta is still carbs, but people seem to process them better. I eat white pasta but some do say brown is better- give it a go. Replace bread with: baked potato, beans, sweet potato, pasta, rice cakes... just off the top of my head. IMO pretty much anything is better than bread unfortunately. If you are going to eat bread, just make it one slice!

DO NOT buy pills and potions, they are usually a complete load of bollocks.

You sound like a slim weight for your height, I agree that you do not want to lose any weight. I think you will see results by eating more of the good foods like veg and protein and less of the bad stuff like bread. You should never be hungry at this weight... if you are hungry eat!

Definitely continue with your exercises!! If you need to add weight try putting something between your feet and then doing the leg lifts. I would use a light medicine ball at the gym, but by the sounds of things you train outside the gym. However, as I said before- training your abs when you are carrying weight on them won't work the fat off IMO. Some may disagree though! You want to keep training them so that when you do lose that bit of fat, you have nice strong muscles underneath. You may also want to look at strenghtening your core abdominal muscles... I could go on FOREVER with different ways of doing this but it's prob easier to google it so you can see pictures!

With your cardio training, I wouldn't bother with anything 'long distance' unless it is really making you work hard. A four hour stroll is pointless. A thirty minute 3mile run will prob burn about 300 calories and really make you sweat! If you aren't sweating, you aren't working hard enough. Also, if you do go to a gym, maybe try some saunas? If you are carrying water weight it might help to get rid of it. Please don't dehydrate yourself though, this would be a huge problem.

I am kind of rushing through this as I don't want to overload or bore you to sleep... if you want more detail on a specific thing I have said.. just ask. I am not a qualified fitness instructor, however do train a few people in my spare time. So please take this as advice from a 'friend' rather than gospel!! :-)

I don't recommend stabilising your feet in any way, it stops you using your core and is basically cheating. Use your abs to pull you up into the crunch position, NOT YOUR FEET PULLING ON SOMETHING!

I also don't recommend putting your hands behind your head, it risks you pulling on your neck if you are struggling. Your arms should be folded across your chest or your fingers touching your temples.

> what i did was put my legs on my bed and me in the floor, hands behind head and lifted partly up but not all the way and then lowered and begun again, trying not to put my whole back on the floor... but it just doesnt seem to work, i am doing everything right, but something is missing as it is not working

those will work the upper abdomen, but having your legs on the bed is slightly defeating the object, since in a raised position, your abs are already in a halfway position, so the little you do from this, is not enough for effect..

> I also don't recommend putting your hands behind your head, it risks you pulling on your neck if you are struggling. Your arms should be folded across your chest or your fingers touching your temples

Apologies

I agree, as a novice, the temptation to pull up with your shoulders is strong, and can damage your neck..

Thank you so much for your reply Stormy!! Its not boring, its really interesting

Right ill cut bread out as of from today, well now! And see how it goes with that then and ill eat wholemeal pasta salads and things and see if that helps me

I currently do, sit ups, leg raises and the odd time i have done (not sure what they are called) and i lay on my front, lift up on my back feet and my arms, and that tones your core abdominals doesnt it? I learnt that at kickboxing, its a real killer, should i be doing that daily too? And for how long would you say?

I do sweat a lot on my runs, so thats good, must be doing something right lol! I cant stand saunas, i walk in and walk out, they are too hot for me lol but i might be brave one day and go in and sit and cope with the heat and see what happens! lol

Thank you so much, i am so determined have been for over a year now but it doesnt seem to help and even tho i am slim it still effects my self confidence dramatically and i hate it so so much

Oh, putting my legs half bent tho and not putting my back back on the floor, isnt that keeping the tension there and keeping the abs tight, i can feel them being and getting tight when i do this... if my feet are on the floor i have a tendancy to bounce up as my abs are not strong enough to just pull me up with themselves... does this make any sense LOL

Ok hands across chest it is! lol!! :)

What if you shove your feet under something, like the bottom of your settee... just to hold them down, or is that still cheating?

x

Hiya Yorkies,

Few things: Yes, you need to lose any fat there to see abs but you can develop ab muscles more without weight loss. Sometimes bog standard sit ups arent enough and you need to do sit ups where your legs are raised(i.e on top of an exercise ball) to work the lower abs . Also, laying on the floor and passing an exercise ball from between your ankles to above your head and back again (does that make sense?) works wonders for lower abs - hard work but worth it. Not eating too many carbs and NOT EATING LATE AT NIGHT gives your food time to digest and stops the bloat and bulging stomach, also a good legs,bums and tums class at a gym will be good for you to learn the right way to train the muscles so you can continue on your own at home exercising correctly.

Hope that helps, good luck - if i carry weigh ever it always goes onto my lower stomach. Its not noticeable when i have clothes on but i can feel it when i take my clothes off. Doesnt help when you have all these super skinny toones people parading around in papers magazines and in everyday life too. Jammy so and so's :-)  I had one of those toning ab machines - didnt really do much and IMO  was a waste of money. Too achieve any kind of decent shaped body its good old fashioned hard work and determination that gets results :-)

Firstly, if you need to anchor your feet down to be able to do a sit up you are doing something VERY wrong. If you have been trying to see results for a year and can't do sit ups without having something hold down your feet then we need to make some changes!! Start doing simple 'sit ups' from lying down flat, knees bent, feet on floor, arms across chest and sit all the way up until your face is somewhere near your knees. Until you can do 20 of these, don't bother with any other crunches as your core is too weak to support anything. Do them slowly and think about using your abs and nothing else. Be very careful that your back isn't hurting when you do these too. The plank/bridge you described is also good for core strength, I suggest you keep doing this... not sure how long you can do it for... I would do maybe do three sets of one minute?

If you find saunas too hot then don't do them. It will just stress you out! The result won't be enought to justify putting you in a situation where you would be that uncomfortable.

It kind of sounds like you need to go back to basics and start again. Get the sit ups going nice and strong and then start adding crunches (where you don't go up so far, just isolate the abs without resting). The leg raises will probably still be beneficial. I do them by lying with legs straight out, raising them off the ground with as little bend in the knee as comfortable and then back down WITHOUT touching the ground again... and come back up. If you are having to rest on the ground in between leave them out until your core is better.

This might take a while to see results... I would give it two months and expect to see a change.

Thank you Freds mum

I am going to borrow my friends exercise ball she does not use it anymore due to not being able too, so asked her if i can borrow it so i will try those exercise and get some off the internet for my belly and see if they work might be more interesting using a ball...

I know i hate it!!! all thse proper slim celebs and their bellys are SO FLAT i just do not understand how they get it like that at all?

Same with one of my friends, she is think like me but flat bellied and she drinks every weekend and more or less each day of the week and eats rubbish!!! Dont get it :( lol!

OH, well i am glad i posted my original post now cos otherwise i would not of known that for a year i have been doing it all wrong, hence why no results :( :(

Doesnt going all the way to your knees though not tone your abs at all? Cos doesnt that mean that your not really putting any tension on your abs? Thats what i got told,but not sure if its true

I can do over a minute of those bridge things, they really hurt but they do not hurt my belly as much, more my back, is that because my back is not straight?

No leg raises i do 30, 20, 10 reps, and my feet do not touch the floor, they stay hovered above the ground for as long as it takes me, quite good at them, as i did them, and inbetween 30, 20, 10 situps, thats what i did everyday but changing now as its a bit wrong isnt it at the moment....

how many leg raises and sit ups would you say a day? And ill do those bridge things too... although going to try some exercises with that ball i am getting off my friend...

There is some truth in the full sit ups not isolating your abs at all times, however you need to have the initial strength there to start with. If you have the time, do crunches as well! If the bridge is hurting your back make sure you are thinking about using your abs for support and aren't arching your back to take the pressure off. I don't ever recommend people do exercises that hurt their back, although I find a few of the things I do hurt mine... one rule for me, one rule for everyone else! :-P

The leg raises sound good. Try doing 20/20/20 instead though. The only time I would ever go down in reps is if you are increasing the weight...

A program you could do would be:

*as many full sit ups as you can manage. Once you get to say 30 in a row, stop there.
*leg raises- 20/20/20- if that gets too easy try getting some weight on your feet!
*crunches- feet on floor, knees bent, sit up and lower yourself back until you feel it hurt your abs. The movement of a crunch should be very small- go back as far as you can without hitting the floor, come up only as far enough that the pressure stays on your abs. Very different to sit ups.
*if you can get a 'fitball' crunches on this work really well. You can also do the ones suggested above where you point your elbow towards the opposite knee.

Bascially, by the end of your work out you shouldn't be able to do even one military style sit up... your abs should be dead! Obviously it might not be possible to do this every day, but make sure a couple of times a week you really push it. The next day it should hurt... hopefully so much that you need to have an ab rest day!

however my belly seems to of ballooned at times

When i read this my first thought was bloating either caused by a food allergy/intolerance or due to your monthly cycle .
From your description you sound very petite , so is it fat or bloating ?

V good point St.Domingo- Yorkies is your tummy a bit wobbly or is it hard like its full of food?

I read somewhere that doing sit ups/crunches you should breathe out as you go up and breathe in as you go down. Is that true? (And has that already been mentioned - I confess I've only skimmed the thread.)

I do not know if it is fat or bloating... this is the problem, by night its big morning its a bit flatter, but still sticks out a bit, when i went down to 8 stone, just below, it was flatter and i noticed a difference, which makes me think its fat... however thats an unhealthy weight and i knew i had to go back to a healthier weight

how do you do crunchs on a fitball, am i being thick here?? Do i lie on the floor, feet on the fit ball or do i lie on the top of the fit ball and lower myself backwards to the floor then back up?

Ok i am going to print what you have all written and put it into practise and from now on no more bread and see how that works

Thinking about it tho, its the sugary carbs that are bad isnt it... so if wholemeal bread has less sugary carbs in it than wholemeal pasta (it might not do... does anyone know if it does or not??)... how come bread seems to be the one most people are fearful of and stay away from?

It isnt really hard, its a bit jelly like, when i lean back on my chair it goes hard but thats cos its getting tensed...  when i poke it its a bit soft, my finger can go right into it if that makes sense and i can shake it in my fingers like jelly... although it hurts lol!!

Ohhh good question jeangenie, i always struggle on my breathing too, so glad you mentioned that!

also is coffee really bad for you? and if so, is de caff any better? i only have 1 brew a day, but i am wondering if that contributes to belly fat?

Jeez you are making me work hard for a Friday night... I usually charge $50 an hour for this :-D

Right... JG yes... you should always breath out when you exert the most effort, so breath in on the way down and out on the way up when it's the most work. Same for all weights...

Sounds to me if it's a bit 'podgey' then it's just fat that your body wants to keep hold of! It's completely normal btw... Don't you wish you could transfer fat from one place to another? That would be truly amazing.

Crunches on the fitball are good because the ball supports your back. Lie on the ball (face up), knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Make sure your back is straight and you engage your abs, don't just flop into there and haul yourself up! The ball should sit kind of at your lower back. Do crunches as you would normally- the benefit is the back support whilst also engaging your abs so you don't fall off!

Coffee is AWESOME (I'm totally addicted- obviously a nutritionist is not going to agree). If you drink it with full fat milk then it isn't so great! One coffee a day is not going to contribute to this IMO- if you lack energy for a work out have some coffee... I am a big advocate of caffeine :-) On this note... alcohol is a huge contributor to female waist lines (if you ask me). If you are a bit of a party girl, start drinking gin or vodka... low carbs.

Sugary carbs... ie cakes/biscuits= bad, but you know this. As for the carbs on pasta vs bread.... I find I burn off pasta but bread sticks around... must be all the stuff they put in it I guess!?

Haha im sorry!!! I have a lot of questions then one sparks another off!! LOL

I really appriciate your help tho :)

That would be great if i could transfer it, i know where i would put it as well, i have it all planned out! lol!!

I was just going to ask how do you do that on the fitball without falling off, cos balls roll dont they and i might just plop to the floor but ill try it LOL

Ohhh i did switch a few months back to vodka and diet coke, thats all i really drink if i am honest, i used to drink alcopops all the time, but steer away from them now

I switched to soya milk as well as i found that was better on me, and its better than normal milk and i enjoy it more as it means i do not put sugar on my cerial so its good

Ill give it a go anyway and i take everyones comments with me as i think experience and the fact it works for some people helps too and i feel a bit more optomistic now!

Thank you :D :) xx

Don't apologise, I was totally kidding! I love sharing the things that have worked for me... I guess if my new career doesn't work out I might try and become a PT :-)

Stabilising on the fitball is a little hard, but once you have got the feel of it you will be fine. I fell off one the other day, just about dropped 20kg on my face in the process... totally mortified! Still, got to push the boundaries!

If you have any more questions just shoot me a PM... it;s all about experience, trial and error. I was 'lucky' enough that my ex was super knowledgable in the gym and he really helped me the last couple of years. Now we are a world apart, but I managed to steal all his gym secrets! ha ha ha

PS: I know where I would transfer mine too :-P

no i stayed away from carbs altogether it worked really well but i will say i did crave for a chip butty after around 3 days i thought i was never going to be able to do it,
i was snacking on walnuts and fruit, and mostly lived on chicken or fish salads, oh i will say i ate a LOAD of the sea food Cockels i realy dont no if their good or bad but i love them and went to a wholesaler and bought a huge tube so id have a cup full for breakfast.
i am sorry i ever stopped doing it now as i have to start all over again and its harder to get started,

Not eating carbs is a really good way of dropping weight, however it is near on impossible to maintain! You start to crave bread/chips/chocolate etc etc and then end up bingeing... well I do anyway. Filling up on protein is excellent, however you still need carbs for energy and fibre... it just depends on whether you can choose some yummy brown rice (jk) over a googey chocolate muffin... mmmmmmmm!

yes it was very hard to do i will admit butu the Cockels were my aid they realy helped , i must go get some more and start again lol

I do not think i could eat no carbs altogerher, carbs are in everything its so hard to cut them out altogether, plus its really bad for you!!! I do know that much, you shouldnt cut them out completely, just maybe eat the complex ones and not the simple carbs, they are digested a lot better, but i am going to cut out bread and see how i go

Sorry, that made me chuckle when you wrote you fell off! But that second part didnt, were you hurt? Sounds painful?

Your really lucky to know all this, bet your fit as a fiddle, lol!!

x

And cockles, EWWW my other half eats them, not tried them but they look horrid, i am fussy with stuff like that LOL

Ha ha... no injuries...aside from my ego that is :-)

everyone in here hates them and jelled eels, i cant get enough so its all the more for me :-)

infact it is probley the only food i can sit and eat in peace as everyone vacates the room when i got a bowl, lol Heaven

HAhaha!! bless ya!! Maybe i should pretend to like them and my sisters might leave me alone then!! hmmm haha

Thanks for your help everyone, i am leaving work in 10 mins, so this will probably be my last post, going to print it out though so i remember it all LOL

xxx

well have a good weekend xx

> Too achieve any kind of decent shaped body its good old fashioned hard work and determination that gets results :-)

Now what did you have to go and say that for!! ;) There's me, dreaming of lounging around watching the TV, happy with the thought that an ab-belt would be making me all toned and lovely!!

> Now what did you have to go and say that for!! ;-) There's me, dreaming of lounging around watching the TV, happy with the thought that an ab-belt would be making me all toned and lovely!!

I'm good at saying these things and i know what to do.....actually doing it is another story!!!

Yorkies, had another thought this afternoon about an exercise to do to work your 'core muscle's'  - cant describe it very well so look at the link :-) http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/images/core_strength_prone_bridge.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/core-strength-training.html&usg=__-PJtDyv87HLTpq6_z4_xAigYLug=&h=200&w=200&sz=3&hl=en&start=14&tbnid=9xL5hXyASTM6JM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcore%2Bmuscle%2Bexercises%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den

It looks easy but is actually very effective if done properly. Also, do some research into core muscle workouts and exercises :-)

Cutting out carbs altogether is not a good idea, you need these to keep your energy levels up in ordet o exercise.

What worked for me i will share with you, may not work for everyone.

Get yourself onto a treadmill if possible.
Start off on a slow jog and then every 1 min increase the speed by 0.5 and keep going until you are in a full on sprint, sprint for a couple of minutes and then slow down to a jog for 5-10mins and then repeat.
To tone the ab's you need to loose the weight you have there in order for it to be flat otherwise you are toning and keeping the fat at the same time, so no real difference noticed.

Cycling is also great as well and the cross trainer, they work your obliques which are the side stomach muscles.

Its up to you about cutting out bread, i didn't, nor did i cut down, but by doing this a few times a week on i noticed a huge difference and not one sit up was required.

Situp's alone like others have said won't make any real difference, you say you're jogging, what about if your not able to get to the gym, job for a few minutes, sprint for 100mtrs and then repeat, gets the good old ticker going as well.

Well my abs are in total agony!! LOL Did all my exercises, did it two days in a row, so friday and saturday, and did some sunday but not as hard core, because they are tender right now!! So something is working

Ohhh Freds mum that is the exercise i was trying to describe earlier (hard isnt it!) i do that for a minute now and it really burns, hurts my back sometimes too,but hasnt been doing recently, so must be doing it right now compared to with before

I have cut out bread, had a lovely wholemeal pasta salad today for lunch!! With mackeral, was YUM!  So will see how this goes, went running again last night too, although, might need to take it easy, you know when you get really bad cramp in your calf and your in agony, well the after pain you get in your calfs, i have got that, but,... i have not had cramp for a while now, its in both calfs, so not sure what i have done but this morning i could barley walk! it has eased up a bit now as the day has progressed, so will have to see how it goes :( -  hope its nothing to do with running anyway as its never happened before when i have ran

Thank you everyone and i hope you all had a brillo weekend!  xxx

> Now what did you have to go and say that for!! ;-) There's me, dreaming of lounging around watching the TV, happy with the thought that an ab-belt would be making me all toned and lovely!!

LOL!! That made me giggle, guess we both can save our money now eh and just do it the same old fashioned way :)