Looking for a good workout for flat stomach

[HeavyB]

Looking for some workout tips for my wife. She is pretty much where she wants to be but is not able to get a flat stomach. We have 2 kids 10 and 6 so she has not been pregnant for 6 years. We do a pretty good work out and the diet is in check.

 

[KILLEROFSAINTS]

pics would help

 

[sassy69]

Looking for some workout tips for my wife. She is pretty much where she wants to be but is not able to get a flat stomach. We have 2 kids 10 and 6 so she has not been pregnant for 6 years. We do a pretty good work out and the diet is in check.

Abs are made in the kitchen. The muscles are there but there's flab over them. My abs don't show up until I'm around 10% bodyfat. Good core work will help build abs - but particularly for women who are not likely to have a well-balanced training regimen, any ab-specific workout you start doing w/o also looking at the diet and tweaking it to get rid of the fat, is probably just going to be promoting getting thicker. You build ab muscles, like every other muscle, it will grow. For women that usually means thicker. Probably not what you were really going for. And to repeat as always, you can't really spot reduce, so 10MM sit ups is just going to get you back to overtraining that one muscle group and promoting thickness.

Training:
- squats
- DLs
- excellent core stuff: supermans, situp and hold for counts, trunk twists, etc. Here's some other stuff you can also google with "core stability training abs":

The Best Core Exercises and Workouts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKPntJpxhlQ
Summer Ab Workout and Core Stabilization Training - YouTube

But IMO more importantly is what does it mean "the diet is in check"? If its not producing the results she wants, then it needs to be tweaked. And specifically you're looking at losing bodyfat. I'm a huge fan of carb cycling because its easy to do and doesn't leave you starving or having to make massive changes in how you eat generally.

I'd suggest by listing a current daily meal plan and even better if you can include portions, and use fitday.com or whatever food counts program to list the specific macronutrient breakdown (%, grams of carbs, fats, protein) and total cals. Also what are your wife's stats.

 

[ctr10]

Sassy you look great

 

[HeavyB]

Abs are made in the kitchen. The muscles are there but there's flab over them. My abs don't show up until I'm around 10% bodyfat. Good core work will help build abs - but particularly for women who are not likely to have a well-balanced training regimen, any ab-specific workout you start doing w/o also looking at the diet and tweaking it to get rid of the fat, is probably just going to be promoting getting thicker. You build ab muscles, like every other muscle, it will grow. For women that usually means thicker. Probably not what you were really going for. And to repeat as always, you can't really spot reduce, so 10MM sit ups is just going to get you back to overtraining that one muscle group and promoting thickness.

Training:
- squats
- DLs
- excellent core stuff: supermans, situp and hold for counts, trunk twists, etc. Here's some other stuff you can also google with "core stability training abs":

The Best Core Exercises and Workouts
At Home Workouts: Killer Abs and Core Stability - YouTube
Summer Ab Workout and Core Stabilization Training - YouTube

But IMO more importantly is what does it mean "the diet is in check"? If its not producing the results she wants, then it needs to be tweaked. And specifically you're looking at losing bodyfat. I'm a huge fan of carb cycling because its easy to do and doesn't leave you starving or having to make massive changes in how you eat generally.

I'd suggest by listing a current daily meal plan and even better if you can include portions, and use fitday.com or whatever food counts program to list the specific macronutrient breakdown (%, grams of carbs, fats, protein) and total cals. Also what are your wife's stats.

Thanks Sassy
I get what you are saying we did try to do a carb cycle at one time it didnt work well for me Keto is my go to. I have found she can not follow ether she cant eat enough physically I have gotten her where she eats more times a day. Which funny in the gym this morning doing overheard squats... Bar over the head over the heals and she had perfect flat stomach so it has to be the core does not say tight all the time and she doesn't stand up straight so she is going to start working on it. I am trying to find a current picture that you guys can see.

 

[sassy69]

FWIW, posture is huge. I always say your body reflects your lifestyle. I am a software engineer so basically i've been setting on my ass, hunched over in front of a computer avg 10 hrs / day since 1988. I do notice when I start going into prep for a show, and particularly when I start my posing practice, my posture rocks. I can tell my body "wants" to stay upright, chest out, shoulders back.

Obviously you're going to see more detail and structure when the core is in the middle of heavy activation in the middle of an OH squat. But that gives you the mind-muscle relationship for how it can stay engaged. Its not going to be all the time if that's not the particular functional operation underway, but that's the muscles that need to be involved. If you're more in tune with getting them to engage, its easier to become more aware of it in your regular day and remind yourself to focus on their use.

RE: a suggestion of carb cycle - it doesn't need to be that, but my point is that if you're not where you want to be or not on your way there, whatever you think your diet is now, its obviously not getting you there. That's when you need to step back and do an assessment of what you're doing and tweak anything that is "off" to get to that destination. Doesn't mean you have to, e.g. give up your fav foods forever, but it does mean you need to change something to prompt your body to move towards what you want. Over time and w/ consistency, you can condition your body to respond to & maintain those optimizations.