Lower Abs issue!
I am a 45 yo female, slender (120 lbs, 5’ 4”) with good muscle tone, however, I’d like to lose the fat that’s on my lower abs. This is not really noticeable to others but I can pinch quite a bit (I’ve always seemed to carry weight in the stomach). I have an extremely good diet and workout regimen (lift heavy and incorporate cardio – definitely don’t go overboard on cardio because I will lose weight fast in other areas). *The issue is, If I were to drop the weight a bit, I would lose some of the belly fat, BUT I sacrifice the arm/shoulder muscle which I work very hard for (upper body is more important to me than abs; I’m not looking for a 6 pack, just a bit more definition in lower abs). I’m not a candidate for Cool Sculpting because not enough fat (and liposuction would be too costly). Wondering if any other female has experienced this and what they did about it. Thanks!
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I am a man...so may not apply for you...but for me, I had a pronounced anterior pelvic tilt for many years. It’s taken me the past 3 yrs to correct it. This postural problem can create the illusion that you have a belly or fat in this area.
In correcting the APT, my lower abs have gotten stronger and the area is flat.
You could work on the elasticity of your skin using a cream that helps to drain off excess fluids.
There are many marine plant based creams that really work if there is really constancy with diet and cardio.
Control your diet and maybe lower your carbohydrates a bit more, increasing your proteins, drinking a lot of water.
Then finish the job with the workouts, to restore tone to the abdomen.
Interesting, usually men have stubborn fat on the lower abs while women tend to have stubborn fat on the hips and thighs. Yohimbine specifically targets the stubborn fat cells as they have different receptors compared to normal fat. Helios, a combo of clen and yohimbine is much more powerful than yohimbine alone if your having a serious problem.
it's not serious. no one would ever notice but I do of course. If drop the bodyfat more it'll def get more defined but then I lose the volume in the arms/shoulders. I can look into those you mentioned.
basskiller89You have to lose fat unless you are on peptides it may help you lol??
Law of diminishing returns, you're all over this forum giving out shit advice. Maybe tone it down a bit and learn a few things..
When I was on beach prep last year. I did my workouts plus a targeted steady state cardio for roughly 30-45 minutes a day to keep the heart rate and body temp up. I could see the veins in my pelvic region after 2 months of doing this5x aweek.
I would recommend getting active metabolic assessment completed before guessing at your heart rate zones though. Easy way to tell if you're in the right zone - feel your lower tummy after about 6-8 ,minutes, it should get kinda cool to the touch, keep at that pace for 30 minutes and keep me updated in 2 months!
since the beginning of nice weather, kicked up the cardio a bit more and that def helped with the lower stomach some; i'm at a happy medium - don't want to get too lean since I sacrifice muscle.
r4zor_reloadedEdit: realized i was responding to an old thread.
I'm surprised no one had mentioned clen. Sounds like it would have been ideal for her situation.
At 120 I'd be hesitant to diet down as you will look really small! Might be better to keep a lil belly fat!
exactly....that's where I'm at with this - may have to just keep the little bit of fat.
Lyle Mcdonald’s recipe is hardcore but it works. I tried this during this summer with moderate dose Var (20 mg for 8 weeks) I’vent lost any muscle on the contrary I’ve added a little bit mass to my tri and delts.
He recommends of 200mg caffeine, 0.2mg yohimbine hcl per kg of bodyweight, and 1-3g l-tyrosine.
I did take 400mg caffeine (I’m black coffee junkie low doses does nothing to me), 15mg hcl, and 3g l-tyrosine in the middle of my working sets then I did 20 minutes of steady state moderate intensity cardio.
I'll take a look into that. thanks!
I noticed from another thread ur diet is a slight cal surplus. Do u use a fitness band to get a more accurate figure on ur TDEE? What u think is a slight surplus might be more than u figured.. I fight this same area also and about to buy myself one just to fine tune my diet. I read where one of these vets said it was a real "game changer"... good luck
I am going to buy a fitness band for sure. That's true -even a slight surplus can be more than what my body actually needs. thanks!
When your dieting its extremely important to keep the protein high. If you dont have a constant supply your body will burn muscle before the fat. Our bodies are wired to hang on to fat to get us through the lean times. It enabled us to survive during ancient times but know its our enemy. I recommend immediately taking a scoop of whey on rising. That's before breakfast. Casein before bed. Personally I mix a scoop when I wake up to urinate at night. Rising and middle of the night are the only time I take a protein supplement. My body requires 1.5 grams per lb not the standard 1. Try that while restricting calories and see what happens. Being a lighter female you probably woulnt need 1.5. May help, may not but worth a shot. Goodluck
thanks for the reply. My protein is high as is, but maybe I can change it around some - trying the casein before bed (ugh, I'll be up in the night for sure!). Thanks!
Unfortunately you can't spot reduce fat with exercise. Endless ab exercises will still not reduce just your lower ab fat. Once again circles back around to diet and cals in vs cals out. Going to have to up the cardio and/or reduce the cals. No way around that.
I agree and keep the protein on the high side.
Only thing is upping cardio/reducing cals will definitely make me lose upper body since I tried before and it did worked for the abs. I'll figure it out somehow! thanks!
Going to have to manipulate carbs then. What are your current macro ratios and how close are your calories to your TDEE?
approx. TDEE is about 2,035 calories with 30(carbs)/35(fat)/35(protein) - I started tracking again so I'll make necessary changes where needed. I definitely have no problem eating between 1900-2200 calories/day.
While I respect your judgement more than any other on these boards Mak, I am gonna have to disagree with you on that.
Admittedly cardio and diet combined is the answer to burning fat in general, In my experience target exercises can and will help to burn fat in that targeted area, the results are nothing dramatic, but it does help especially if its stubborn fat , fat that is unique to that persons frame in a certain area i.e. lower belly or love handles for example. ''genetic fat if you will''
Sorry but I don't respect your judgement as your completely wrong. You can not spot reduce.
https://bayesianbodybuilding.com/science-spot-reduction-myth/
''The local fat oxidation appears to be the result of the increased temperature and blood flow near the exercised tissue. This may increase the delivery of fat burning hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine. Myokines released by the active muscle, like IL-6, may also increase fat oxidation rates in nearby fat tissue.''
1.Thts just common since ^^ of course exercised tissue increases temperature which in turn burns more fat.
2. I know from experience spot reduction works.
but go ahead take some more karma my friend.
You forgot something, it says MAY increase fat burning not DOES. MAY is short for MAYBE. I just bought a scratch ticket and I MAY be a millionaire. If spot reduction worked, you wouldn't have liposuction or fat freezing.
X2
Rodger that no guarantees in life.
+2
first advise would be to visit the ladies forum.
Second would be, flutter kicks, lay on your back do not place your hands under your butt, place both hands on the upper part of your stomach, raise your head a little not all the way, to much and it will target your upper abs more and the lower less. then commence with the flutter kicks holding your feet close together, kicking six inches up an down. I am sure you can google a flutter kicks video, though make sure you hold your hands on your belly , not under your butt. good luck
I can certainly try this... thanks!