Why Cant I See My Abs?!?

Abs seem to be a very sought after goal, but many people feel it’s either not within their reach or just don’t know how to make the proper changes to get the results they are looking for. Almost every single client I have ever had in the last 11 years has wanted to make some changes to their midsection. So here are some tips for those looking to improve their abdominal area.

1. DIET AND EXERCISE

Of course we have to cover the diet and exercise part first and foremost. If you can get more exercise in and clean up your diet, this is a great place to start! Drinking Plenty of water and watching your sodium intake can also play a key role here.

Ok, so what if your diet is pretty clean and you are STILL dealing with this issue…?

2. NOT EATING FREQUENTLY ENOUGH OR SKIPPING MEALS (ESPECIALLY BREAKFAST)

The stomach can be a stubborn place to lose fat. Because of this, we have to trick our body into fat loss mode. Eating frequent and small meals is an easy way to do this. Our bodies burn a certain amount of calories each hour based on our BMR (basal metabolic rate) so we need to be sure not to consume over this average per meal. This helps our bodies burn the food off and still have excess energy. Once the calories consumed are used up, our bodies have no choice but to take energy from the body.

So, if your diet is clean, then focus on this step next.

-3-4 hours is an acceptable window between meals.

-Breakfast is very important!

-And I would never recommend going over 5 hours

between meals with the exception of sleeping.

(Intermittent fasting is a whole different perspective and can be beneficial, but from my experience this is what works best for losing fat and maintaining muscle simultaneously.)

3. HORMONES

Hormones are so fun. For women, we get to experience a variety of hormone levels every single month! While this may not be fair compared to our guy counterparts, it is inevitably something we must deal with. Therefore, I want to discuss some ways around feel bloated and retaining extra water which seem to be the factors that affect the visibility of our abs.

Water Retention: Estrogen levels vary throughout the month and this lovely little hormone can make our bodies retain excess water. It is at its highest around days 8-14 of your cycle. And if you are taking birth control this could be a daily side effect. Drinking extra water can combat this AND using a waist belt to help increase sweating in this area. Topical creams such as Lipoxyderm and Sweet Sweat can help pull the water from the subcutaneous layer as well making the stomach appear flatter and even more toned.

Bloating: Progesterone is another fun hormone we get to deal with. This one can cause excessive bloating. For those not on birth control it begins to increase around day 8 of your cycle and peaks around day 21. And those on a pill with this hormone or a synthetic version of it can experience bloating all month long! Ways to combat bloating would be, drinking LOTS of water, taking a good probiotic (I like ULTIMATE FLORA) eating small and frequent meals and getting the right type of cardio in. (see below)

4. YOU’RE DOING THE WRONG WORKOUTS

Two ways we see more tone and definition,

1.)Drop Fat off the area to expose the muscle.

2.)Build up the muscle belly so that it is developed enough to show.

If you are really wanting to see definition then you must focus on a few things.

1.)Weighted ABs! I’m not talking 50 pounds here. I am talking about an 8 or 15 pound dumbbell (depending on your current fitness level, of course!) Doing a million sit ups and crunches is what it will take if you don’t add some weight into your ab routine. This is a quick way to pull out some lines if you have already dropped your fat low enough.

2.)High Intensity Cardio- and not just any high intensity- it needs to be running, box jumps, jump rope or anything similar to these exercises. Stair stepper, bike, and walking are all great, but will take you longer to get results in the ab department.

Hopefully one or more of these tips were helpful! Don't forget, there are still a few more days to sign up for my ONLINE 6 weeks till Summer program!

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