Cathe - Ab Muscles help!

[rachel092080]

Hello Cathe and everyone else!

I am wondering if our ab muscles are just like the rest of our muscles. This may sounds strange, but all the theories about how to get the best abs have me quite confused. I know that awesome abs are made in the kitchen (eating right) as well as in the gym.

But my question is this...Do they tend to get bigger before they start to lean down? My legs seemed to do this at the beginning of my fitness journey. The muscles were getting bigger but the fat under and over my muscles had to go away before you could start seeing my muscles. I was doing pilates 3-4 days a week to strengthen my core and my abs seem to be sticking out more than ever. Is this normal? Will the muscle I'm building eventually start to burn the fat off around it and maybe my 'pooch' will go away? I'm not overweight, but my abs are the part of my body I hate the most. I'm scared to train my abs now because I don't want them getting any bigger! (except for ab vacuums)

I have recently cut my calories down to 1400-1600 a day to see if it helps, but I'm just wondering if this is normal.

Cathe your abs are so awesome I'm hoping you have some advice!

Thanks,

-Rachel

 

[Renee McFar]

Hey Rachel! I am no expert but this is one little tib bit I have heard before. Always make sure you are exhaling when you are doing your crunches,etc. You know - exhale when you go up, inhale when you go down. I have heard that you can train your ab muscles to "stick out." I try to always make sure I am "pulling my belly button into my spine" when I am doing any type of ab work. Thats all the advice I have. Hope it helps some

 

[Maximus]

My first trainer told me something I remember to this day--that if you don't breathe correctly when you work out your abs you get air bubbles in your stomach & it makes your belly look bigger. This was 15+ years ago & I'm still laughing about it.

 

[cinnttu92]

I was reading this article on abs last night at my daugther's gymnastics class and thought I would post the web site about a study on the best ab exercises.
http://www.acefitness.org/getfit/abstudy_top.cfm

 

[normandy]

Thanks, Cinnamone --That was a realy helpful and very interesting site you posted!

 

[Kickie]

Thanks, Cinnamon. Great info on that site. I'm buying a stability ball this weekend. Now I'll know what to do with it!

Kickie