WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO LOSE BELLY FAT

1/ Tired of my abominable abs,

I turned to the lab doctors to help me sort things out.

Here's what you need to know to eliminate excuses for abs

2/ How to lose belly fat

The first time this happened, I was in my twenties, and I was riding in a crowded Paris metro car on my way to work. I was wearing a fitted T-shirt dress, a dress that, for reasons that will soon become horribly clear, I later used to scrub the litter box in and then threw away.

The woman sitting in front of me met my gaze and smiled. Then she stood up. I smiled back and stepped to the side so she could head toward the door. She stood right next to me.

“Would you like to sit down?” she asked gently. “I remember how tired I was during my pregnancy. It seems like you’re in your second trimester; it’s getting easier.”

If I had been pregnant, her act of generosity probably would have sent me into early labor, right there on the F train. But I wasn't.

But I wasn't. (Still, I took the seat)

Every now and then I'm still offered a seat on the train, thanks to a belly that always seems to enter a room a split second before the rest of me.

3/ Stomach problems

Every woman has her own hang-ups about a body flaw, but flabby abs seem to be a universal sore spot. In a recent FITNESS poll, they topped the list of problem areas women wanted to see fixed.

Not only has my apple-shaped waistline been a preoccupation of mine since I was a preteen, it's also been the subject of articles I've written (like this one) and hundreds of attempts on my part to accept and/or flatten it. It wasn't until I had twins that I resigned myself to the fact that my belly was jelly for good.

So when my editor at FITNESS read on my blog that I thought my abs were definitely "stretched" and had ditched the ab DVDs she gave me, she asked if I wanted to take a more scientific approach.

I thought, sure. God knows endless crunches didn't get me very far. She set me up with a well-known fitness coach, where I would get tested and find out what was really going on with my metabolism.

I was all excited about having physicals. I strongly suspected that I had what many women who have been pregnant have, diastasis recti, or separation of the abdominal muscles.

That wouldn't explain why I've always had a butt, but it might partly explain why I had one now. " Diastasis recti occurs when the abdominal muscles separate along the midline because of an enlarging uterus," Vanessa explains.

"It has nothing to do with whether the muscles are strong or not." This means that it makes no difference whether your abs are made of steel or mush; the likelihood of them separating depends on the strength of the connective tissue that fuses them together. In a study of women shortly after giving birth. Nearly 30% of women suffer from this, usually unconsciously after giving birth.

(Take a deep breath: Most women's abs naturally rebuild after a while, although we don't rush to Pilates class the moment we're allowed to exercise.)

The more pregnancies a woman has had, the more likely she is to have diastasis recti. I only had one pregnancy, but it was a double, so chances were good that this was part of my problem.

What is your belly type?

Let's get one thing straight: Gisele and I, and you, for that matter, have pretty much the same ab muscles. The main thing that sets us apart, besides the covers of Victoria's Secret catalogs, is the amount of fat we accumulate around them.

Apple shapes, like me, are genetically predisposed to carrying excess fat around the midsection rather than in the butt, hips and thighs like pears do - not that we get to choose.

If we could, we'd all choose a third type: Gisele's seemingly fat-free physique. (The appearance of your waist is more important, especially the long waist and wide hip bone, but we're talking fat and muscle now.)

Open up an anatomy book and you can see what would be behind a six-pack if you had one. Under the skin and any underlying subcutaneous fat, you come to the muscles; the top one that runs down the front is the rectus abdominis.

Since it's the most visible muscle, closest to the skin's surface, you might think the rectus is the key to your flat stomach, but it's just one layer of the onion.

The internal and external obliques run up the sides and not only give you those nice waves but also hold your waist in a bit; the transversus abdominis is a deeper muscle that encircles and squeezes your core like an obi.

All of these muscles play a role in the appearance of your abs (we'll get to how to work them later). Then you have the connective tissue, the fascia, that holds it all together.

4/ Research focused on two types of abdominal fat

Subcutaneous fat, mentioned earlier, is the accumulation of fat on top of your rib cage and waist that you can grab and then disappear when you lose weight.

Visceral fat, which accumulates around your organs, is associated with all sorts of metabolic problems that can increase your risk of diabetes and heart disease.

According to a Canadian study, some of us are genetically more prone to visceral fat, which can "push your abdominal muscles outward," says fitness instructor Thomas Narine, giving you that rounded appearance.

For me, I'm at my thinnest these days - which, while not skinny, is pretty thin - but I still have some bulges of that relatively benign kind of fat. I won't know if I have the other kind until the ultrasound.

How to Get Flat Abs

The main reason people who aren't overweight don't have a toned stomach is that their abdominal muscles are weak, plain and simple, Nesser says.

In other words, sweet potato abs are like a sheath made of soft tissue instead of industrial-strength fibers. But what about women like me who are seven years post-baby and the queen of abs?

It turns out that I tend to do a lot for my rectus abdominis but largely neglect my obliques and deeper transverse abdominis.

To tone your midsection, you also need to target those neglected areas and even your lower back, Nesser reminds me, and neither of those areas are targeted in a typical ab workout.

It's best to spend this time doing ab-focused fitness exercises that leave no muscle in your body untoned.

5/ Try these ab exercises for firm, flat abs

Can these abs be preserved postpartum?

As I lay on an examination table at the Fitness Center, I asked Marci, the charming, flat-abbed doctor I had the opportunity to see, about diastasis recti.

She had me do a half crunch on the table and pressed with two fingers just below my sternum. “I can’t see anything,” she said, explaining that when a person’s rectus abdominis muscles are very separated, they stick out like an upside-down V, and the space between them is often visible.

"We'll know more when you have your ultrasound." (When I told Dr. George that my personal trainer's advice about my "stretched" abs had landed me here, she replied:

"Abdominal muscles are not like ligaments, which can lose their elasticity when stretched beyond their limits. Muscles are more likely to retain the ability to firm up again").

I thought it was perverse to hope that the ultrasound would reveal that I had a severe case of diastasis recti. Yet I thought it would give me and my dog ​​some relief.

One thing I can blame my girls for (although I would never say it out loud) is sagging skin. That doesn't stop me from enjoying them and loving them immensely. I had my twins at 36, which is a pretty advanced age, statistically speaking.

If your skin stretches when you are young, it has a good chance of bouncing back, because its elastin, the main ingredient of elastic fibers, still has this necessary elastic quality. Especially with specific fitness training such as cardio abs or jumping rope, sheathing, jumping jacks etc., it is certain that you will find the elasticity of your skin again

But over time, your skin is less able to recover. Likewise, your connective tissue, such as the fascia that surrounds your muscle, also loses elasticity.

Theoretically, I asked Dr. George , if your connective tissue was all loose, couldn't that explain why your belly doesn't stay in place? She dismissed the hypothesis as unlikely.

Additionally, "strengthening the abdominal muscles helps support these ligaments," explains Michele, a member of the FITNESS center, who has done several years of fitness including sustained and complex abdominal exercises.

This means that your muscles can compensate for the tension that your abs lack due to overstretched ligaments. I moved "loose connective tissue" to the "Not the cause of my pregnancy" column.

In the other column, I put "excess flesh" and "excess skin" that I have around my waist. As I hopped off the table to go to my scan, Dr. George pointed out that my posture was bad.

She didn't say it that way, but she showed me how to stand. "Remember the ABCs," she said. "Pull your abs in, tuck your butt in, and stick your chest out with your shoulders down." Ta-da! Flatter abs. It was even more comfortable for my back.

The radiologist smeared cold gel on my stomach and gave me a guided tour of its interior. “Your muscles look pretty good, actually,” he said, estimating that there are 12 millimeters between my recti.

The norm is about a 10, so the verdict is that I can't blame separate muscles for my apple shape. "And you don't have a lot of visceral fat," he added. "From where I'm standing, you have great abs."

I suppose I could stick a printout of my scan on my miracle suit with the super tummy control panel. Or maybe I could get a T-shirt that says "My radiologist insists I have great abs" for all the good it would do me on the beach.

Or I could relax, stand a little straighter, and do some exercises for my obliques and deep abs. After two workouts, I already feel back in line, so maybe there's something to be gained from that. In the meantime, it's not so bad to be scientifically declared beautiful on the inside.

If you liked this article and it helped you understand what you need to know to lose belly fat. Leave me in the comments, if you were already aware of these concepts and what is your experience on the subject.

If you want to find other Fitness and Well-being articles, take a look at the ab exercises sections and fitness shop of the blog you will find plenty of workouts and exercises to do at home. And if you want to know more about sports nutrition (food supplement) to gain muscle or lose fat, do not hesitate to consult the collection dedicated to ab crunches .

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