No matter how slim still a 'tummy bulge'?

Spirogyra

Hi not sure if this is the right place, but saw a photo recently. I'm quite slim , very fit, very slim even, yet there is a still a bulge in my abdomen. Do others find this as well, anyone ?.

Airyfairy12

You can do AB workouts to get rid of the bulge. If you exercise you need to tailor it for your needs, you dont want to lose weight you want to tone up, so instead of running or walking you'd do muscle building exercises like squats or pushups. For your abs you would do stomach crunches.

Slim doesnt always mean fit, you can be skinny and not fit.

Dtp1979

Airyfairy12 wrote: »

You can do AB workouts to get rid of the bulge. If you exercise you need to tailor it for your needs, you dont want to lose weight you want to tone up, so instead of running or walking you'd do muscle building exercises like squats or pushups. For your abs you would do stomach crunches.

Slim doesnt always mean fit, you can be skinny and not fit.

No you can't spot reduce a certain area by working on it. Sit-ups etc won't give be you a smaller tummy

Airyfairy12

Dtp1979 wrote: »

No you can't spot reduce a certain area by working on it. Sit-ups etc won't give be you a smaller tummy

It builds muscle in that area which tones your body

Peregrinus

Dtp1979 wrote: »

No you can't spot reduce a certain area by working on it. Sit-ups etc won't give be you a smaller tummy

You can't spot-reduce fat by localised exercise. But you can alter musculature, and to the extent that the tummy-bulge is the result of abdominal muscles which are slacker than they might be, targetted exercises can produce a somewhat flatter stomach.

Of course, we don't know whether the OP's tummy-bulge is due to slack muscles or to some other cause, e.g. posture (or indeed to a combination of factors). But if she's dissatisfied with the current shape of her stomach, it's worth trying abdominal exercises to see if they produce any change.

Airyfairy12

Peregrinus wrote: »

You can't spot-reduce fat by localised exercise. But you can alter musculature, and to the extent that the tummy-bulge is the result of abdominal muscles which are slacker than they might be, targetted exercises can produce a somewhat flatter stomach.

Of course, we don't know whether the OP's tummy-bulge is due to slack muscles or to some other cause, e.g. posture (or indeed to a combination of factors). But if she's dissatisfied with the current shape of her stomach, it's worth trying abdominal exercises to see if they produce any change.

I didnt mention 'spot-reduce fat' a previous poster did. I suggested the OP tailor her exercises to tone and build muscle rather than lose weight as she said she's already thin. Of course others factors should be taken into consideration. Diet can also play apart and where her body naturally stores fat.

Dtp1979

Airyfairy12 wrote: »

Diet can also play apart and where her body naturally stores fat.

Out of curiosity, how does diet dictate where fat is stored on the human body?

Peregrinus

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Out of curiosity, how does diet dictate where fat is stored on the human body?

It doesn't. I think Airyfairy is offering those as two separate matters which will be at work here in influencing the OP's body shape.

Alf Veedersane

If it's fat, then ab exercises won't help. They may if help tighten the muscle but the muscles are unlikely to be slack enough to make it look like a bulge.

It could just be poor posture and/or pevic tilt, making it look like a bulge rather than being one.

Nervous Wreck

Slack muscles causing a tummy bulge....?

OP, as advised, exercising your abs won't help; it's all in the diet. That said, exercising is never a bad idea (barring medical exceptions etc.) so do it anyway!

Day Lewin

If you are slim and your stomach bulges out a bit, it may be that this is just your natural shape. Everyone is different, even your two hands and feet are different. Tummies flat as planks are actually rare enough except in very fit and slender young people.

OP, I don't know if you are a Him or a Her, (or whatever else) but women often store gentle curves of subcutaneaous fat all over them - those dead-flat abs are rather a male thing in my opinion. Love your body the way it is!

Peregrinus

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

Slack muscles causing a tummy bulge....?

OP, as advised, exercising your abs won't help; it's all in the diet. That said, exercising is never a bad idea (barring medical exceptions etc.) so do it anyway!

No, exercise can help, at least to a limited degree.

The BBC reported on a study a while back in which four different groups were given different diet and/or exercise regimes, with a view to measuring the relative effects of each on a number of metrics, including waistline. All four groups carried abdominal fat which gave them waist sizes that put them in the danger zone for type-2 diabetes and heart disease. The results, in summary:

Group 1: Told to eat normally, but make simple lifestyle changes which would increase their step count (which was monitored through pedometers).

Result: Lost no body fat and experienced no change in waistline, but improved blood pressure and in some cases blood glucose.

Group 2: Told to eat normally, but do a prescribed set of exercises (sit ups and stomach crunches) three times every second day for the period of the study.

Result: Lost no weight and didn't improve other indicators of health. But there was an average 2cm reduction in waistlines.

The explanation for this was that it was due to improved core strength, and the muscles in the abdomen just holding their fat better - a bit like a muscle version of body-shaping underwear. It has no health benefits in terms of heart disease, diabetes, etc, though a strong core does help to protect against lower back pain and improves posture.

Group 3: Told to drink a litre of fresh milk every day.

Result: No change in weight, health or waistline. Although the milk obviously involves consuming extra calories which, all other things being equal, would lead to weight (and waistline) gain, this didn't happen. The inference is that, although not told to reduce their other calorie intake, the subjects did so spontaneously anyway.

Group 4: Told to reduce portion sizes (and given simple techniques for doing so) and to cut out snacks between meals.

Result: The clear winners. Lost an average 3.7kg over six weeks, and reduced body fat by 5%, visceral fat (which affects waistline) by 14%. Reduced waistlines by an average 5cm.

If you're focussing just on waistline, the optimal strategy would seem to be to pursue both a limited calorie intake, and an abdominal exercise regime. Of the two, though, the limited calorie intake is much the more important, and offers wider health benefits. But for someone whose calorie intake is already at a healthy level and who doesn't have excess body fat but who nevertheless has a "tummy bulge" and is unhappy about that for cosmetic reasons, abdominal exercises may offer some benefit.

Day Lewin

@Peregrinus - how extremely interesting. Much genuinely useful information there. Thank you for posting!

Twee.

Cut the carbs! I've been working with a personal trainer and he just keeps telling us "abs are made in the kitchen"! When I started to seriously look at my diet, that's when I noticed the biggest difference in the tummy area.

Dtp1979

Twee. wrote: »

Cut the carbs! I've been working with a personal trainer and he just keeps telling us "abs are made in the kitchen"! When I started to seriously look at my diet, that's when I noticed the biggest difference in the tummy area.

Calories make the difference. Not carbs. There's nothing wrong with carbs

Spirogyra

On inspection, there probably is just a little fat, it probably is fat, not sure, it's fleshy ...but it's very hard to be 'perfect'...I'm extremely fit, club runner to a good standard...training for Dublin marathon, you need nutrition, not easy...

Jurgen Klopp

Is it true if you have tummy fat and do sit ups and that for abs but no cardio you could end up looking fatter as the built up abs would push out the fat?

frozenfrozen

could it be anterior pelvic tilt? (/posture pushing out your belly?)

Spirogyra

frozenfrozen wrote: »

could it be anterior pelvic tilt? (/posture pushing out your belly?)

Actually I'd say this is highly likely 'FrozenFrozen' I recognise 'myself' when I googled it..I know that's dangerous, self diagnosing, but I'd say there's a high chance....

manonboard

OP. If you have a slim figure, and its not fat, and your posture looks like an ATP. Then it's highly likely thats the case.

Its perfectly ok to self diagnose something like that. Its not a medical issue. Its an EXTREMELY common dysfunction. Tight quads, hip flexors, and weak antagonist muscles in comparison, resulting in it.

If you want to send me a link to a picture from the side view, I can have a look. I am qualified as a sports massage therapist, though if you want to do it yourself, thats ok.
Take a pic, have a look at it , see if your legs are leaning forward so your knees and hips are forward beyond your ankles. Check to see if you are then leaning back to compensate, and check if your head is leaning forward to compensate for that part.

If so, its extremely common and does indeed give a tummy bulge.

If i may suggest a really good muscle to look into, besides massaging to release those tight muscles i listed. Look into the Tranverse Abdominus.
It's main function is to hold your core to help align your spine and allow energy transference from upper/lower slings. It also is very weak on most people, and it has the added benefit of keep all your core night and tight on command.
If i may suggest practice holding this muscle when walking. It becomes normal after a few weeks. If you suck in your belly using the muscle (not sucking in air, just hold in your belly using the muscle), whilst walking, it will strengthen all around your core and gives a great flatness to your belly. It will also have your core move backwards and straighten out the leg forward leaning posture.

Anyways, hope that helps.

Spirogyra

There probably is a little fat, but only a little and it's hard to be 'perfect'...thanks manonboard

Spirogyra

Was with my GP yesterday for an injection (into my abdomen) and she said that it was difficult for her to do because I've very little stomach fat. But there's still a tendency to bulge. I'm trying to 'pull' in my stomach sometimes when I walk. Will try to do exercises which help muscles in that area.

Loon E. Tick

Spirogyra wrote: »

Was with my GP yesterday for an injection (into my abdomen) and she said that it was difficult for her to do because I've very little stomach fat. But there's still a tendency to bulge. I'm trying to 'pull' in my stomach sometimes when I walk. Will try to do exercises which help muscles in that area.

How is your protein intake? I found since going on a high protein diet my muscles firmed up pretty quickly including stomach and that's without doing any type of resistance exercise. I found by doing weights my muscles just started bulking up too much even though I wouldn't have overdone it but increasing protein and a general all round balanced diet (I'm vegetarian) did make a difference.

mdwexford

Loon E. Tick wrote: »

How is your protein intake? I found since going on a high protein diet my muscles firmed up pretty quickly including stomach and that's without doing any type of resistance exercise. I found by doing weights my muscles just started bulking up too much even though I wouldn't have overdone it but increasing protein and a general all round balanced diet (I'm vegetarian) did make a difference.

lol there's no way this is true.

Some load of tripe being posted in this thread.

Adini

Spirogyra wrote: »

Was with my GP yesterday for an injection (into my abdomen) and she said that it was difficult for her to do because I've very little stomach fat. But there's still a tendency to bulge. I'm trying to 'pull' in my stomach sometimes when I walk. Will try to do exercises which help muscles in that area.

Are you sure you aren't bloated? I have always been very slim with a protruding tummy. I spent a very long time thinking it was stubborn fat/weak core muscles/bad posture. Turns out it was none of the above - it was my digestive system. I'd unknowingly had issues with absorption of certain foods pretty much my entire life (which can lead to retaining a lot of fluid and gas in your lower intestines, hence the bulge)