ab question???

[want2bskinny 10]

Hello! Does anyone do ab exercises? Do they work? Would they work for getting rid of the flabby skin around the middle after I lose the weight? I have lost 26lbs so far and I am worried about the extra skin around my middle after I lose all the weight I want to. Would doing ab exercises now help with that later on? Any advice for getting started and what to do? I already do 37 min on bike 5 days a week and I also do a weight work out 3 days a week so I have the cardio part on the go. Any advice or help will be welcome.

[Jennifer M 0]

I train my abs the same way I train all my other muscle groups - with resistance, on non-consecutive days, and as close to failure as I can get.

(Truthfully, this ends up being 2 to 3 times per week, doing one or two exercises, for 2 sets EACH of 15-25 reps - all of which takes about 5 minutes).

 

The key is to USE RESISTANCE. If you're doing 50 crunches and feel like you can do more when you finish, well, you're not exhausting your ab muscles. It's better to hold a dumbbell on your chest and do 15-25 reps, and, if you choose the right weight, by the last one you're feeling like you just...can't...do...one...more.

 

 

That's it. Two exercises (like, crunches with a dumbbell, and then leg lifts with a medicine ball between your knees), done to failure for two sets, twice a week. IF (and it's a big IF) you are CONSISTENT, you WILL get stronger abs. However, you won't get LEANER abs until you lose the fat covering them up.

 

As for the loose skin issue...it may take some time for your skin to adjust to the new you. This is another reason why gradual weight loss is better - it gives your body time to adjust in all sorts of ways. However, as we get older, our skin tends to lose its elasticity. So it may take longer to rebound. (I know that, in extreme cases, people sometimes opt for surgery to eliminate unwieldly folds of loose skin....)

 

For now, concentrate on losing the weight the right way, as well as exercising (and weight training to build/preserve lean tissue), and when you get close to goal, you can revisit the loose skin, if it's still an issue.

 

 

- Jennifer