Too much lower ab muscles...

mcj · 09-05-2006, 08:33 AM

Hi Ladies...

Wondering if any of you have exeperienced this or have suggestions..

I do abs regularly..varying my routines from SB crunches to toe touchers, reverse crunces, weighted cable,etc.

In the last 6mo - a year I have developed very strong lower abs (below the belly button) I have a slight bump there now. It's not fat..it's solid but it sticks out...kind looks like I"m meaning to stick it out when I'm standing or something. I have a four pack noticable up top and I'm fine with that (I know that losing BF will make them show even more) BUT I'm not liking this lower "bump" so to speak.

I'm wondering if I need to chill out for a bit with any weighted stuff that involves those lower abs....

Do you think just some regular crunches, SB crunches, etc occasionally would be OK?

highwhey_14 · 09-05-2006, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcj

Hi Ladies...

Wondering if any of you have exeperienced this or have suggestions..

I do abs regularly..varying my routines from SB crunches to toe touchers, reverse crunces, weighted cable,etc.

In the last 6mo - a year I have developed very strong lower abs (below the belly button) I have a slight bump there now. It's not fat..it's solid but it sticks out...kind looks like I"m meaning to stick it out when I'm standing or something. I have a four pack noticable up top and I'm fine with that (I know that losing BF will make them show even more) BUT I'm not liking this lower "bump" so to speak.

I'm wondering if I need to chill out for a bit with any weighted stuff that involves those lower abs....

Do you think just some regular crunches, SB crunches, etc occasionally would be OK?

it could be a hernia...could be...not sure..I think they grow around your abdominal muscles...or maybe just an abdomin muscle you have developed.

mcj · 09-05-2006, 09:16 AM

No..I don't think it's a hernia...it's definitely muscle. I know what it is..just trying to diminish it a bit!

BiologyBabe · 09-05-2006, 09:20 AM

hmm, thats a first... weighted abdominal work will cause the muscle to become thicker, but if your is just beyond norm its likely your genetics... I would think it a positive thing. Good luck

Lucky K · 09-05-2006, 11:01 AM

If it makes you feel better, you aren't alone! I'm just working on losing the fat.

mcj · 09-05-2006, 11:02 AM

Well that is exactly what it is..thick. And I know about weighted exercises making it thick....basically what I'm saying is it is TOO thick. It's not really attractive...it almost looks like a "pouch" but can't really be called that b/c it's not excess fat/flab it's just muscle with my normaly bodyfat over it.

I would say my BF is around 16-18%. So when compared with the rest of my abs you see...4 pack with a little bodyfat over it then flat tummy BUT the flatness goes out a little once you get below the belly button. LOL..this is hard describe.

Maybe some of you will understand what I'm saying..

Mango · 09-05-2006, 11:25 AM

Honey, I do!! I understand, cause I have something similar, too. But maybe it is just us, because of our common eccentricity?? What is your ab routine like?? How many times a week??

I know your diet is in check!!

mcj · 09-05-2006, 11:42 AM

LOL! Thanks Tri...

Well, I used to do those weighted cable Ab crunches with 80-100lbs at least once a week, along with some basic SB crunches and then medicine ball oblique twists. I also for awhile did a lot of Lying on a bench reverse crunches (bring knees or chest or legs up in the air and back down..lying on a bench).

I didn't really notice this bump start to really get too bad until I started doing those 100lb weighted crunches. I also used to do a lot of reverse crunches and am now cutting those out too. I'm think those two exercises especially probably made it worse.

Do regular SB crunches work mostly the upper abs? I just want to keep that six pack showing and muscular but I don't want to touch those lower abs for now!

I've considered just doing very little abs for awhile...I don't seem to need much as I keep them tight during exercise..and I know that the way to make them show is through diet.

If I'm keeping a clean diet and doing a few basic non weighted exercises a couple times a week...do you think that will help?

Also..are those seated weighted machines working mostly the top abs? I feel like they do. The ones where you sit upright and hold the handles next to your head and CRUNCH!?!

Mango · 09-05-2006, 11:53 AM

Nooooooooooooooooo!! *jumps up and down* Nooooooooooooo to the seated weight machine bull!! Those things will rip your spine up and they seriously don't even work your abs!! I saw these fat pilots using them at the gym, and it was so hysterical. They had these big jellie bellies, and they were like, "Wow, I wish they had these in our captains chairs on the plane!", like I was gonna fall into their arms cause they were pilots. *hurls in a bucket*

Hmmm, that does sound like a lot of ab work, though. The thing is, you do a lot of compound movements, and those require that you encorporate your core to stabilize yourself. Also, with the cardio that you do, you do keep your abs nice and tight, because it benefits your running. Really, there isn't an incredible need to work your abs as much as any other muscle group. That being said, I do think the abs need to be worked, but perhaps you can try just once a week. The abs need to be stimulated and rested, just like any other muscle group!!

Stability ball crunches are fantastic, I think, but they hit different parts of the abs. This is just my opinion and experience, by the way, because yeah, I know, you can't separate the top abs from the bottom abs.

Then how did the two of us end up like this, eh?!

I think that it would help you to work your abs just once a week, and use one movement with weights and one without. But I wouldn't go crazy intense on that weighted ab movement, like, I really think abs do nicely on reps of about 20. 25 sucks for me, 15 sucks for me, but 20, it's a nice number.

Weighted or not. Do you do planks?? If you're holding your abs tight while you run, I suspect that movement is very similar to planks, but, I'm always keeping my planks in, no matter how much I b!tch about it at the end of a workout.

Geez, I sure talk a lot. Did I help?!

mcj · 09-05-2006, 12:23 PM

Yes! You did help!!

I talk a lot too...so no worries..

I do, do the planks as well. I think I'll strive for 1 day of abs a week...just doing some SB Crunches, Planks and something else..maybe some weighted oblique twists or something... and try and leave those lower abs alone!

marmadogg · 10-09-2007, 01:38 PM

Only workout your abs once a week.

Heavy squats and dead lifts are the best abdominal exercise.

Determined2lose · 10-09-2007, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcj

No..I don't think it's a hernia...it's definitely muscle. I know what it is..just trying to diminish it a bit!

trade me!!!!!! me me!!!

I have a pooch right at my belly button and lower. I can't seem to get rid of that. LOL i would love to have muscle there. LOL

breathingsky · 10-09-2007, 01:54 PM

Try stomach vacuums.

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

Determined2lose · 10-09-2007, 02:17 PM

I appreciate the link. I may be dumb here but how many would you do in a set if starting out?

breathingsky · 10-09-2007, 02:34 PM

Determined - sounds like your pooch is more from body fat, in which case lowering your BF% will help with that. The stomach vacuums are a good ab exercise for anyone, but particularly good for people who have the kind of muscle protrusion that the OP was asking about. If you're just starting out, maybe hold it for 30 seconds, 4 times? Only a suggestion. The good thing about them is that you can do them anywhere

Determined2lose · 10-09-2007, 03:27 PM

Agreed. I know I need to lower my BF %. I am trying. Trust me trying.

Not easy. I appreciate the help though.

eminva · 10-09-2007, 04:55 PM

I've been wanting to ask a similar question for a while! I lowered my body fat over the past year but upped my weight training and I've developed a solid lower tummy too. Almost like a teeny pregnancy bump. Rock hard, but not so cute. I've always had abs that build out, though, which is why I stopped going to Abs classes years ago. I'm going to try the vacuum!

(And I realize I need to lower my body fat, too, but this is definitely caused by muscle even if there is unnecesary fat over it.) Good luck to those with the same problem!

Determined2lose · 10-09-2007, 05:34 PM

That is exactly how I am....you can see it in my pics. But I will not pat myself on the back.. there is fat still to lose. But even the husband the other night said OMG when he touched my stomache.

MsFitFern · 10-09-2007, 07:22 PM

That sounds genetic. We all have strong areas that build up more than others. I always had thick obliques, even before I ever lifted. Gift, curse? I will NEVER have a tiny waist..bummer.

marmadogg · 10-19-2007, 02:57 PM

Quote:

The Britney Spears Syndrome

Think back to when you first saw Britney Spears. If you're like me, it was when she tied that Catholic schoolgirl shirt in a come-hither fashion and started shakin' her moneymaker to Baby One More Time. She was hot, young, and on her way to dominating the pop charts and dominating the fantasies of middle-aged guys around the globe.

Yep, she was perky up top, hard and protruding from behind, and rock hard in the middle. Let me translate that: she had firm boobies, a firm booty, and a slimly sculpted belly.

If you don't mind staring at the above pictures for a few seconds, I'd like you to pay close attention to her midsection. You'll notice that she had a very tiny waist.

Now the next part of this article can't be verified with complete accuracy, but it bears discussion. It can't be verified because it's about her training regimen, and I wasn't her trainer. Moreover, whoever trained her doesn't really matter either. Why? Because not all celebrities follow their trainer's advice with precision. If they did, there would be many more sexy, ripped female figures walking around Hollywood. So my point is this: her trainer probably has nothing to do with the next part of my discussion.

It's been reported that Britney got heavily involved in training when she started approaching the level of ?ber celebrity. That's good. What I've heard around the campfire is that Britney is driven and committed to whatever she puts her mind to. Much like her music career, she put a lot of effort into keeping her body in tip-top shape. (Keep in mind I'm not referring to the Britney of today).

Anyway, I started noticing around 2003 that her physique was really changing. It was evident that she was indeed training, and doing a lot of it. But I could see a transformation taking place that I've seen so many times in the past with females. This metamorphosis that I'm referring to was happening directly in her midsection.

Sometime around late 2003 I saw an interview with her sister and, to paraphrase, she said that Britney did something like 1000 crunches every day. Now, as I said, I don't know if that's true but I can tell you that it sure looked like it. It appeared that Britney spent a lot of time doing crunches, side bends and the like.

What's the big deal, you say? The big deal is this: a ton of direct ab work is bad, bad news for a female who's trying to keep a slim midsection. Here's a picture that demonstrates my point.

There are two things that should be noted about the above picture. First, she's not any fatter than she was in the first pictures. In fact, her abs show more definition. Second, and most importantly, she lost virtually all of the hourglass shape that her younger figure exhibited. She's still carrying very little body fat in this picture, but her waist is much larger than it was early in her career. And I'd be willing to bet a years salary that she wasn't trying to make her midsection any thicker and wider than it was in the first pictures. But she sure did make it bigger.

When I consult females who've been training and want me to take them to the next level, I've seen overdeveloped abs and obliques so many times that I've lost count. In fact, I've seen the disorder so many times that I had to give it a name. I call the female disorder that's caused by excessive core training The Britney Spears Syndrome.

Females typically perform too much direct ab and oblique work! They've fallen victim to the old theory of spot reduction ? the idea that working a body part more will result in less fat around that area. My position is that spot reduction probably doesn't happen, and even if it does happen, it doesn't matter in the case of Britney. Why? Because any possible loss of body fat around her midsection from doing a zillion crunches and side bends every day will be overshadowed by the increased girth of her core muscles from training with such a high volume and frequency.

In fact, that's exactly what my High Frequency Training (HFT) philosophy is based on: the more you train a muscle, the bigger it will get. The paradox is that she used a type of HFT plan to make her core muscles smaller, while I preach that HFT is the ultimate way to make your muscles bigger.

But this issue doesn't end with the above thicker-waist-picture. One of the biggest challenges that a trainer like me faces is when a client inevitably falls off the wagon of fitness and nutrition. A good trainer will keep a celebrity client leaner than she needs to be in order to establish a "buffer zone." If a female client of mine thinks she looks best with 16% body fat, I'll keep her at 15%. That's because with even the most diligent clients, their training and nutrition will waver during vacations, holidays, break-ups, etc.

Now back to Britney. If you're one who thinks she doesn't look too bad with the thicker-waist-but-still-lean-physique, then you should think about the buffer zone. Sure, she might not look all that bad with a thicker waist when she's still lean, but guess what happens when she puts on a little extra fat? You get this:

Now we've got a problem. All of that extra muscle that she added to her midsection from endless crunches and side bends is now covered with a little extra body fat. What do you get? You get a midsection that's anything but alluring. Had she refrained from a plethora of ab and oblique work, she wouldn't be sporting that barrel midsection in the "gladiator" picture.

If you still like the idea of doing endless crunches and side bends to keep your waist svelte and sexy, then I encourage you to look at this comparison.

Britney Thin Britney Thick

And this, my bra-wearing buddies, is the first thing that I'm here to eradicate. I've got a healthy dose of medicine to cure The Britney Spears Syndrome.

You might be wondering why I spent so much time talking about direct ab work. After all, the answer seems rather simple: just perform less ab work and you won't bulk up your midsection, right? That's true, but the purpose of mentioning Britney Spears and her thick midsection is to further demonstrate that women can build too much muscle, and screw up their proportions, if they're not careful.

This isn't just limited to the midsection. I've also seen it happen in women's thighs, calves, traps, and virtually any other body part.

So I'm also going to show you how to organize your training and eating plans in order to develop the slim, sexy, firm physique that maintains the feminine, athletic look. What separates the following information from everything else you've read is my training experience with this issue, and my understanding of physiology.

http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1305014

nofxneeded · 10-21-2007, 02:49 AM

great article marmadog. I think it might have converted me to wanting that 'type' of body instead of bb!!

eminva · 10-21-2007, 09:54 AM

Cool article. I've been hunting all over for info and that article confirmed a lot of my conclusions. I'm going to incorporate some of the advice into my current plan.

marmadogg · 10-22-2007, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nofxneeded

great article marmadog. I think it might have converted me to wanting that 'type' of body instead of bb!!

You obviously missed the point of the article.

The author currently trains numerous 1st place figure competitors.

At 5'1" and 100lbs you are far from a bb.

Go to the link and read the entire article.

You will obviously learn something as you did not read and comprehend the information in the excerpt I quoted.