Distended Midsection

[sword-]

Here is a side pic of me:

http://www.bodygain.com/imagegallery...age=1097985381

I'm around 12% bodyfat (6' 170 lbs 31 in waist) but it looks like I definately have a distended midsection, which I am not satisfied with. I'm currently bulking to 185 and wondering what exercises you all use to work on the traverse abdominas.

[xplosiveDL]

Here is a side pic of me:

http://www.bodygain.com/imagegallery...age=1097985381

I'm around 12% bodyfat (6' 170 lbs 31 in waist) but it looks like I definately have a distended midsection, which I am not satisfied with. I'm currently bulking to 185 and wondering what exercises you all use to work on the traverse abdominas.

stomach vacuums

[JacksCleverWit]

Your genetics will have a bit of a say on that.

[youi09]

vacuums, absolved, cardio.

[zxcager]

yea, I have the same problem too, it sucks when you see your stomach protruding more than your chest.

[LatsMakeTheMan]

I feel your pain.....I have the same thing. Even with visible abs, my stomach sticks out further than my chest. Well.....they're about the same

[bigpump23]

tjis is actually an idea I have been playing around with. I've noticed as my bf drops I still have that slight look and was wondering how to change it. I thhough , "patience and continually dropping bf" will do it. I also thought" core strength". i haven't done much in the way, i do some prone iso abs here and there but I think it's all a matter of patience either way, first you have to get your bf down and that takes time. I compare it to a pregant lady, no seriously hear me out, when women get pregant there rectus abdominal(abs) wall get's strecth, so theyhave the baby and lose all the weight they gained because of being pregant but they still have a bigger stomach.

Same when it comes to guys, if you were fat before your stomach muscle have been strecthed, so do some croe exercises and strenghten your lower back and you should be fine

[~jAmeZ~]

Two ideas. One might be easy fixed. One can't be.

1. Genetics. Some people just have bulging internal organs. Doesn't matter how flat their stomach gets, some ppl still look slightly rounded.

2. Posture. Bad posture rounds your shoulders. Your chest falls down. Your gut pops out. Try holding yourself better and see what happens. I notice u have a fairly long neck too. This can encourage upper body slumping. It would be interesting to see what kind of curve u have in ur lower back..ur arm is in the way in that photo.

[sword-]

If it is posture, please help me out. I have a pic of my back here:

http://www.bodygain.com/imagegaller...mage=1097985343

and here...

http://www.bodygain.com/imagegaller...mage=1097985455

Hopefully that will help you out to determine if it is my posture.
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[tiny.t]

He mean a side view of ur back with ur arms raised so we can see the curve in ur spine.Its probably that i get it wen i dont hold my posture right, stomach vacuums will help aswell i geuss.

[~jAmeZ~]

Yes a side view. But not necessarily with ur arms raised. I'm just betting that if ur arm was moved slightly out of the way so we could see ur back in the original pic, ur lower back would curve inward sharply.

Postural problems can also come from lower down. It may even be a tilt in ur pelvis. Make an effort to stand up straight, with everything lined up (back, pelvis, shoulders etc). Use the mirror, see if u can flatten ur stomach by altering the way u stand.

[_BigJoe_]

Your problem might not have anything to do with your musculature. You might have an inflammation of your intestines with swelling. A couple of diseases that can cause this are Sprue, http://www.csaceliacs.org/celiac_defined.php,
and Crohns,
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/crohns/
, among others. A quick test to see if this could be the case is to look at your tongue. If there are indentations, scallops, on the side of the tongue then the tongue is swollen and most likely then so is the rest of the alimentary tract.

All of the true hardgainers that I have personally known have this problem. The inflammation reduces the ability of the intestines to absorb nutrients. This makes the hardgainer malnourished no matter what they eat.

Generally this is an autoimmune problem so things like antibiotics will not relieve the symptoms. There are drugs to help in autoimmune diseases but you really only want to take them if you are going to die. Experimentation with your diet to determine what is causing the irritation your body is responding to is the best way. But this is difficult when you are in the grips of the disease. If you have the indentations in your tongue I would recommend going to see a Chinese herbalist. There are a number of herbs and herb formulas that deal with this problem. They usually taste like crap but they do work.

[Migee]

I feel your pain.....I have the same thing. Even with visible abs, my stomach sticks out further than my chest. Well.....they're about the same

Yea... same here
Mine is from very bad posture, and yea I hate looking down and seeing my midsection stick out making me look fat, when Im skinny as hell.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ms-fit5.htm

might help. just found it today, im going to add it onto my ab work each week.

[$AJ]

to be honest i don't see anything to worry over with it.

[Migee]

ya it doesnt seem that bad, but thats prolly because im 10 times worse.

but hey, better now than later to fix it. it shouldnt be as hard.

[b0ngman]

puking seems to be a good excercise for that muscle

[KopyKat]

My guess is genetics, it shows that you might excel in lifting. A thick torso is perfect for lifting and it incorporates well into back movements. Lots of people have it and lots don't. It could be a sign of the roll someone in your family of ansestors played back in labour times.

If you insist on correcting it, you could try those stomach vaccuums, but the best bet is don't worry about it too much and get the chest to a thickness where it will be over the stomach point. That could change the illusion to your favor.

[Andrew69]

Distendend abs can be a sign of weak "inner" abs.
Exercises like vacuums, pikes and planks can help tighten them up.

[Tiger85]

It doesnt look so bad.
Infact, I bet most people here look exactly the same if they stand in a RELAXED posture. That makes the transvers abdominis muscle relax too and your belly sticks out and also the curve in your lower back increases.

I guess stomach vacuums and even better, a constant tension in the transvers muscles might help develop a better posture. Pilates is also known to work that area.

Also whenever you see someone without a shirt in a public situation (on the beach, bb show or w/e), they are most likely sucking their gut in to look better.

[sword_]

bump...just to see if anyone has updates on this.

[akmpres]

Same problem here. Probotics have helped