not fat but stomach sticks out

[shewe90]

I wasnt sure where to post this... but it sort of has to do with fat so here it goes...Im not even close fat im about 5'10'' 160lbs and the top half of my abs are visible, however when I completely relax my stomach it almost looks like im pregnant. It looks very weird and I have to constantly suck in my stomach in order for it to look flat or not show through my shirt, im lifting 4 times a week and doing cardio about 3 times per week plus my diet is semi good so im pretty sure it not becuase of excess fat (it couldnt be if i can see the top sets of my abs could it?). When i flex it feels like theres little more than just skin covering the top of my abs and maybe <1 cm on the bottom. Does anyone know what this could be or how to fix it? thanks

[BayAreaBB]

I wasnt sure where to post this... but it sort of has to do with fat so here it goes...Im not even close fat im about 5'10'' 160lbs and the top half of my abs are visible, however when I completely relax my stomach it almost looks like im pregnant. It looks very weird and I have to constantly suck in my stomach in order for it to look flat or not show through my shirt, im lifting 4 times a week and doing cardio about 3 times per week plus my diet is semi good so im pretty sure it not becuase of excess fat (it couldnt be if i can see the top sets of my abs could it?). When i flex it feels like theres little more than just skin covering the top of my abs and maybe <1 cm on the bottom. Does anyone know what this could be or how to fix it? thanks

It's fat. Diet and cardio.

[dece870717]

You have excess visceral fat, its fat under the skin and between the organs. Only way your going to lose that is diet and cardio. Question though, do you drink?

[BayAreaBB]

You have excess visceral fat, its fat under the skin and between the organs. Only way your going to lose that is diet and cardio. Question though, do you drink?

Yeah, it's so much easier getting rid of the fat outside the skin!

[remix.]

heh, i could relate to this bro. i have the same thing, like a beer belly. just gotta keep workin at it with a diet and cardio, thats why im cutting. im at 15.5% bf

[dece870717]

Yeah, it's so much easier getting rid of the fat outside the skin!

LOL! I didn't even catch that, man do I need to goto sleep. But ya the fat around your organs and directly under your muscles.

[Tobey77]

There is a medical condition that also makes your stomache stick up, if you have firm abs and it still sticks out you should seek medical attention. My cousin had this and its often caused by not being able to digest certain foods properly. I think we call it "gas stomache" in sweden, im not sure tho. Its treatable and nothing dangerous

[¡STFU!ˇNˆLIFT!]

Yeast can do this too ..
like 75% of people have a yeast overgrowth ( candida ) and dont know it ..

[Nobby149]

Besides other feedback, I will say that it also could be the fact that you need to cut any alcahol out for a couple of months(if you do drink), and do exercises. If it feels like muscle on your large belly it could be swolen intestines or similar so go to the doctor and get it check out, otherwise try no alcahol, and exercise.

[shewe90]

sorry i couldn't get back sooner i had school, thanks for the replies. No i havent drank anything in months, I just went to the doctor a couple weeks ago and everything looked fine according to him, so i guess it must be the visceral fat you guys were talking about. Is there anything that would have caused me to gain so much of that while keeping the rest of the fat on my body relatively low? And how much cardio is necesary to help burn it off while still maintaining muscle? thanks.

[BayAreaBB]

sorry i couldn't get back sooner i had school, thanks for the replies. No i havent drank anything in months, I just went to the doctor a couple weeks ago and everything looked fine according to him, so i guess it must be the visceral fat you guys were talking about. Is there anything that would have caused me to gain so much of that while keeping the rest of the fat on my body relatively low? And how much cardio is necesary to help burn it off while still maintaining muscle? thanks.

For a lot of men, the abdomen is first area to gain fat, and last place to shed it. Do HIIT cardio sessions 4-5 times per week and get your diet in line.

[shewe90]

so would 4-5 sessions of 10 minutes or so be enough or should i go more. also what are the main foods to stay away from besides the obvious ones, i already almost never eat fast food, and i barely eat sweets, but other than that im not sure. when i here diet i think of eating nothing but salad.

[Stey_Roid]

so would 4-5 sessions of 10 minutes or so be enough or should i go more. also what are the main foods to stay away from besides the obvious ones, i already almost never eat fast food, and i barely eat sweets, but other than that im not sure. when i here diet i think of eating nothing but salad.

Ive got the same problem as you,hardley any fat on my body except my abdominal area like you say my abs are visible at the top when breathing in and flexed but when relaxed it looks like im pregnant,im starting to replace my high g.i carbs with low g.i ones like brown rice n wholemeal **** hopefully with my 3 sessions of hiit a week and my weightlifting programme the fat should be gone within 2-3 months

[Herron]

Ive got the same problem as you,hardley any fat on my body except my abdominal area like you say my abs are visible at the top when breathing in and flexed but when relaxed it looks like im pregnant,im starting to replace my high g.i carbs with low g.i ones like brown rice n wholemeal **** hopefully with my 3 sessions of hiit a week and my weightlifting programme the fat should be gone within 2-3 months

Same here, been like this for years, my Mom even asked me one time if I drink alot of beer and the doc always ask me if I am drinking alot, I drink maybe 3x a year and drinking for me is like a beer or 2 mixed drinks, so basically I do not drink. I have also cut out all fluid other than water and the occasional Sprite Zero.
First part of last year when I was loosing weight for a contest at work. it was not but in the last couple of weeks of the 12wk contest that my gut started to go down. you could tell I was loosing weight but the gut was still out there and finally in week 10 on it started coming down, in the end I was 43#s lighter but i could not keep up that schedule and began eating again and now I am back up with a big gut, I have more lean muscle now but the gut is still there, i have been doing straight cardio for the past 2mths and on monday will begin lifting again. I am not sure how I am going to get rid of the gut but I got 5mths before going on vacation so I am going to TRY HARD!!

I have been reading on here a few articles and some say taking in more water will help, so I have increased water consumption even more.
I am not one to take pix but I think I am going to so I can see the changes b/c the scale does not help since weight training will increase on Monday and I will continue to do about 3 days a week of cardio at at least 30min sessions. maybe more...

[-Michelangelo-]

I wasnt sure where to post this... but it sort of has to do with fat so here it goes...Im not even close fat im about 5'10'' 160lbs and the top half of my abs are visible, however when I completely relax my stomach it almost looks like im pregnant. It looks very weird and I have to constantly suck in my stomach in order for it to look flat or not show through my shirt, im lifting 4 times a week and doing cardio about 3 times per week plus my diet is semi good so im pretty sure it not becuase of excess fat (it couldnt be if i can see the top sets of my abs could it?). When i flex it feels like theres little more than just skin covering the top of my abs and maybe <1 cm on the bottom. Does anyone know what this could be or how to fix it? thanks

Yea I'm surely not fat, I've reached an almost perfect body except for my damn stomach! It bloats out and makes me look Fat. And walking around sucking in your stomach not only makes you feel pathetic but it gets very VERY tiring and annoying. So I think I've figured this out:
I've figured out that most of the things needed to build muscle which are these:

High intake of Food
Constant intake of Food
Moderately High Carbs
Calorie Surplus
Supplements

ALL contribute to a bloated AKA big stomach! Eversince I started bodybuilding My stomach has slowly increased along with my muscle mass. But my body fat stayed the same, and actually decreased! WHY???
The answer is not simple and has to do with a combination of things. But here are the most common suspects:


creatine - I can usually drink a gallon of water and
not have to pee! When Im not, I piss beautiful heavenly
clear water all day long. Why? because creatine not only is
a great supplement but a great water retainer.
water weight goes WAY up. a LOT of that water weight
goes strait to your stomach


Carbs - will make you gain fat. FACT. First place fat goes is right to
your stomach.


Constant Food - 6 meals a day is tough. If you're even remotely a
bodybuilder you know what I mean. but not only is it
tough on your time, and you're wallet, its tough on your
stomach muscles. When you eat, you're stomach expands.
you knew that. But what you didnt know is that
it takes 24 to 72 HOURS for full digestion to take place.
Just because you often take a **** after you eat, doesnt
mean that that brown stuff in the toilet is the food you just
ate. It is more likely that that crap is the yesterday's
sandwich. This means that when you eat more. Your
stomach and intestines will expand to accomodate the
increase in food. SO you've gotta either take smaller portions or eat cleaning types of foods like PRUNES and VEGES



So what I DID. was I first cut out creatine supps. I loss 10 pounds lol. My stomach went down. My friend cut creatine out of his supplement lingo and he didnt loose anything. So he decreased Carbs, but increased protein and loss his stomach, and FAT and continued to gain muscle. (I wouldnt dare do that, too risky for my bodytype, my muscles are prescious) So what this means to you is that you need to know that there are 3 main causes and find out which cause is effecting you the most and combat the cause or the problem Hope I helped!

*Cut out Creatine Supps

or


*Decrease Carbs



or



*Eat a bunch or fibrous Carbs and prunes
in order to combat the 6 meal a day dillema
(cleans out your intestines, speeds digestion)

[Lmusho]

Im 6% body fat and have the same problem, I think it might be Creatine , gonna try to stop taking it for a while and see.

[L_Dub]

Yup, are you taking any type of supplements?

When I took creatine, it made me bloated too. Especially my face and stomach.

Look into the supplements your taking, if you are taking any.

But, at 5'10" 160 lbs. Aren't you kind of light?

So, if your body fat is low, yet your stomach sticks out. It could be also be the way your working your abs.

What type of ab exercises do you do and how do you do them?



--------------------------------

http://www.best-abs-exercises.com/

[clarusmentis]

There's also a chance you might be slightly allergic to gluten. Try switching to some gluten free products and see if it helps. Michelangelo also had a good tip - prunes. They're good for your guts!

And try hitting the cardio for more than 10 mins. I spend more time than that thinking of what I'm going to have for dinner even though I already know what I'm gunna shovel down me gob!

[drthemez]

ive had the same thing for a while, i actually got rid of it once, but then i just did cardio and lost like all my muscle and it came back. i learned though it is extremely hard, it is possible for it to go away. Two things that for me worked was getting to a really low bf, and building up your chest. The bigger your chest is the more it offsets your gut, combined with a pretty low bf, the gut will be pretty much gone. Hope this helps a lot. Also i noticed for people like us, creatine is a dilemma. You want all the benefits of it, but the water weight seems to be held even more in the gut and thats the last thing you want haha, it will look even bigger.

[MarkVI]

You can't look stage quality everyday....NO ONE has totally ripped up abs 24/7 with no bloat, no extra water etc....STOP THINKING YOU CAN.


UGH.

[4discipline]

Im 6% body fat and have the same problem, I think it might be Creatine , gonna try to stop taking it for a while and see.

6% and you have a stomach that sticks out? 6% is absolutely ripped with plenty of vascularity and incredibly well defined abs, even without flexing. Your pics look much closer to 10%-- good, but not 6%. At that level, such a problem will not exist.

[Lmusho]

6% and you have a stomach that sticks out? 6% is absolutely ripped with plenty of vascularity and incredibly well defined abs, even without flexing. Your pics look much closer to 10%-- good, but not 6%. At that level, such a problem will not exist.

yea i realize now that im not 6%, they tested me at the gym but i guess its wrong. Stupid fat test.

[th3pwn3r]

yea i realize now that im not 6%, they tested me at the gym but i guess its wrong. Stupid fat test.

Lol, I'd say wrong big time. At 6 percent you should be VERY defined. I'm guessing you did a hand-held test? Try using a caliper for a more accurate reading.

[KSwain10]

it could just be that u have very big abs but a layer of fat covering them... just keep up the diet and excercise and you'll see ur stomach muscles become more defined... alot of people think that doing just crunches will make abs magically appear, but it could actually just make ur stomach look bigger if u do not combine it with cardio and dieting... good luck

[lyndavan]

I realize that I am posting this over a year after the thread was posted but I do know the answer.
It's because your stomach is not strong. or the muscle that holds your stomach in.. I am not sure.
However, you will have to do some exercises for it.
so you could either try to suck in your stomach all day.
or you can
breathe in and suck in your stomach for about 10 seconds and exhale slowly relaxing it for 5 seconds.
I read this from many sports and exercises magazines

[Tanulean]

Constant Food - 6 meals a day is tough. If you're even remotely a
bodybuilder you know what I mean. but not only is it
tough on your time, and you're wallet, its tough on your
stomach muscles. When you eat, you're stomach expands.
you knew that. But what you didnt know is that
it takes 24 to 72 HOURS for full digestion to take place.
Just because you often take a **** after you eat, doesnt
mean that that brown stuff in the toilet is the food you just
ate. It is more likely that that crap is the yesterday's
sandwich. This means that when you eat more. Your
stomach and intestines will expand to accomodate the
increase in food. SO you've gotta either take smaller portions or eat cleaning types of foods like PRUNES and VEGES

What actually takes place is the total opposite what you said. Your stomach expands from the 3 meals per day since you are eating bigger quantities of food.

Example: 3,000 calorie diet
Option 1 - 3 meals : 1,000 calories each
Option 2 - 6 meals : 500 calories each

Option 2 would be much easier on your stomach and would cause it to shrink if you go from Option 1 to Option 2. If you actually think about it you will understand.

As to everything else you said, sounds pretty solid. Just thought I would fix this misinformation.

[Tanulean]

I realize that I am posting this over a year after the thread was posted but I do know the answer.
It's because your stomach is not strong. or the muscle that holds your stomach in.. I am not sure.
However, you will have to do some exercises for it.
so you could either try to suck in your stomach all day.
or you can
breathe in and suck in your stomach for about 10 seconds and exhale slowly relaxing it for 5 seconds.
I read this from many sports and exercises magazines

My friend told me this was called training your "TVA". If you were looking for a name for it.

[RusnConcussion]

It's fat. Diet and cardio.

It's fat.

[MdFitness]

Try strengthening your core to make your ab wall / stomach more flatter, helps with posture as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR-IdKO3xQk

[Deborah_Lyn]

My friend told me this was called training your "TVA". If you were looking for a name for it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transve...dominis_muscle

Training the rectus abdominis muscles alone will not and can not give one a ?flat? belly; this effect is achieved only through training the TVA.[4] Thus to the extent that traditional abdominal exercises (e.g. crunches) or more advanced abdominal exercises (e.g. bicycle crunch) tend to ?flatten? the belly, this is owed to the tangential training of the TVA inherent in such exercises. Recently the transversus abdominis has become the subject of debate between kinesiologists, strength trainers, and physical therapists. The two positions on the muscle are (1) that the muscle is effective and capable of bracing the human core during extremely heavy lifts and (2) that it is not.
==================================

Pilates ( breathing and stomach exercises) will train your TVAs nicely. This and monounsaturated fats have really helped by bust my gut since I started in August. It's not perfectly flat, but I'm slowly loosing it.