Cathe.... What can I do about my abs????

A

ali234

Active Member
Cathe,

You had two kids, probably not c-section (but I could be wrong). I am sure you took great care of yourself while you were pregnant so that you can get back in pre-pregnancy shape as quickly as possible.


My abs look horrible! That is all I can say to describe them. Yes, I have 3 beautiful kids, but my abs need so much work. I still need to lose at least 20 pounds. I am sure the fat in that area will be the last to go. I wonder if my abs look horrible because of the 3 c-sections. Maybe the only way to make them look fine (after I lose the weight) will just be to get a tummy tuck. I am worried that losing weight may actually make them look worse (even more of a droopy belly).

Can you help me come up with a rotation that will help strengthen the inner core/ab area while I lose the fat? Of course I want to continue to strengthen the other areas as well. I may just have to accept that I will have a droopy belly even if I do lose the weight. I want a really tough core/ab rotation. I love kickboxing type of workouts. I love the stability ball. I do not have the weighted ball workouts or a weighted ball yet, but I am sure I would love that. I also started spinning a few weeks ago and love the workouts! I am thinking of getting Boot Camp or any of your tapes that you feel will help me see fast results. I go to the gym and do workouts at home.

I just rather avoid thinking about getting a tummy tuck to help me feel better about my body.

My youngest is two, so it is not like I just gave birth and have to be careful. I workout about 6 days a week and sometimes I do an AM workout and a PM workout. I try to fit in a few flexibility and core workouts as well, such as Pilates, yoga, or a long stretch tape. I am trying to eat better, about 1500 calories a day.

I would love to hear your opinion. I am willing to try anything you suggest. I consider myself advanced. I usually do not have any problems keeping up in any of the classes I take at the gym. I bought a heart rate monitor for my spinning classes. I hope that will help me with some of my cardio workouts.


Alicia

PS I should try to take some of your classes at your gym since I do live in NJ (I guess once your schedule is back to normal).

Oh yeah Cathe, let me tell you which of your tapes I have. I have CTX LL and CTX upper body, Pyramid upper and lower body DVD, Slow and Heavy DVD, and Pure Strength DVD. I am waiting for three of your new tapes. Just tell me which tapes will help me the most at this moment and those will be the next ones I will buy. I am saving up to buy a few more DVDs.
 
howdy Alicia,
I am not Cathe of course, but I too have had 2 kids that are almost grown, I am 43 and until March never did anything about my abs or any other part of my body lol.
I have Cathe's AB hit on dvd, I do the MIS, I do Power Hour and Terminator, I also do pilates for the ABs, buns and thighs. Its taken almost 6 months now, and my abs aren't where I want them, but major difference now, I can definatly see what they call definition taking place, they are starting to look more like abs :7 ... I have gone from 138 to 111 now.
So Alicia, keep up the work, you'll get there :7 ... God bless you .. Rhonda :7
 
Rhonda,

That is great! I am glad to hear that there can be a major difference. Wow 138 to 111. That is awesome. Before I got married and had kids I was 115 lbs. Now I am 147 lbs. In May I weighed 167 lbs. I will be happy if I at least lost another 20 pounds. I am only 5'1". I never had a flat tummy and I don't ever think I will have a flat tummy. I just can't believe that some women have c-sections and they go back (more or less) to how they used to be and some may not be able to get there. I think it depends on the skin elasticity and who knows maybe the ligaments in the abs are also stretched out. I am not interested in liposuction, just in removing the extra skin and maybe tightening up the abdominal muscles (ligaments).

I will wait and see what happens. I just hear so many different things about working your core/abs. Some people say you should work your abs everyday. Some people say it is like any other muscle and also needs 48 hrs before you work it again. I also wonder if crunches really do make such a difference. I don't tire very easily when I work my stomach muscles. I need challenging ab work. I do plan to buy Cathe's abs DVD soon.

Thanks Rhonda for giving me hope.

Alicia
 
Hi, Alicia - I'm not Cathe, and I'm not even a Mom, but I too would like to recommend Cathe's Ab Hits DVD as well as her ab offerings from the Intensity Series (Boot Camp, Cardio-Weights ab/core section, Muscle Endurance and one of the Pyramids I forget which). And heaven only knows what kinda ab work will be in the Body Blast series.

I think the best thing for you is to develop a 4-5X per week ab schedule that incorporates plank (supine and prone) work and other core exercises that recruit the abs as spinal stabilizers rather than flexors AND traditional supine crunch work that recruits the abs as spinal flexors with the legs in various lengths and elevations. Cathe has increasingly refined her ab work with all of those practices, and increasingly utilizes the stability ball, and this will have the twin benefits of tightening the abdominal muscles (including the oft-neglected transversus) and strengthening the low spine as well. That combined with a sensible nutritional program should get you the results you're looking for.

Hope this helps -

A-jock
 
A-jock,

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking of doing more plank work and using my abs as stabilizers. I just think crunches aren't doing much. I love the stability ball as I said earlier.

I even checked what the other women with Cathe on the tapes do for their abs. Cedie works her abs 2x per week and does cardio 2-3x per week. Lorraine seems to do quite a bit of cardio. Rhonda does a variety of workouts. Brenda does about 5 cardio a week. I learned a lot from Jai (she has a great body...just like the other women do) from reading her workout. She does 2 cardio kickboxing classes per week (you get great core work from these workouts. I try to focus on my abs). She does core work with medicine or stability ball. She focuses on gaining strength for her UB/core and endurance work for her lower body. I think she wrote that she also gets good core work when doing Slow and Heavy for upper body because abs are needed as stabilizers using the heavy weights (or something like this). I think before making the intensity series Cathe did core training 2x per week for 15-20 minutes each.

As you can see, I am trying to see what other women do for core/ab work. Thanks for your advice. I was thinking of using my abs more as stabilizers for other exercises.

Alicia
 
That is so true! Who knows how great my abs look under all that fat. I have to work on the kitchen part.

Alicia
 
;-) Just wanted to let you know, I am 38 and had 3 c-sections and ever since the first c-section my abs have never been the same. I am not sure I would blame it on the c-sections as much as how much my belly stretched with two 10 lb. babies! My abs are in o.k. shape, but I could never wear the revealing workout bras the girls wear in the new "Body Blast" series. I have elephant skin on my abs from where my skin stretched to max. Also, it is loose skin that just hangs when I do planks. I thought about getting a tummy tuck but what for at the age of 38. The rest of my body is in great shape for my age! There are better places for my money to go in my opinion. You may feel strongly enough to want to have one. My abs are strong but will never look like Cathe's and I have come to accept the fact (even though I am jealous):D
 
This thread raises a good issue about the abdominal area for women who have had children: the strength of the abdominal muscles; the fat stores overlaying those muscles; and the skin that was stretched during the pregnancy. Abdominal musculature can always be strengthened with proper exercise, and fat stores can always be reduced through proper nutrition and exercise (although not preferentially), but the skin does indeed lose its elasticity over time, and that which gets stretched may not be able able to tighten up again, or return totally to its former tightness.

The descriptions of what each member of Cathe's crew does for her own personal workout, as well as those of Cathe-ites, are fascinating in how different they all are. Would that there were one best way . . . but then again that'd be pretty boring, wouldn't it?

A-jock
 
"Once the incision is made, the skin and fat are separated from the abdominal wall and lifted to expose the abdominal muscles. The muscles that are loose and stretched apart are sutured together to tighten them up. Then, the skin flap is lowered over the abdomen and the excess skin and fat are cut away. Before closing the incision, the navel is reconstructed. After the sutures are in place, a firm elastic bandage is applied to the area."

This a description of a tummy tuck. It sounds scary, but so would a c-section description be to some. The thing I am wondering is not only is my skin loose, but are my abdominal muscles loose and stretched apart?

I know there are full tummy tucks and mini tummy tucks. I don't think I would want my navel to be reconstructed. If I were to get one, it would probably be a mini-tummy tuck.

First I want to see what I can do on my own by working out and eating right. I will do my best to love my body. It is very hard. I do not wear certain clothing (like tucking in my shirts) and I avoid anyone seeing my tummy area (even my husband). I envy women that love their body, and accepted the change in their body. I just have never accepted it. I am going to avoid plastic surgery at all costs, especially since it is expensive and don't want to deal with hearing about complications.

This is why I am trying very hard to find a workout for me. It is just so upsetting when you go find a nice dress for a special occasion and everything looks fine (even my big but or somewhat fat thighs...which don't bother me because I feel they are looking better each passing month) but you look sideways and you see that belly sticking out. Let's say I got the nerve to wear the dress (and believe me it would not be one of those tight fitting dresses, just one that nicely falls perfectly if you know what I mean) and then a bigmouth aks me if I am pregnant. Yes, I had people ask me this before and man does it hurt!!! I really hate when people ask this question, especially in front of other people. I am writing this and I already have tears in my eyes!

I just wrote the above so that people would understand why I feel the way that I do. I don't want to look good to get compliments, or for other guys to look at me. I want to be able to feel good about myself, especially since I have two young daughters (age 2 and 6) and I want them to see a mom who feels good about her body so that they can feel good about their body. I teach 10-11 year old children and I see too many girls worrying about their body! If they worry about it at that age what will happen when they are our age!

Alicia
 
I have lower ab "issues" as well. I've lost the baby weight and have toned abs (the muscle). I asked my gyn about the *loose pooch*;-) that I'm sporting on my lower abs and she said that my lower abs are very toned beneath the skin... Unfortunately, there's lots of stretched out skin covering them!x( Really, the only only thing I can do is have the skin removed... So, I've chosen to love my battle scar!:p Hell, I worked HARD to have that stretched out skin!!! I wear bikinis that show off my upper abs (and cover the lower), flat front chinos, and flowing sun-dresses that keep my jiggle under wraps!
I guess my point is, there are lots of parts of my body that I *can* change; I refuse to waste any more time worrying about the *one* part I can do NOTHING about.
Michele:)
 
Hey Alicia,

I have also had 3 c-sections and can tell you that even after I lost 80 pounds 3 years ago my abs were smaller, not flat mind you. They were also wrinkled from all the stretched skin, my dh said that he could feel the muscle way down deep and eventually it did rise some but I still had all the loose skin. 2 of my 3 boys were over 10 pounds so I was stretched out pretty far. My mother has the same stretched skin look that I have, so some of it maybe hereditary. I honestly think that I would need a tummy tuck to ever see a six or even a 4 pack ab look. I am just happy that I can hold it in and not see my abs sticking out beyond my bustline and I am very busty,LOL!!!:D I will probably never wear a traditional bikini unless it is in the privacy of my own home for my dh eyes only:7 . Sorry that I can't be more encouraging, I am also 39 years old and in the process of relosing some weight that I put back on due to medication the doctor put me on. I am now in a smaller size than I was at this weight before, so weight lifting will help you look toner and smaller.:)

We all have to learn to live with the body that God gave us even with it's little imperfections!!
 
Michele,
I think I am actually starting to think that way. Thanks. I am focusing on the body parts that I can do something about. At least I think my upper abs can be worked so that I can see the definition there.

Alicia
 
Annette,

Everyone has been encouraging. I will work at making that area "smaller" not flat. My mother also has that stretched skin look.

"I am just happy that I can hold it in and not see my abs sticking out beyond my bustline and I am very busty,LOL!!" That is a good way of looking at it. It feels good to accept it and laugh about our little imperfections.

I just came from the gym and I always see this short woman maybe in her 50's. She wears those tight gym shorts with those matching sports looking bras and she has a protruding belly. At first I was like wow, I would never be able to wear an outfit like that with my belly. But then you look closer or at least at the other body parts and man does she have muscular definition. Even though she has a protruding belly I can still see some muscle definition in the ab area. One day I am going to tell her that she has an amazing upper body. I think she has been working out for a very long time, because one day I overheard her saying that she used to run when she was younger until she had knee problems. I see her in some of the spinning classes I take.

So I am going to focus on gaining strength in my upper body and core area and do more endurance type of workouts for my lower body. Weight lifting is definitely helping me look toner and smaller. I just have to watch what I put in my mouth!

Alicia
 
Alicia:

You have been reading about what Cathe and her crew members do to keep their abs toned. Please put their words into perspective: Cathe is genetically gifted, works out for a living, including all the way through her pregnancies. No disrespect intended but, she does not represent the majority of women and their experience of their body after childbirth. Cedie has several children and is indeed in excellent shape, but you will notice if you look carefully --and I do not actually advocate such close scrutiny of women's bodies, as a practice, I am politically against it-- that she does not sport the flat abdominal region Cathe possesses. Remember that Jai also has a flat core region, but, no children if I remember correctly, so she should not be a role model in the core region for women after childbirth. Sorry. Conclusion: women need more than one role model for the healthy, toned body.

Ages 38, I am at my pre-pregnancy weight (when aged 28), and have been dealt a hand in the genetic lottery that our current societal aesthetics deems to be a lucky one: I am tall and slim. But after 2 children, for which I would probably pay any price if I had to, my body will never again be what it was. Do I regret it? Only on my selfish, narcissistic days!!! I threw out most of the clothes I wore in my twenties because I will never again fit into them. My waist is toned with all the new obliques work on the Intensity Series, but it is a good deal thicker than it used to be, at 27 inches. I have pictures of me wearing these narrow waisted skirts aged 22 and I could probably get my bicep in the waist band now!!!!

I, like you, have the lower belly pooch, and it is just loose skin and there is nothing I can do about it and nothing that I will do about it. There's no way I am letting a man in a white coat weilding a knife anywhere near my body because to do so constitutes, for me, an admission that my body is lacking, is not aesthetically pleasing, is not up to standard in some way. OH POOH TO THAT!!!!

Every body on this planet spins a narrative of that person's lived experiences. A body is just that, a material core through which we interface with the world and live our lives. It does not constitute your entire worth. Your current dissatisfactions suggest that to some extent you can't help absorbing the message that your body does not measure up to some ideal. We all do this. For centuries societies have played out ideologies of race, sexuality, class and gender on and through women's bodies in particular: today is no different. But you can choose not to let those ideologies affect your relationship with you and your body: respect your strong body for all the things it has done for you, and continues to do for you. You have brought wonderful children into this world and you raise and educate other people's children: so in my book, your strong body is the vehicle through which you, Alicia, carry out 2 of the toughest jobs on this planet: parenting and teaching. You go girl!!!!!

Conclusion: your body deserves respect, from you and others. Society's problems with your bodies are just that: someone else's and not yours.

You know what, men, despite what advertising would have us believe, actually prefer women whose bodies have some flesh and curves on them. I don't think your husband wants you to hide your stomach away. I bet he loves its soft folds. Who are we to judge what our partners find sexy about us?!?! My husband does not lust after Kate Moss, and he loves my abdominal pooch. If you asked him would he give back the 2 children in exchange for the body his wife had in her 20's, what do you think the answer would be?

Alicia, do your cardio, do your weight training, try out a variety of moves to target the core region and then just live in your body as it was genetically made to be.

The best ab moves Cathe has, IMHO are:

1. MIS ab section
2. CTX Kickbox ab section
3. Cardio & Weights cores ection
4. PUB core section.

Clare :)
 
Clare,
Oh, believe me I definitely understand that we are all different and what may work for one woman may not give you the same results. I also did take notice that some women did have children and some did not. Another thing I notice is the body shape. Many years ago I knew which body shapes I would never be able to have. I would never be able to have Cathe's body shape. Never! Even if I lose the weight I can't alter my waist-to-hip ratio. You can't change your genetic tendency to be one particular shape for example pear-shaped. I read in an article that researchers concluded that women whose actual body shape differs from their desired one may find losing weight through dieting frustrating and have more trouble sticking to a weight-loss program as a result.

I have to work with my body shape. That is the reason I want to gain strength in my upper body, so that it could sort of look balanced with my lower body. I think my quads will have a tendency to bulk up.

All the women look great in the videos. I wrote about one woman at the gym who is about 4'9" and she does not have the body of many women on Cathe's tapes, but she looks wonderful to me, especially for a woman who is probably in her 50's. Cedie looks great to me! I actually focused more on Cedie's workout than on Cathe's workout because 1) Cedie's body shape is probably closer to looking like my body shape than Cathe's and 2) Cedie teaches in a middle school for a living just like I do (and has kids and mentioned that she does not have the time to work out like she used to).

"If you asked him would he give back the 2 children in exchange for the body his wife had in her 20's, what do you think the answer would be?" Of course not, but the problem is not what my husband thinks. It is something in my own mind, and I have to deal with that. I do not know why I hate my belly as much as I do. It is not like people constantly look at it and say "gross" or "disgusting." It is just something I have to learn to accept. Also, I never talk about how I feel about my belly to my kids at home or even mention it in school. They have to learn to love their body and that there are healthy things we can do to feel better. I really don't think I will ever be able to get a tuumy tuck. I do not have a job that depends on the way my body looks.

Thanks Clare for your advice. At first I was a bit offended, but then I realized you were trying to give me advice. I used to years ago look at those very thin women and would try very hard to have that body, but then I just learned about nutrition, exercise, and body shapes and realized that I can only do so much with the body I was given. I am not going to give up because I had children. The reason why I first posted about my abs is that I hear so many different things about working your abs. I just wanted Cathe to clarify working your abs. I go to the gym and some of the instructors say to work it everyday. I read that it needs 24-48 hours rest just like any other body part. I just don't know what would be OK. I don't want to overtrain, just in case you can overtrain your abs. I don't want to do it everyday if it gives the
same results as working 2 times per week. I am just looking for some correct facts about abs and training abs. Maybe there is a good book out there or maybe a website that will help me understand how to best work your core/ab area.

Thanks for the advice especially about your favorite ab tapes. I'll keep that in mind.

Alicia
 
Here is some opinions and/or facts about abs

OK. I went to various websites for some opinion/facts on abs. A lot is what has already been said here. Here is some info I found:

1. Focus on diet modification.
Your diet is the main factor in how your abs will look. "Abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym!"

Another beneficial abdominal dieting technique is to reduce the amount of sodium added to food. Salt + water + fat = prominent fat around the love handles. Cutting sodium can make a huge difference in the way your abs look.

7 Myths About Abs
by Justin Leonard, ISSA CFT
Anyone would agree that abs are the most wanted muscle on any physique. But what's realistic when it comes to abdominal training and nutrition? I decided to write about the 7 myths I hear most often. Hopefully, this clears up any misleading information.
7. I must train abs for hours for them to be defined.
Absolutely not! Long workouts provide no additional benefit to your abs. It will only cause you to get weaker as a result of overtraining. It should take less than 20 minutes per abdominal training session. Less is better!

6. Fat burners will help me burn fat around my abs.
Although they can be effective, fat burners do not target specific areas of the body. Fat is burned throughout the entire body. Plus, the "best" fat burner is the food you eat! It's mainly the diet that yields the "six pack!"

5. I'll have to go on a strict diet to get good abs.
Nope! Through the use of simple of what I call "diet modification", anyone can turn their abs into a chiseled work of art. Use my basic, but highly effective abdominal dieting techniques: Cut sodium, cut calories, lower fat, lower sugar, exercise, and drink water. There are still ways to enjoy what you eat using these modifications. You don't necessarily have to "diet." You just have to know when you can eat certain foods. Be creative. It works!

4. If I use weights with abdominal exercises my abs will show up better.
Don't waste your time! Weights provide no additional benefit to your abs. Abdominals will never bulge like the leg or pectoral muscles will. Abs "barely" increase in size when you train them. To get your abs to show up better, you have to sculpt them. The sculpting of the abs is done through strip-away-fat dieting, not heavier weights!

3. I can eat fattening meals because if I workout, I can burn if off.
Under this theory, most people don't workout long enough to burn even half of the calories they ate. The unburned excess will more than likely become fat. You can combat this problem by working out on an empty, or with very little in the stomach. This allows your body to burn its own fat as fuel, since carbohydrates aren't readily available.

2. I should do leg lifts and leg raises to target the lower abs.
Don't waste your time! The abdominals are trained as one muscle. Lower abs and upper abs are not separate muscle muscle groups. Need proof?
Get in the crunch position and touch your lower abs. Now slowly lift your upper back off of the ground and contract your abs! Did you feel that? Always treat your abs as one muscle!

1. If I do hundreds of sit-ups everyday, I'll have ripped abs.
You can do 200 sit-ups a minute and still wouldn't have abs. It's because exercise doesn't define the abs. It only makes them more prominent once the fat has been removed from around them. The kitchen is how you get ripped abs!
Question: How often should I train my abs?
Justin Leonard: The answer to this question is widely debated by experts. Opinions vary from training abs every workout, to once a week. The key thing to remember is that everyone has a different body type. It also depends on the goal of the individual (athletes and non-athletes). Consider training your abs as often as you would any other body part.

Tips For Abdominal Training
Don’t exercise your abs every day– Your abs are like any other muscle and training them everyday can lead to over training. Train your abs every other day
Don’t do hundreds of reps– Contrary to popular belief, lots of reps do not equal great abs. For the best results use 15-20 slow and controlled reps. Focus on your form and really contract the ab muscles.
Train the Transverse Abdominals– This forgotten part of the abs help firm up the stomach and helps prevent your gut from protruding. One of the best exercises is called the vacuum: Start by lying on your back and exhale all of the air out of your lungs. Continue to suck your gut in, imagine you are trying to touch your spine and hold it for 10 sec. Slowly inhale and relax, Repeat 3 times.
Keep constant tension on the muscles– Do not let your abs rest between repetitions. Keep them contracted at all times.

Abdominal Training.
by Anthony Millar
So it is important that the individual takes this holistic approach to training abs, as it is the most efficient way to get worthy results in as little time as possible. However this article is going to concentrate on the training of such muscles as this in itself is often neglected or done incorrectly. Abdominal muscles are like any other muscles in the body inasmuch as they are their to perform a specific function. In this case to allow movement around the abdomen. Therefore like other muscles abdominals should only be trained a maximum of twice a week. On the face of it this does not seem like a lot, but we are not talking about 3-4 “soft” sets before we go to bed. When you consider the damage 10-12 working sets to failure can inflict when done correctly and intensely it will become apparent why the training of such muscles is not required every day.

It is also worth considering the principle of priority training when working the abs. This suggests that the stomach muscles be trained first in the workout so that you approach them fresh and motivated. This technique will help the abs develop faster as it ensures that the mid-section is given sufficient attention, whereas if they are left to the back of the workout they are inevitably trained badly or neglected entirely. Like all muscle groups you need to have a definite structure when attempting to train them. This plan of attack helps guarantee that the muscles are developed to their full potential. It is worth noting though that this structure is not indefinite as the order of exercises and rep ranges can be altered to provide a constant stimuli.

the abdominals training session should be short and sharp, lasting no more than 20 minutes. Intensity should be central to your workout, as should correct form and execution of all exercises.

Alicia
 
RE: Here is some opinions and/or facts about abs

Hi Alicia,

I'm fairly new to working out with Cathe, but I have been doing something called T-Tapp for quite some time.

Here's an article with some free exercises on it:
http://www.ttapp.com/articles/flatstomach/

Alot of women on the forums there have had success with it, so I thought I'd pass it along so that you could give it a try if you'd like. :)

I liked the article you posted about abs, for me I think the key to nice abs is definately cardio..burning fat all over will help to make your abs flatter. I'm working at adding more into my routine, because I know I have ab muscle under there! ;-) I think I read in your original post that you're doing more cardio..I think that will really help.

Keep working at improving and feeling better about yourself and don't get discouraged. :D

~Kathleen~
 
Hi Alicia:

sorry if I offended you, absolutely didn't mean to, hope you are able to formulate a plan of action from the myriad advice you receive here and wish you well as you plan your ab attack!!

Cheers

CLare
 
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