Help me optimize my tummy

[NerdyNovice]

Hello all!

I recently decided to try to get the best body I can after years of weighing 3-6 kg more than I should. I'm working out 2-3 times a week doing cardio for 50 minutes and also doing 2*15 crunches with a 10 kg weight and 2*15 roman chair exercises with a 10 kg weight and also various arm exercises. I'm generally pleased with the results I'm getting (I still want to lose 2 kg or so), but I am unhappy with what's happening to my tummy, and I hope maybe some of you can help me out by explaining what's going on.

I've never had much of a waist-to-hip ratio to begin with, but I find that on one side of my stomach, I'm practically becoming convex! I don't recall ever noticing that bulge before. Do you know what that bulge is and how to make it go away? I've been wondering if it is fat that's been displaced by the muscle I've built and whether it will go away when I lose more weight, or if I maybe need to stop doing crunches (and perhaps roman chair exercises)? But if it's exercise-related, why is it asymmetric (i.e. only one side of my stomach)? Edit: Maybe it's not that asymmetric after all - I have the tendency on the other side too - but it is more noticeable in one side. Regardless, I want it gone! How do I do it?

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[NerdyNovice]

No replies?

 

[bubbles89]

I don't really have any advise to give but I was wondering if you could tell me how you got that body....ITS AMAZING!

Can I ask what you diet and training is like. I'd love to have my body look like that.

 

[realworksuks]

your hot.

uh, that's all I can really say.

 

[NerdyNovice]

Aww, thanks for the compliments!

bubbles89, I've answered you in your Drastic Diet Change thread. (I'd add a link but I haven't made enough posts yet to be allowed to do so.)

Still hoping to hear from someone who can tell me what's happening to my tummy...

 

[i_love_muscle]

Other than being photoshopped, I have no explanation. If one side of your body is showing your TA, the other side should as well.

Unless you only do TA exercises on one side.

 

[NerdyNovice]

No photoshopping and I'm not exercising asymmetrically. I guess I'll just have to slim down further and see what happens. :confused4:

(What's TA stand for?)

 

[i_love_muscle]

TA = Transversus abdominis. Your transverse abs. That is the "bulge" you so desperately want to get rid of that everybody else wants to have. The more bodyfat you lose, the more prominent the TA will become.

The fact that it is not visible on the left side of your body is unusual to say the least.

I would think that if you're doing ab exercises, you should be aware of which muscle(s) each specific exercise is targetting

 

[flyinfree]

skinnioer is not the answer!

body building is the answer!

that is my answer!

and I am so dissapointed, I was really hoping I could make an ID with your avie pic, but you photoshopped the face.

guess I'll just need to get a life!!!


LOL!!

FF

 

[NerdyNovice]

I would think that if you're doing ab exercises, you should be aware of which muscle(s) each specific exercise is targetting

What can I say; I'm a novice.

TA = Transversus abdominis. Your transverse abs. That is the "bulge" you so desperately want to get rid of that everybody else wants to have. The more bodyfat you lose, the more prominent the TA will become.

Ah, thank you for clarifying. I've googled, and it does seem like the explanation:

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The fact that it is not visible on the left side of your body is unusual to say the least.

I know! And I swear I'm not doing one-sided exercises. I must be built asymmetrically or something. (Although as stated in the OP, it's not quite as bad as it looks in the pictures. I think I'm leaning a little to one side in those.)

skinnioer is not the answer!

body building is the answer!

that is my answer!

- Is it the answer to my question though? :confused4: For the record, my goal is to minimize my waist-to-hip ratio so as to maximize what little curviness Nature gave me. Anything that makes my waist thinner is good, anything that makes me look more masculine (or even just androgynous) is bad. But if body building can help me here, by all means, please elaborate!

and I am so dissapointed, I was really hoping I could make an ID with your avie pic, but you photoshopped the face.

guess I'll just need to get a life!!!


LOL!!

Can't blame a girl for paranoia! At least, I can't feel ashamed for it.

 

[wesrman]

This seems more like a brag thread to me.

 

[firefreak]

i can't explain your asymmetry but i do enjoy this thread

 

[NerdyNovice]

This seems more like a brag thread to me.

i can't explain your asymmetry but i do enjoy this thread

Thanks, guys.

... Just to get some closure into this thread: Okay, so if the bulge - regardless of asymmetry - is due to my crunches (?), then if I want to get rid of it, I should stop the crunches, correct? :confused4:

Edit: The irony of all this is that I pay an additional 13€ a month to go to an upscale gym where I can just ask the personal trainers about this kind of stuff. What can I say; I'd rather talk to strangers on the internet.

 

[i_love_muscle]

Unfortunately, musculature on our bodies don't always work independently. Our bodies work as a unit, even when doing crunches. It takes very specific exercises to target specific muscles.

If you don't workout your core, you'll be doing your body a huge disservice.

If you want to increase your hip:waist ratio, try working out your lower body to gain muscle mass on your glutes, quads, etc.

If you want to get a better shape on your upper body to make your waist look smaller, then do upper body workouts.

You can pretty much sculpt whatever type of body you want, genetics withstanding.

 

[NerdyNovice]

Unfortunately, musculature on our bodies don't always work independently. Our bodies work as a unit, even when doing crunches. It takes very specific exercises to target specific muscles.

If you don't workout your core, you'll be doing your body a huge disservice.

Yeah, this is why I haven't been keen on quitting the crunches. But maybe the crunches with a 10 kg weight are just too intensive in that specific area for my purposes and I could get by with something else. I'm going to make an appointment with a personal trainer and force myself to talk about these things and get a new workout that will cater to my waist-to-hip ratio.

Thanks everyone!

 

[tonymcclellan]

Yeah, this is why I haven't been keen on quitting the crunches. But maybe the crunches with a 10 kg weight are just too intensive in that specific area for my purposes and I could get by with something else. I'm going to make an appointment with a personal trainer and force myself to talk about these things and get a new workout that will cater to my waist-to-hip ratio.

Thanks everyone!

so what happened?

 

[theGOOCH]

No one's body is perfectly symmetrical. If you stare in the mirror long enough you're going to find things that look strange to you.

Your stomach looks fantastic

 

[NerdyNovice]

so what happened?

I went to make an appointment with a personal trainer but found out that it does indeed cost extra, so I decided to simply scale down the weight on my crunches and and roman chair exercises from 10 kg to 5 kg and see if that did the trick. It's still way too easy to do 2*15 of each of those, so I'm sure I haven't lost all the relevant muscle yet, but there has been slight improvement, I think. This is what my stomach looks like now:

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I really tried to stand straight this time, so the asymmetry is sadly real. I'm happy with the curvier side, but unhappy with the boyishness of the other side. If I don't become more concave in the latter side just by continuing to use 5 kg weights and by losing the 1.5 kg I still want to lose (I currently stand at 170 cm and 51.5 kg (that's 5 ft 7 in and 113.5 pounds for the Americans)*), I'm going to scale down the weights for the two exercises to 5 kg to 2.5 kg. I'll try to remember to return to post pictures once I'm as happy as I'm going to get.

* Yes, I know my BMI says I'm already technically underweight. I was built to be perfectly lean though (fat doesn't go good places on me, it goes to my overarms, my waist and my face first), and I'm not quite there yet.

No one's body is perfectly symmetrical. If you stare in the mirror long enough you're going to find things that look strange to you.

Your stomach looks fantastic

Thanks for the compliment and the reminder not to obsess!