Tummy Skin???

[tkolady77]

Hi ladies!

I've just posed a "fitness challenge" for a group of friends of mine who all have 1 year old babies. Well, several of the group have the extra skin on the tummy. Not necessarily fat, but the stretched out pouch of skin just hanging from the tummy.

Do any of you have any hints/tricks/tips that will help that area? I know they all just want to spot reduce w/ crunches, and they've done that forever, and since you can't spot reduce, I know that's not going to work.

I would like to give helpful advice, but don't really know what one should do for that. I have a little loose skin that will hang down if I bend over, but some of my friends have quite a bit, and I would like to help them out.

Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[AlwaysSucceed]

Oh gosh!! Mine is five and I still battle it. The more I exercise and eat clean the better it does get. I don't know if that one little part will ever go away! You can't see it on me unless I bend over, so hubby knows it is there but that is all. We are our own critics! I do a lot of lower abs and watch what I eat. Also any oblique exercises help a ton. Very few women do these. They will crunch all day long!

[txssweetie]

Originally Posted by AlwaysSucceed

Oh gosh!! Mine is five and I still battle it. The more I exercise and eat clean the better it does get. I don't know if that one little part will ever go away! You can't see it on me unless I bend over, so hubby knows it is there but that is all. We are our own critics! I do a lot of lower abs and watch what I eat. Also any oblique exercises help a ton. Very few women do these. They will crunch all day long!

You posted the oblique exercise advice on another thread as well. I suffer GREATLY from carrying excess fat on my hips (love handle area) and even though I'm reducing fat all over my body, it seems like no matter how much fat I lose, my hips still sort of look unproportional to the rest of my body. I almost wish I had boy hips bc I'm so sick of these damn "love" handles!
So my question is, do these oblique exercises actually help to trim down the hips, even though there is no such thing as spot reducing? Thanks!

[terracotta]

There is no such thing as spot reducing. Some people do no direct oblique work so as to not thicken the waist.

[AlwaysSucceed]

Originally Posted by txssweetie

You posted the oblique exercise advice on another thread as well. I suffer GREATLY from carrying excess fat on my hips (love handle area) and even though I'm reducing fat all over my body, it seems like no matter how much fat I lose, my hips still sort of look unproportional to the rest of my body. I almost wish I had boy hips bc I'm so sick of these damn "love" handles!
So my question is, do these oblique exercises actually help to trim down the hips, even though there is no such thing as spot reducing? Thanks!

No, obliques do not spot reduce and won't trim the hips, or waiste. For me personally it just tightened me up a bit! I have heard it can thicken your waiste, but I still like to work them anyway. I have thicker thighs and butt and the only way I can get it smaller is to eat clean and loose that extra bodyfat. I am still working on it myself, so I don't have all the answers just yet!

[Rachel_n_SD]

Originally Posted by terracotta

There is no such thing as spot reducing. Some people do no direct oblique work so as to not thicken the waist.

i agree. for awhile, lowering my bodyfat did help the excess baby skin on my stomach (of which there was alot, my son weighed almost 11 lbs!)

initially my stomach looked like a deflated balloon, and that decreased dramatically over the years.

now that my bodyfat is pretty low, i notice that the skin doesnt tighten up anymore, actually the lower my BF %gets, the looser the skin seems to get. so right now my stomach appears to have wrinkles, and a little flap of skin at the bottom, which go away if my stomach gets bloated after a cheat or during my period. it looks really weird because you can see the cuts and definition in my abs under this weird wrinkly skin.

i plan to get a tummy tuck after i have another kid, i think thats the only complete solution, (sigh)

[tkolady77]

Thanks!

That was really great information, and exactly what I was looking for. So basically, the loose skin will decrease over the years, but possibly only to a certain extent. And then at that point, I'm assuming that no level of diet or exercise will be able to do anything for it, without doing something as drastic as surgery. That is interesting, and something that people probably don't think about (that the lower the bf%, the more loose the skin on the tummy will look). Hmm, great food for thought! I appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Rachel_n_SD

i agree. for awhile, lowering my bodyfat did help the excess baby skin on my stomach (of which there was alot, my son weighed almost 11 lbs!)

initially my stomach looked like a deflated balloon, and that decreased dramatically over the years.

now that my bodyfat is pretty low, i notice that the skin doesnt tighten up anymore, actually the lower my BF %gets, the looser the skin seems to get. so right now my stomach appears to have wrinkles, and a little flap of skin at the bottom, which go away if my stomach gets bloated after a cheat or during my period. it looks really weird because you can see the cuts and definition in my abs under this weird wrinkly skin.

i plan to get a tummy tuck after i have another kid, i think thats the only complete solution, (sigh)

[the_invince]

you need not go as drastic as surgery, there is an injection you can get to tighten up loose skin, they give it to fat people who lose a lot weight through surgery. also, it is possible to tighten up the loose skin caused by pregnancy or dramatic weight loss, without surgery or injections, but through lifting and cardio.

[Rachel_n_SD]

Originally Posted by the_invince

you need not go as drastic as surgery, there is an injection you can get to tighten up loose skin, they give it to fat people who lose a lot weight through surgery. also, it is possible to tighten up the loose skin caused by pregnancy or dramatic weight loss, without surgery or injections, but through lifting and cardio.

what injection is that?
i have been lifting and doing cardio for 4 years. im at the point right now where im pretty lean and trying to get really lean. (see my sig-8lbs away from my goal)

so, im pretty sure that in terms of training, there is nothing further i can do, aside from that, if you read the previous post of mine, as my BF gets lower my skin is actually becoming looser.

i think the original poster's question was for someone who is at or below their ideal weight, what can you do?

if you have any links or information on it, that would be much appreciated.

[panthera]

Originally Posted by Rachel_n_SD

i agree. for awhile, lowering my bodyfat did help the excess baby skin on my stomach (of which there was alot, my son weighed almost 11 lbs!)

initially my stomach looked like a deflated balloon, and that decreased dramatically over the years.

now that my bodyfat is pretty low, i notice that the skin doesnt tighten up anymore, actually the lower my BF %gets, the looser the skin seems to get. so right now my stomach appears to have wrinkles, and a little flap of skin at the bottom, which go away if my stomach gets bloated after a cheat or during my period. it looks really weird because you can see the cuts and definition in my abs under this weird wrinkly skin.

i plan to get a tummy tuck after i have another kid, i think thats the only complete solution, (sigh)

ditto. i have 3 children. they are 6, 7 & 8. when i have 5 extra #s on me...the tummy skin doesn't look so saggy. (it just looks chubby)

if i drop my BF... the skin sags even more. wrinkles a tiny bit. it's okay standing...but i don't like to bend over naked.

great question!!!