Abnormal Ab Help...

[ZenRCade]

Sorry if some of this seems vague or weird. A lot of it is hard to put into exact words and would do better with picture examples, but here goes…

I’ve gone through a number of bodily changes throughout the past few years. In high school I was a wrestler and then a lightweight power lifter. When I moved away to college I kept lifting and gained a little extra padding through bad eating habits. About a year ago, I decided to thin out some and started running more, lifting more for toning, and eating less and better. I’ve lost about 10 pounds in the past year, most of it fat, some of it probably muscle. However, one place I’m still not totally pleased with is my stomach.

Thing is, I’ve never had a problem getting a six pack… especially when I was doing pilates, there was plenty of definition to my abs. The problem is that, now, my abs seem to protrude some. Not ridiculously, but they look similar to little rows of pecs, especially when flexed, and seem to stick out as far as my chest. Actually, that’s not totally true… if you divide my stomach into three rows, the top row sticks out the most, the middle the least, and the bottom seems to pooch a little. That area is bigger but hard, not soft, and not very defined, so I’m assuming it’s my diaphragm.

I’ve stopped doing ab exercises altogether and stuck to just holding in my stomach as often as I can remember. I’ve seen slight reduction in size, but not enough for me.

Why: I’m not very tall in the first place, and even for my height, I think I’ve got a somewhat short torso. I do what I can to avoid that look, but you can only wear your pants so low. I think a thinner torso (viewed from a profile) would help remedy this, and I’m about as lean as I can get (138 lbs), so I can only imagine that this protrusion is still muscle-related. So, a few questions…

Is there any specific exercise I can do that will somehow tone my ab muscles without encouraging growth in size? I tried doing more reps, or a more “flattening” exercise, but they just led to boxier, bigger abs. If no exercise, would avoiding working them out for a while allow them to deteriorate, thus losing mass? Is running about five days a week perhaps keeping them from “shrinking” like I want?

I’d like to just flatten and shrink the landscape of my stomach out, and if it’s possible, even out the sizes of the three “rows.” Any tips, experiences, or other help is much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Aeoleon]

If you're using any weight when doing upper ab exercises, stop. Go for lots of reps to tone the top section, that should flatten it out. Also, be sure to work the transversus abdominus. It's the inner abdominal muscle, and it crucial if you want your abs to look balanced and flat.
When I work my abs, I do 2 or 3 lower ab exercises on the ground, and then 1 on my swiss ball. Then I do 2 or 3 oblique exercises on the ground, and 1 on the swiss ball. Then 2 or 3 upper ab exercises on the ground, 1 on the ball. All of this with about 10-20 seconds of rest in between each exercise. Then, to finish the workout, I'll do 3 transversus abdominus exercises, 1 of them on a swiss ball (the jackknife). Thats about all the help I can give you. And remember, don't neglect the transversus abdominus, this is some peoples' biggest mistake.

 

[ZenRCade]

It's the inner abdominal muscle, and it crucial if you want your abs to look balanced and flat. Then, to finish the workout, I'll do 3 transversus abdominus exercises, 1 of them on a swiss ball (the jackknife). Thats about all the help I can give you. And remember, don't neglect the transversus abdominus, this is some peoples' biggest mistake.

Thanks for replying. I'm not sure if it's exactly what I'm looking for, but I'm willing to give it a try. Where could I find information on the best transversus abdominus exercises? Or can you describe any of them to me? Thanks again.

 

[Aeoleon]

I get lots of great ab exercises from Men's health magazine.
But if I were you, I'd start by going to amazon.com and searching for 'Essential Abs' written by/edited by a writer/editor of men's health. This was my first Ab book, and probably my best one. Also "ABsolution" is another good book.

One described in this month's MH mag: (For Trans. Ab.)
1) Get into pushup position, feet together, body straight
2) Simultaneously lift your left arm and your right leg, and hold them up and reach out with them. Hold for 3-5 seconds. Repeat on other side.

And then theres this 1 exercise I do, where I lay down on a yoga mat, bend at my knees like i'm doing a flat foot crunch, and put my hands on my stomache. I take a breathe, and then fully exhale it, and suck in my gut as far as I can and hold it for a few seconds. Release, take a couple of breathes, and repeat.

For the jackknife, you need a swissball. Essentially, you're in pushup position with your shins on the swissball. Roll the swissball inwards toward your body by pulling your knees to your chest, and then do the reverse motion. Do 6-10 reps+

 

[Sub-Zero]

this might not help, but if your ugly like me, getting nice abs wont make a difference with the ladies

 

[casualbb]

You can't really change the shape of your abs, just make them bigger or smaller. At 138 you sound kinda thin. Maybe if you put on some muscle everywhere else your abs wouldn't seem to stick out as much.